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Calla Lily

243 Posts

3219

December 11th, 2007 12:00

D. Goodell's site and PC Restore

Hello,
I tried contacting Mr. D. Goodell but could not, so hopefully he gets to see the message that I wrote for him below.  If there is anyone else who have any thoughts regarding PC Restore, it would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.
************
 
Hi Dan,
I hope that you don't mind if I contact you. I've been visitng your web site, trying to understand about PC Restore.  Some on this forum have said that doing a Windows reinstallation will NOT make the PC Restore from becoming non-functional.  Yet on your web site, you state that it will.  I have Inspiron 640M laptop with Windows XP Home SP 2, Mediadirect 2.0.  My Mediadirect stopped working and after searching for answers to fix my issue for over 4 months now, it has now come down to reinstalling everything minus leaving the Dell Utility partition alone. I'd like to be able to keep PC Restore functioning as well, but if it's not going to function after reinstalling Windows, then I thought I might as well delete the PC Restore partition. I know you have Dsrfix on your site, and have been tyring to understand it.  Unfortunately I'm not computer savvy and know no one around me who can perform the instrucitons you prvoide on your site.  If you have any advice on this so that I can keep PC Restore and make Mediadirect 2.0 function again (my Windows OS is buggy and unstable so I do have to reinstall that at least), it would be greatly appreciated. BTW, I've already tried Mediadirect Repair Utility (where you boot from CD) and PC Restore a number of times to fix Mediadirect.  None of it worked. Thank you.

Calla Lily

243 Posts

December 11th, 2007 22:00

bump

dg1261

623 Posts

December 13th, 2007 08:00

"Some on this forum have said that doing a Windows reinstallation will NOT make the PC Restore from becoming non-functional. Yet on your web site, you state that it will."

Reinstalling XP from CD/DVD will disable your ability to run PC Restore. If you have not taken other action to damage the PC Restore partition, it will still be there and can be reenabled by Dsrfix. Simply reinstalling from CD/DVD does not by itself do any damage to the PC Restore partition, but it will break the MBR so the computer does not respond to Ctrl+F11, and that means PC Restore can't be launched. Dsrfix can repair the Dell MBR and PC Restore will work again.


"I know you have Dsrfix on your site, and have been tyring to understand it. Unfortunately I'm not computer savvy and know no one around me who can perform the instrucitons you prvoide on your site."

I've stated this on my website, but let me reiterate. Using Dsrfix requires above average technical skill. Not just anyone should try to use it. The user should understand not only how to use it, but how to interpret its responses.

If the information on my website is over your head, then DO NOT TRY IT YOURSELF. Find a technically knowledgeable friend, or take your computer to a reputable repair shop and refer them to my webpage.


Dan Goodell
Inside the Dell PC Restore Partition

Message Edited by dg1261 on 12-13-2007 02:16 AM

Calla Lily

243 Posts

December 13th, 2007 17:00

Hello Dan,
Thank you for taking the time to reply.  I appreciate it.  You're right about not using the Dsrfix.  Although I have been visiting your site many times now, it is not something that I can honestly say I can confidently do.  It's so unfortuante that I don't have anyone else around me who can perform thetask either, and Dell does not seem to have a fix for it.
 
Since the PC Restore program will no longer work after doing a clean reinstall of Windows XP Home SP2, I thought that I might delete it.  Otherwise the PC Restore partition would just sit on my hard disc, would it not?  But I'm not sure what impact deleting the PC Restore partition may have on the restore of the other Dell programs, namely: Dell Utility and Mediadirect 2.0. 
 
As of right now, I have the original hard drive that came with my Inpsiron 640M last year, and I have not done anything to the hard drive except do a number of PC Restore and use the Mediadirect Repair Utility by using the cd \MD2 command.  Thus, I have not changed any partitions or deleted anything that orignally came with my computer.  But if I understand what you wrote on your site correctly, Dell utility and PC Restore has some kind of a relationship with regards to the Dell MBR.  So if I delete the PC Restore partition, would doing so make the Dell Utility partition not function anymore?  Waht baou with regards to Mediadirect 2.0 as well?  Would deleteing the PC Restore disable this function too EVEN if I use the Repair Utility and use the cd \MD2 command?
 
Prior to reading you post, I was planning on doing the following to try and fix my Mediadirect 2.0:
 
1) Leave all the original partitions alone, not change the size or delete any partitions.
2) Format C drive using NTFS full format, then reinstall windows XP Home SP2.  Reinstall drivers.
3) use the Mediadirect Repair Utility Rev.A05 (which is what I have been using since I got my Mediadirect problem) and do the cd \MD2 command.
 
But now that I got confirmation from yhou that the PC Restore will NOT work after doing a reinstall of Windows, for step 1 above, I delete the PC Restore partition, and do steps 2 and 3 exactly as above.  Would this ensure that the Dell Utility and Mediadirect 2.0 will work?
 
I've been dealing with the Mediadirect issue for over 4 months now.  I've tried a number of methods, including using Mediadirect Repair Utility and doing numerous PC Restore.  The Problem began when I downloaded and isntalled the latest critical update for Sonic Player.  shortly after that, my Mediadirect would not play from a power OFF state.  From within Windows, I could press Mediadirect and get it to launch Dell Media Experince.  But now, for some reason, even within Windows, I can't watch any DVD.  I have not downloaded any updates or patches except for ones for my security software, and at times, the Windows Automatic Updates seem to be donwloading something. 
My main concern now is to reinstall Windows AND ensure that doing so has the least amount of damage in terms of preserving Dell utility and Mediadirect 2.0  I would love to keep both of these programs (and PC Restore as well, but it seems for me that is not possible) and makes sure that Windows works well without being unstable as it is now. 
 
It would be grealy appreciated if I could borrow your expertise on this matter.  Thank you for your time.


Message Edited by Calla Lily on 12-13-2007 11:34 AM

dg1261

623 Posts

December 14th, 2007 02:00

I don't use MD and removed it from any of my machines that came with it, so don't consider myself qualified to advise on MD. I only know it to the extent of its entanglement with the MBR. I cannot help you with why MD doesn't seem to work properly.

MD can still work without the DSR partition. The folks over on notebookforums.com have done a pretty good job of exploring and documenting that. You should only need the MD repair utility after deleting DSR and reinstalling XP, but I'd check with the other forum to confirm that.

Just don't ever delete the Dell diagnostic partition. That will confuse the MD repair utility if it isn't there.

Calla Lily

243 Posts

December 14th, 2007 13:00

Hi Dan,
Thanks for your reply.  To confirm, does the MD "need" or depend more in terms of things related to Dell MBR, Dell utility rather than PC Restore partition?  The reason why I ask this is because of what you mentioned below:
Just don't ever delete the Dell diagnostic partition. That will confuse the MD repair utility if it isn't there.
I've looked at other sites, but there is no mention of whether things will work out if I delete the DSR partition, but leave out the Dell Utility, and do a clean reinstall of Windows.  What I was able to find is to leave all partitions, and do a clean reisntall.  Then do the cd \MD2 command using Repair Utility. 
 
I was thinking that maybe I can use products such as Acronis 11 or Ghost 12.0 and isntall the iamge in the DSR partition rather than deleting the partition.  In other words, write over the DSR partition with either of the imaging products.  If I were to do that, do you think that would screw up the MBR and render the MD, or Dell Utility to not function?
 
Thank you for any advice.

dg1261

623 Posts

December 16th, 2007 02:00

There are several different versions of MediaDirect, and they involve differing dependencies on the Dell MBR. Again, I don't use MD so don't wish to comment further. I'd let the MD Repair Utility figure it out.

I also don't use Acronis or the Windows/PE versions of Ghost (version 9+). Both have inherent issues as far as I'm concerned. But they seem to work for most people, so I'll leave it to others to advocate for their use.

Dell's MD Repair Utility is not a particularly intelligent program, and gets confused if the Dell Utility partition is missing. There is no inherent reason the MD partition needs the Utility partition, but because the MRU is easily confused, it is wise to leave the Utility partition alone. It can handle it if the PC Restore partition is missing, but not the Utility partition. (Various Dells come with or without a PC Restore partition, but I guess Dell's programmers couldn't fathom why a Dell wouldn't have a Utility partition.) Again, it's not a MD requirement, it's because the *repair utility* is too dumb to handle it, so doesn't do its repair properly.

Calla Lily

243 Posts

December 18th, 2007 06:00

Thanks for your time Dan.

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