NO NAME (I think is the Recovery hidden one): 2,50 GB.
= This partition has nothing to do with your recovery. You can expand this partition, if you want to. But you will not get any more partitions on the Hard Drive as it stands. The only other way you are going to get more partitions, is to remove the Diagnostic and Recovery, but, I would not recommend that.
You do have some options, although these might be a bit of overkill if all you're going to get out of it is another 2.50GB space. (did I read that right?)
First, if that "no name" partition is not currently being used (the partition obviously exists, but possibly has not been formatted, and therefore is not useable because it cannot be assigned a drive letter), you could just format it as NTFS and let Windows assign it the next available drive letter (probably F:, if your CD-ROM is using E:).
You COULD join that partition into another partition, but that comes with some caveats. A partition has to be contiguous drive space, and cannot be scattered around different areas of the drive. It would be easiest to join that to the C: partition, since that would result in a single partition that is already contiguous. It technically could be joined to the D: partition, as well, but the data on the drive would would have to be rearranged to accomlish that. Either way, a program that has worked well for me for this sort of thing is Partition Magic. That costs money, but there may also be a free version that will do what you need, but I can't really make any recommendations.
Also, just to point it out, you CAN have more than 4 partitions, but not if they're all primary partitions. If that last partition were created as logical, it could then be a container for more partitions, allowing you to go part the limit of 4.
The 2.5GB partition is for Dell Media Direct. It is only active on Dell Media laptops, such as the XPS series, and allows playing media without booting into Windows.
The 2.5GB partition is for Dell Media Direct. It is only active on Dell Media laptops, such as the XPS series, and allows playing media without booting into Windows.
Well, I have a Vostro 1700 with Dell Media Direct, if that partition is there maybe it has that function (I have not tested it), so that partition is not useless in any case maybe.
Edit: I pressed the Media Direct key with the computer off and, it works!, I'll test it with some formats, if not I'll try this http://shark007.net/index.html that says "You can choose any media player you want; everything will play.", maybe it can work.
In any case for only 2,50 GB there is no need to change the partitions.
With the current config, to keep the EISA and Media Direct partitions, the best solution could be resize C and D drives, but in that position they should be moved across the disk, Vista doesn't allow that but as mentioned Partition Magic (I think now is this http://www.partition-tool.com/ and free for home 32-bit OS) can, I would do the operation with the disk clean, only OS with no data for lighter operation.
But, if partitions are moved, could the OS boot?, as it has been moved from the cluster position recorded in MBR for that OS, or Partition Magic changes it (Linux Gparted doesn't)?, and would the Reovery System works?, I mean, Recovery System uses cluster positions or it only uses drive letter to operate (in this case something like "recover.exe D:\Dell\Windows\factory.wim C:", the command is fictitious).
I think how this can be managed by the user in a system with 1 TB HDD :emotion-2:
RobinBredin
4 Operator
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3.7K Posts
0
January 5th, 2010 07:00
Hi darksch,
= this is your diagnostic partition. = As it says, this is for your Recovery. = As it says = This partition has nothing to do with your recovery. You can expand this partition, if you want to. But you will not get any more partitions on the Hard Drive as it stands. The only other way you are going to get more partitions, is to remove the Diagnostic and Recovery, but, I would not recommend that.disord3r
112 Posts
0
January 5th, 2010 08:00
You do have some options, although these might be a bit of overkill if all you're going to get out of it is another 2.50GB space. (did I read that right?)
First, if that "no name" partition is not currently being used (the partition obviously exists, but possibly has not been formatted, and therefore is not useable because it cannot be assigned a drive letter), you could just format it as NTFS and let Windows assign it the next available drive letter (probably F:, if your CD-ROM is using E:).
You COULD join that partition into another partition, but that comes with some caveats. A partition has to be contiguous drive space, and cannot be scattered around different areas of the drive. It would be easiest to join that to the C: partition, since that would result in a single partition that is already contiguous. It technically could be joined to the D: partition, as well, but the data on the drive would would have to be rearranged to accomlish that. Either way, a program that has worked well for me for this sort of thing is Partition Magic. That costs money, but there may also be a free version that will do what you need, but I can't really make any recommendations.
disord3r
112 Posts
0
January 5th, 2010 08:00
Also, just to point it out, you CAN have more than 4 partitions, but not if they're all primary partitions. If that last partition were created as logical, it could then be a container for more partitions, allowing you to go part the limit of 4.
kirkd
4 Operator
•
5.2K Posts
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January 5th, 2010 18:00
The 2.5GB partition is for Dell Media Direct. It is only active on Dell Media laptops, such as the XPS series, and allows playing media without booting into Windows.
darksch
30 Posts
0
January 6th, 2010 02:00
Well, I have a Vostro 1700 with Dell Media Direct, if that partition is there maybe it has that function (I have not tested it), so that partition is not useless in any case maybe.
Edit: I pressed the Media Direct key with the computer off and, it works!, I'll test it with some formats, if not I'll try this http://shark007.net/index.html that says "You can choose any media player you want; everything will play.", maybe it can work.
In any case for only 2,50 GB there is no need to change the partitions.
With the current config, to keep the EISA and Media Direct partitions, the best solution could be resize C and D drives, but in that position they should be moved across the disk, Vista doesn't allow that but as mentioned Partition Magic (I think now is this http://www.partition-tool.com/ and free for home 32-bit OS) can, I would do the operation with the disk clean, only OS with no data for lighter operation.
But, if partitions are moved, could the OS boot?, as it has been moved from the cluster position recorded in MBR for that OS, or Partition Magic changes it (Linux Gparted doesn't)?, and would the Reovery System works?, I mean, Recovery System uses cluster positions or it only uses drive letter to operate (in this case something like "recover.exe D:\Dell\Windows\factory.wim C:", the command is fictitious).
I think how this can be managed by the user in a system with 1 TB HDD :emotion-2: