Is there a way of fixing access to the dell restore partition after os upgrade?

[0roo0roo]

..

 

[Lanyap]

The i6000 uses the Symantec CTRL+F11 recovery process IIRC. You can delete the main partition and leave the recovery and diagnostics partitions in place and then repartition the main and install a version of Windows on it but I am not sure if you can still use the Symantec CTRL+F11 recovery process to access the recovery partition. I think that code may be in the MBR.

You can purchase original Dell OEM Windows XP recovery CDs from a number of places at reasonable prices. I have ordered several recovery discs from trustprice.com. This disc will do a clean install of Windows but not take it back to factory default image since Dell chose to add a lot of crapware to the i6000 - Musicmatch, etc.

$18.75 + $2.36 shipping for XP Home with SP3
http://www.trustprice.com/692805/microsoft-restore-microsoft-windows-xp.html

 

[0roo0roo]

ah thanks.

shame they don't make a way to generate those discs from the hidden partition..ah well.

 

[0roo0roo]

hm, clonezilla could image the entire disc including the hidden partition right?

 

[Emulex]

just get a regular image and activate it using your legal right to use slic2.1 license. that way you can load the drivers manually and have no carpware loaded.

That is what i do - it's darn near impossible to uninstall most a/v products 100%.

 

[0roo0roo]

You mean the win xp oem?

What key do you enter during install, the one on the back? I seem to remeber that not working once before, but that was long ago.

 

[Lanyap]

hm, clonezilla could image the entire disc including the hidden partition right?

Yes. You could clone to a new hard drive and play around with it and still have your old HD with original image. I've done this with Dells.

I believe the i6000s used IDE and not SATA drives. You can still get them from Newegg but the price tends to be higher than the newer SATAs. I think I had a 60GB HD in my i6000.

 

[Lanyap]

You mean the win xp oem?

What key do you enter during install, the one on the back? I seem to remeber that not working once before, but that was long ago.

Yes, I believe he is referring to aquiring a vanilla XP Home OEM Windows install disc or image and using it with the license key on the COA sticker on the case. You have to make sure the version you install matches the COA license key version. So if your COA sticker says XP Home then you have to use XP Home OEM media.