The Hidden Partition (inquiring minds want to know)

that partition contains the files for the dell restore utility that restores your system to the way dell sent it to you.

Assuming Inspiron of some type with MediaDirect installed.

 

Your partitions should be 1. small FAT partition with Dell 32 bit diags, 2. ~2-3GB partition for MediaDirect 3. Large NTFS partition C: for the o/s 4. ~4-7 GB hidden partition for Dell PCRestore, which is an image of the original factory load.

 

Bill-thanks for the official response. Yes, my machine is a I9400/E1705 with MD

Your answer is close, but isn't exactly what I have:

 

55mb FAT eide config (contains diags I assume)

3.29gb FAT32 76% full

69.76gb NTFS

 

This is what I see via the Computer Management gui.When I select "hidden" from the view menu nothing appears. 

 

 Am I missing something?

 

Regards,

 

Glenn 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, that's in the neighborhood of 73GB, give or take. I would guess you have an 80GB HDD. The missing 7GB or so would be the hidden partition with Dell PCRestore. In XP, it's hidden, and in Vista it is commonly the D:\restore drive.

Bill-Thanks for the prompt responses. I thought the "hidden" option in the gui would show it. Questions answered.

 

Regards,

 

Glenn

 

---

@Anonymous-Bill B wrote:
So, that's in the neighborhood of 73GB, give or take. I would guess you have an 80GB HDD. The missing 7GB or so would be the hidden partition with Dell PCRestore. In XP, it's hidden, and in Vista it is commonly the D:\restore drive.

---

As balaji said, the manufacturer's 80,000,000,000 is really about 74.5 GB, so don't try to make things add up to 80 GB. The two hidden partitions are covered here:

 

• Inside the Dell Utility Partition
  

 

• Inside the Dell PC Restore Partition

 

You do not appear to have a MediaDirect 3 partition, as that would show up as a 2GB hidden NTFS partition. Given your assertion that you have MD, and that the three partitions you're aware of are a bit short of 74.5 GB, it's possible you may have MediaDirect 2. That's completely hidden (even from Disk Mgmt) in an HPA. MD2 is covered here:

 

• Understanding the Dell MediaDirect Partition

 

If you're curious to confirm whether you have an HPA, my Dsrfix utility will reveal that.

 

 

 

Dan Goodell

 

 

Thanks, Dan. I probably should have linked to your site on my first post.

 

There should be 4 partitions on that system, sizes may vary- diags, PCRestore, MD, and XP.