Inspiron 9300 HDD Hidden Partition

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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
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I am planning on upgrading my Inspiron 9300's HDD. I currently have a 40GB drive, which, for my needs just simply isn't enough (for school, namely programming). I want to upgrade to probably an 80GB drive, but there's one problem: the "restore disk" for XP is located on a hidden partition on the drive. If I remove the drive, and replace it with another one, the OS is essentially gone. So, my question is this: what can I do to save the hidden partition, and transfer it over to the new drive? I don't have the cash for another copy of XP, so saving the "restore disk" is the only option. So, is there anyone that can help, or am I just simply fvcked? Thanks in advance for the help. ;)
 
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bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
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Assuming you ordered your laptop with a DVD or CD burner then you can make your own XP CD by following these instructions
alternatively you can clone your present hard drive onto the new hard drive using Acronis TrueImage thereby saving you restore partition.
 
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bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
14,517
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71
btw the CD produced by the above method lacks the Dell specific hardware device drivers so you will have to download those separately from the Dell web site.
 
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yezhou

Senior member
Sep 13, 2004
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I know for the i9300 you'll need to install the "QuickSet" drivers on your own. Are there any others?
 
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bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
14,517
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the usual suspects of chipset, video, audio, modem, LAN & wireless (if installed) drivers.
 
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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
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OK. The thing is, I don't have a CD\DVD burner on my lappy, cuz otherwise, I'd just use Norton Ghost (which I bought). This makes things a little more complicated, and dumbass me forgot to mention that in my original post :eek: .
 
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fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
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Okay, I haven't done much with Dells but I'm pretty sure you can just take an XP CD (probably have to be OEM, Dell should have given you one), re-partition/format with that, and install Dell's drivers

At work I take out of box dells that have XP on them, re-partition/format with Win2K, and just load Dell's drivers. I doubt you want any of their crappy apps anyway :p
I'll ask the guys I work with, they've been dealing with Dell longer than I have
 
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bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
14,517
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71
Originally posted by: geforcetony
OK. The thing is, I don't have a CD\DVD burner on my lappy.
Click to expand...
in that case I suggest you get in touch with Dell customer care and tell them that you want a XP CD as you are unable to make your own.
In cases like yours where your laptop did not come with a burner they should supply you with the CD.

 
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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
907
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Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Okay, I haven't done much with Dells but I'm pretty sure you can just take an XP CD (probably have to be OEM, Dell should have given you one), re-partition/format with that, and install Dell's drivers

At work I take out of box dells that have XP on them, re-partition/format with Win2K, and just load Dell's drivers. I doubt you want any of their crappy apps anyway :p
I'll ask the guys I work with, they've been dealing with Dell longer than I have
Click to expand...

No, I didn't get a CD. I got a piece of paper that looks like a CD giving me instructions on how I go about restoring the OS. The OS is "installed" on a hidden partition that I have no access to on the HDD. When I restore the OS, it goes through a process that looks like Ghost 2003's DOS system restore procedure.

Do you guys really think that Dell would send me an XP CD because I don't have one, nor do I have the ability to create one? It would seem to me that the answer would be "NO", but I could be wrong. Also, do you guys think that it would cost me any money? Thanks for the help ;) :) .
 
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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
907
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Originally posted by: bacillus
If they are sympathetic to your situation then they will send you the XP CD for free.
Click to expand...

But in your honest opinion, do you REALLY think that they would actually send me one? Because if not, then I'm not even going to waste my time trying. I may call them soon, but if its a lost hope, then I'm not going to bother ;) .
 
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yezhou

Senior member
Sep 13, 2004
269
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Yes most of the time they will send it. If you get an agent that refuses, call back another time (or use chat, or whatever) so you get a different agent. Actually I just emailed them yesterday and they said they will send it. We'll see in a few days though heh.
 
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railer

Golden Member
Apr 15, 2000
1,552
69
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htw did you NOT get a system restore cd? Every pc I've ever bought since my 1st Packard Bell had a system restore cd...that makes no sense. I've had 3 different Inspirons within the past year or so, and all have had the hidden partition (which I always delete) and all have come with a systme restore cd wit xp on it. ???
 
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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
907
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76
Well, I sent Dell an e-mail. Lets hope that they get back to me with an answer. Also, lets hope that its the one that I want ;) .
 
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yezhou

Senior member
Sep 13, 2004
269
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geforcetony, better make sure they don't charge you for the CDs. I checked my order status and saw they freakin' charged me $23 for the CDs. Lame. Now I gotta go through the HELL that is Customer/Tech Support that Dell is known for. Arg...
 
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trinketsummoner

Senior member
Aug 24, 2004
695
1
81
My 600m came with an OEM XP disc. I have a desktop 8400 too with Win MCE on it and that didnt come with the XP CD, so i emailed Dell and they overnighted the MCE DVD for free to me.
 
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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
907
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76
Well, I got a response today from Dell, and they will be sending me the CD(s) for NO CHARGE!!! This makes me pretty happy, as now I don't have to go through the hassle of trying to save the hidden partition on my HDD!!! This really does surprise me too, as I didn't expect Dell to do a damn thing about this "problem" of mine.
 
roguerower

roguerower

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 2004
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Not trying to hijack this thread, but can someone format the entire hard drive, get rid of the hidden partition and have a happy ending?
 
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trinketsummoner

Senior member
Aug 24, 2004
695
1
81
Originally posted by: roguerower
Not trying to hijack this thread, but can someone format the entire hard drive, get rid of the hidden partition and have a happy ending?
Click to expand...


Thats what i did, just install XP and at the setup screen just delete all the partitions then install as normal.
 
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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
907
0
76
Originally posted by: tvdang7
bootleg windows
Click to expand...

Ya Right. I need this thing for DeVry, so an illegal copy of Windoze wouldn't be in my best interest. I don't need to get busted for it, though I do have to admit, it is unlikely that I would.
 
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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
907
0
76
Originally posted by: BlingBlingArsch
of what size is the hidden partition?
Click to expand...

On my machine its about 4GB. The total formatted capacity of my HDD is roughly 37GB, and Windoze sees it as roughly 33GB. Of course that has Dell's crapplets installed, so its a bit bloated :p .
 
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Fenuxx

Senior member
Dec 3, 2004
907
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76
Well, I received a package from Dell today. Its contents: A Windows XP-SP2 CD!!! It was shipped yesterday (6/06/2005). I am actually surprised that Dell did this, as I would have AT LEAST thought that I had to pay for it, but no. It was completely free!!! Well, I guess that settles the issue, but I would still like to know how I could go about recovering\saving the "hidden" partition on my hard drive before I replace it with the new one...
 
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