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15 Posts
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15489
November 16th, 2009 12:00
Do the Inspiron 1525s have a Recovery Partition?
Hey all,
I was looking at Disk Management today, I couldn't help noticing 2 unmarked (and hidden) partitons, neither of them showed a Filesytem. However looking at the first one, which has a size of only 39MB, I immediately knew it was the Diagnostics partition, the kind that can be accessed by pressing F12.
And the other showed up as 2.50GB, more than enough to hold an installation for Windows Vista, but not big enough for a Disk Image. Hmm, so is it a hidden recovery partition? Upon further investigation, through DISKPART, it lists not 4, but in fact 5 partitions! The same 4 that Disk Management detects, plus one more 2.50GB (2559MB) partition. I've cut and pasted the list:
DISKPART> list part
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 OEM 39 MB 32 KB
Partition 2 Primary 10 GB 40 MB
Partition 3 Primary 99 GB 10 GB
Partition 0 Extended 2559 MB 109 GB
Partition 4 Logical 2558 MB 109 GB
It's worth noting that Part2 (the 10GB one) is not hidden, it shows up in Explorer, and it's created by Vista's Backup Files service. The next one, Part3, is the system partition that holds the Vista OS.
The last two partitions are the curious ones, Part0 and Part4 are both offset at 109MB -- How's that even possible? Shouldn't the second one be at 112MB Offset, since it's 2.50GB.... I guess that explains why Disk Management couldn't detect the last one. Also, keep in mind, this is a 120GB Hard drive, and since the hidden 2.5GB partition(s) are at the end, that's another clue for me that they might be Recovery Partitions?
If that's the case how do I access them?
ejn63
9 Legend
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87.5K Posts
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November 19th, 2009 15:00
Partition 1 is the Dell diagnostic. Partition 0/4 is a logical drive inside a partition containing Media Direct, which operates the media buttons. Delete the first and you'll have no way to run the Dell diagnostics. Delete the last and Media Direct won't work.
ejn63
9 Legend
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87.5K Posts
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November 19th, 2009 16:00
Yes, that's what Media Direct is for - playing media outside of Windows.
Remember the 120G is in decimal - 120 decimal gigs * (10^9/2^30) = 112 binary gigabytes (which is what Windows uses). So, you're not missing anything space-wise other than that which arises from the smaller gigabyte definition used by the hard drive maker vs. Windows (i.e., 1 decimal gig = 1 billion bytes, while one binary gig = 2^30 bytes, or 1.0737 X 10^9 bytes.
pradeepherle
14 Posts
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November 16th, 2009 12:00
there is recovery partition available on 1525 Vista which can be accessed by going to Advanced boot options - Repair your computer .. I.E, Tap F8 at start of the machine
Zeldaman44
15 Posts
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November 18th, 2009 23:00
Thanks for the reply, but I've already tried the F8 key, which brings up the Advanced Boot Options menu.
As you can see in the example below, there's no "Repair your Computer" option, but there is a Directory Services Restore Mode.... I don't think that what you meant, and it's definitely not the Recovery partition. I'm still doubtful that my 1525 even has a Recovery partition, but what could those hidden 2.50GB hold?
At the Dell logo splash screen, it shows no mention of a Recovery, only "Press F2 for setup, F12 for Boot menu". (Pressing F12 gives no Recovery/Repair option either)
Zeldaman44
15 Posts
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November 19th, 2009 14:00
So if the hidden partition(s) are not related to a Recovery / Repair, does that mean I can safely delete them?
Any ideas, anyone?
Zeldaman44
15 Posts
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November 19th, 2009 15:00
Thanks ejn63,
But I'm only showing 109GB available on a 120GB hard drive. If the MediaDirect partition is only using 2.50GB (instead of 5GB, like I thought) Then why is my drive still missing 7GB... Is the Recycle Bin hogging the rest? Or does the Filesystem really need that much.
What is MediaDirect used for? Just for playing DVDs without booting to Vista?