Blowing Away the Recovery Partition...Advice?
in [Dell]
|
From: Daddy on 15 Mar 2010 13:19 I recently received a new Studio XPS 8100. I opted to keep the C: drive pretty much as-is, and uninstalled most of the smell-ware that Dell adds. I'd really like to delete the extra two partitions that contain Dell's diagnostics and the factory image. My first inclination was to simply use the Diskpart command, but now I'm not so sure. My problem is: I don't really understand the boot process that well. I believe Dell customizes the Master Boot Record to make it possible to access those hidden partitions (with the right key combination.) If I delete the extra partitions, do I risk making my computer unbootable? Daddy
From: Justin Credible on 15 Mar 2010 14:08 Nope, first thing I do on every Dell is run a free utility called CopyWipe. It'll leave you with 1 partition. Then you can reinstall Windows frem scratch. "Daddy" <daddy(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:hnlq6n$15c$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > I recently received a new Studio XPS 8100. I opted to keep the C: drive > pretty much as-is, and uninstalled most of the smell-ware that Dell adds. > > I'd really like to delete the extra two partitions that contain Dell's > diagnostics and the factory image. My first inclination was to simply use > the Diskpart command, but now I'm not so sure. > > My problem is: I don't really understand the boot process that well. I > believe Dell customizes the Master Boot Record to make it possible to > access those hidden partitions (with the right key combination.) If I > delete the extra partitions, do I risk making my computer unbootable? > > Daddy
From: RnR on 15 Mar 2010 14:11 On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:19:17 -0400, Daddy <daddy(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >I recently received a new Studio XPS 8100. I opted to keep the C: drive >pretty much as-is, and uninstalled most of the smell-ware that Dell adds. > >I'd really like to delete the extra two partitions that contain Dell's >diagnostics and the factory image. My first inclination was to simply >use the Diskpart command, but now I'm not so sure. > >My problem is: I don't really understand the boot process that well. I >believe Dell customizes the Master Boot Record to make it possible to >access those hidden partitions (with the right key combination.) If I >delete the extra partitions, do I risk making my computer unbootable? > >Daddy Rather than answer directly, let me repeat what I read from another poster in response to the same question once... why bother because those partitions are usually fairly small in comparison to the hard drive and even tho 99.9 % chance you won't use it, for the 1 time you might need it, it will be there waiting for you. In other words, it really not necessary to delete it because you won't gain much space in comparison to your hard drive. That said, I know Dell used to and may still use some special code to hide the partition. I once got into it using their code and I think I learned about it from Google. Anyway I usually use Acronis now to do my partition work which is usually once a year or two (not often). I think there's 2 others (software) that are as good or better but their names escape me right now ... I think at least one of them is free.
From: Brian K on 15 Mar 2010 15:23 A friend has an XPS 9000. That's what we did. Deleted his recovery and diagnostic partitions. He creates his own backup images. Before you start, check in Disk Management to see if the recovery partition is the Active, System partition. It was in the 9000 so if you delete it, Win7 won't boot. You need to copy the booting files from the recovery partition to the Win7 partition before you delete the recovery partition. It is a 2 minute job. Let us know if the recovery partition is Active, System and I'll post a procedure to copy the booting files.
From: William R. Walsh on 15 Mar 2010 15:27
Hi! > I'd really like to delete the extra two partitions that contain Dell's > diagnostics and the factory image. My first inclination was to > simply use the Diskpart command, but now I'm not so sure. You may want to keep the diags partition, it's only about 3-12MB depending upon the system. (In other words, you really won't miss it.) > I believe Dell customizes the Master Boot Record to make it > possible to access those hidden partitions (with the right key > combination.) The diagnostics partition is set up for booting by the BIOS. You press F12 to request the boot menu, the BIOS dutifully displays it and then sets things up accordingly for a diagnostic boot. This is actually an old trick borrowed from IBM (and later Compaq). (Late model IBM PS/2 systems did this, and in some cases, they actually loaded their working BIOS from this hidden area.) The diagnostics partition has a customized header so it appears as a "non- DOS" partition type. It is the Dell custom MBR (this usually displays a blue line with "www.dell.com" printed on it) that fires up the recovery process when you press a key sequence. > If I delete the extra partitions, do I risk making my computer > unbootable? It's always a possibility. Normally the Dell custom MBR just segues right into a normal boot if no keys are pressed. I doubt that it actually checks the state of the recovery partion unless it's requested. It's not likely that you will render the system unbootable by removing partitions with diskpart. Make a backup anyway--it's cheap insurance. William |