Hi Roger,

There are various factors due to which a hard drive can fail; below are some reasons:

• Improperly closing a program, turning of your computer before closing files, and installing new software can cause files to become corrupted.
• A hard drive also includes controller electronics, which occasionally fail.
• Software or firmware damage may cause the disk to become unreadable, resulting in the inability to interact properly with the computer.
• The functions of the hard drive can be impaired by human tampering with the system files. Accidental deletion of files imperative to the disk drive is not uncommon. Improper installation and removal of files from a computer can cause the hard disk to malfunction.

Note: A hard drive can fail at any point of time since it has a lot of moving parts inside it.  So, I will suggest you to do a regular backup.

Though there are no known issues with the components that are shipped with this system, I would recommend you to run the Dell diagnostics to check the hard drive functionality on your system:

• Restart your system and keep tapping "F12" as soon as the Dell logo appears.
• Highlight "Diagnostics" using up and down arrow keys and press enter.
• Press “y” when the color bars are displayed.
• If the diagnostics pass, you will be prompted “Do you want to run the remaining memory test”.
• Press “N”.
• If the diagnostics fails, you will get an error message along with an error code.

If the diagnostics pass, you can be rest assured that the hard drive is working fine on your system.

Keep me posted with the results of the diagnostics. Please reply if you have any questions.

Vikram M:

After selecting Diagnostics, the "Pre-boot System Assessment Build 4127" tests began immediately.  I got to the color bars (both vertical and horizontal) which were fine, so I clicked Y for yes.

Some memory tests then commenced automatically, although I could have stopped them (according to a message at the bottom of the screen) by tapping the Escape key.  But I let the memory tests run, to assure that there were no problems there.

After this initial memory test, I got a message that the "Hard Drive - DST Short Test" had passed.  Of course that was good news, but I wish I knew what DST meant (I don't think it meant Daylight Saving Time!).  In any case, I would have preferred a longer and more thorough Hard Disk test.

At this point I got the message "No problems have been found with this system so far.  Do you want to run the remaining memory test?  This will take about 30 minutes or more.  Do you want to continue? (Recommended) Yes or No."

I selected Y and ran the remaining memory tests.

I think there were no memory problems --- none were mentioned at the end of the memory tests --- but I don't know if some problems occurred during the tests, because there was no log.

At the end of all memory tests, I got a message "Pre-boot System Assessment Complete.  No Diagnostic Utillity Partition identified.  Please select OK to reboot your system."  I did a Google search and read several articles, and I THINK (but am not sure) that the Diagnostic Utility Partition is a "hidden" partition that contains the Diagnostic software --- it has to be contained somewhere --- but I don't know what other use the Diagnostic Utility Partition has.

Three questions:

1) Is it possible that IF the Diagnostic Utility Partition WAS identified, that it would include a log of what the Diagnostic results were?

2) More generally, what other benefits might result if the Diagnostic Utility Partition WAS identified, at least when Diagnostics were run?

3) If there are benefits from an identified Diagnostic Utility Partition, how could I get it identified, at least when Diagnostics were run?

Thanks for your help!

R.N. (Roger) Folsom

Hi Roger,

Usually Dell computers are shipped with Recovery partition which contains diagnostics and recovery tools. If the operating system is re installed and all the partitions are deleted, you will come across the message "No Diagnostic Utility Partition identified". You can run online diagnostics to run the extended test on the hard drive by clicking on the link:  dell.to/QQhwAt 

Click on "Component" and select "Hard drive" to run the thorough test on the hard drive.

Alternativery, you can burn 32 bit diagnostics application on a CD or a flash drive:

Click on the link: http://dell.to/PBmv8w

• Click on "Single-file Download" and click on "Continue".
• Click on "Save" and save it to the desktop.
• Once it is saved to the desktop, right click on it and click on "Run as administrator" if your system has Windows Vista. Click on "Run" if your system has Windows XP.
• Follow the on screen instructions and you will get following screen:

• If you are using a flash drive, connect the flash drive to your system and click on "Install to a USB flash drive".
• If you are using a CD, insert the CD and click on "Create Bootable CD".
• Once done, restart your system and keep tapping "F12" as soon as the Dell logo appears.
• Highlight "USB" using up and down arrow keys in case you are using flash drive.
• Highlight "CD/DVD Drive" using up and down arrow keys in case you are using CD
• Hightlight "Test System" using up and down arrow keys.
• Select "Custom test" and select "hard drive" to run the diagnostics.

Please reply for any further questions.

Vikram M:

Thanks for the instructions about how to run the diagnostics from the link dell.to/QQhwAt, or burn a 32 bit diagnostics application on a CD or a flash drive using the link: http://dell.to/PBmv8w.

Regarding the the CD or flash drive approach:  I think that you are saying that the link http://dell.to/PBmv8w could burn diagnostics onto a CD, using my Dell C840's WinXPsp3 (remember that my new-to-me Dell E6500 now has Win7sp1 installed, so I don't have a Vista computer any more).  Presumably I would then move the CD from my C840 into my E6500, and run the Diagnostics from there.   Please let me know if I have misunderstood you.

Thanks also for your explanation of why the I got a "No Diagnostic Utility Partition identified" message.  But getting that message is still a bit of a mystery.

Your explanation is plausible, except that when I did a clean install of Windows7 Sp1 I did NOT deliberately delete a Diagnostic Utility Partition because I didn't know one existed.  Instead, as you recommended, I did delete partition D: and turn it into unallocated space, and then I told the Windows7sp1 installation to replace partition C: (which contained Vista Business).

But maybe the installation wrote over not only partition C: but also the Diagnostic Utility Partition.  Or maybe when I bought the E6500 laptop and Vista Business was the operating system, someone or something had already deleted the Diagnostic Utility Partition.

In any case, just now I checked Disk Management, and the only partitions shown are C: and D: (I re-created D after installing Win7sp1).  But I don't know if Windows7sp1 hides hidden partitions.  (On the Dell C840 on which I am writing this, in its Disk Management I CAN see the "hidden" FAT partition --- just ahead of partition C: --- if I am in the Administrator account.)

Nevertheless, a mystery remains:  I didn't get the No Diagnostic Utility Partition identified" message until AFTER the diagnostic tests had been run (hard disk and memory).  If my E6500 computer has no Diagnostic Utility Partition, then how was it able to run almost an hour of diagnostic tests?  The Diagnostic software must have been somewhere!  (I got it by starting the E6500 computer and using F12, as you had told me to do.)

If you have any explanation of where the Diagnostic software is located, I'd very much like to know where it is.

Alternatively, if I re-install Windows7, should I first create some unallocated space in front of partition C:?  If so, how much space does the Diagnostic Utility partition need?  Or could I put the Diagnostic Utility partition after partition D:, or in-between C: and D:?  And of course I have no idea how to create an Identified Diagnostic Utility Partition.

Thanks again for the help.

R.N. (Roger) Folsom

Vikram M:

In a nearby message to you (dated 09-25-2012 6:04 AM), I forgot to ask a question:  In the Diagnostic alternatives you described (online at http://dell.to/QQhwAt, and CD or Flash drive at http://dell.to/PBmv8w), do any of them create a step-by-step log of the results?

A log would be very useful, especially for memory results.  I do have the patience to watch the hard disk tests to see that all pass, but watching 30 minutes or more of memory tests to confirm that every test passed would be very tedious --- and probably one's recollection of test results (either for hard disk or memory) probably would not entirely accurate, as each test's presence on the screen is very brief, and writing notes by hand when not-passed results occur needs to be very quick.

Roger Folsom

Hi Roger,

You are correct; you can use your Dell C840 to burn the diagnostics into a disk. Disk management in Windows 7 will show hidden partitions, however, there will not be any drive letter assigned to it since it's a hidden partition. The express test that you ran on the system is initiated from the motherboard, however, Diagnostics partition utility is initiated from the hard drive on a seperate hidden partition. The 'Diagnostics Utility' is configured at the factory. I understand that you would like to re-create the recovery partition to be able to use the diagnostic feature. I am researching if the same can be re installed.

As far as the step-by-step log is concerned, I am afraid that may not appear in the diagnostics.

Please reply for any further questions.

Vikram M:

Thanks for the information above, and thanks for researching to see if the recovery partition can be created and used the diagnostic feature.

But there's no rush, because my Dell Latitude C840 running Windows XPsp3 is adequate for me currently.  I won't really need the new-to-me Dell Latitude E6500 until April 2014 (when Microsoft support for WinXP will die), although of course I hope I don't have to wait until then to use the E6500.

R.N. (Roger) Folsom

Hi Roger,

I appreciate your patience. We are still researching if there is any possible way to recreate Recovery partition.

Hi Roger,

Thank you for your patience. We have tested that the recovery partition can be recreated using the Dell resource disk. We have sent those steps to the product group team to get them verified. Do you have the Dell resource disk (Drivers and applications) that comes with the system?

Vikram M:

Please excuse my tardy reply.  I have been swamped with other projects, so setting up my new-to-me Dell Latitude E6500 laptop --- purchased on eBay, because I couldn't find it on the Dell web site, although I've since discovered it is there in the "Dell Outlet Business and  Education" website --- got delayed.

The E6500 laptop that I purchased came with Windows Vista installed, and Vista has a bad reputation (and Microsoft probably will drop support for it within the next few years).  So I acquired an OEM Dell DVD with Windows 7 sp1 on it.  It included many languages in addition to English.  So I doubt that it has room to include the contents of a Dell resource disk.  I remember those because I still have them for my two long-ago purchased Dell Latitude computers (both now using WinXPsp3), a C800 that I use for special projects, and the C840 on which I am writing this message.

I would be happy to purchase an E6500 resource disk from Dell if they still are available (given that the E6500 is not a current model).

As an alternative, by a Google search, I found a reasonably priced ($44.99) Dell Latitude E6500 Recovery Disk Set, at  http://www.recovery-disks.com/dell-latitude-e6500.html.  The description is "Dell Latitude E6500 Disk Set is a two disk set including the operating system for your computer as well as the most updated set of drivers and applications for your machine. Installation instructions included."  But I'm not sure that it is the equivalent of the resource disk that I need.

If you could tell me where to download the right "resource disk" from, I can easily do that, and then I am guessing that I copy the download to my own blank CD or DVD disk, and turn it into a resource disk.

Of course, as you have pointed out previously, instead of an on-HardDisk recovery partition created with the help of a Dell resource disk, I could create the equivalent of a recovery partition on a CD or DVD (or a flash drive).

Thanks for all the help that you have provided me.  And please pass on my thanks to your colleagues who contributed to figuring out how to create a recovery partition when one is missing.

Cordially, R.N. (Roger) Folsom

Vikram M:

An afterthought to my post of 10-13-2012:

If I bought from Dell a new E6500 hard drive, could it arrive with a recovery partition?  And could it also include a "resource disk."?  (Maybe I need to ask that from a Dell sales person, but I thought you might know the answer.)

Cordially, R.N. (Roger) Folsom

Hi Roger,

Thank you for appreciating our efforts. The resource disk cannot be downloaded. A resource disk and a new hard drive need to be purchased separately. You can purchase the disk from Dell sales. If you could send me a private message with the Service Tag information, I will see if I can send you the resource disk.

I have added you as a friend. Please accept my friend request by clicking on my name highlighted in blue and then click on “Friends” tab at the top and then click on “Request to Review” and finally click on “Accept” button.

I am sending you a private message as well. Click on “Inbox” to respond to the message and provide system’s Service Tag and contact details so I may access your system records and check for further course of action. You could also click on Start Conversation to send a private message.

Please reply if you have any further questions.

Vikram M:

I have just finished your instructions by highlighting your name highlighted in blue and clicking on Friends.  But after clicking on  the “Friends” tab, I could not find a “Request to Review” or an "Accept" button (a search for "Request" without the quotes did not turn up anything).  So I clicked on "Add as Friend," and got a "Send a friend request" box, which I used to send you a rather long message, including my E6500's Express Service Tag and Service Code.

But I don't know whether my message will actually get to you, because after I finished, the Del website en.community.dell.com/.../default.aspx

includes a "Cancel Pending Friendship," so I fear that I somehow left something undone.

Also, I checked my inbox (before sending my message) and there was nothing in it.  I WAS logged on to the Dell Community website.

Fortunately, I have saved my message (in Thornsoft's Clipmate, which I find extremely useful), so I won't need to re-write it if I need to send it to you again, somehow.

In short:  If you don't get a message from me, please let me know, either by email (you have my email address I think) or post a message here.

Cordially, R.N. (Roger) Folsom