The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    100MB unnamed partition on factory install?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Specialista, Mar 20, 2010.

  1. Specialista

    Specialista Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    21
    Messages:
    92
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    What does this contain? What would I lose if I delete this partition?

    Is this where Dell Diagnostics accessed by pressing F12 at the boot screen lives?
     
    Specialista, Mar 20, 2010
    #1
  2. Saisei

    Saisei Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    108
    Messages:
    869
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    You can remove it if you want, it's always on new systems. The partition holds some files on it.
     
    Saisei, Mar 20, 2010
    #2
  3. Specialista

    Specialista Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    21
    Messages:
    92
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Do you know what those files are? I would not like to throw out some cool toys, especially the Diagnostics.
     
    Specialista, Mar 20, 2010
    #3
  4. dimodi

    dimodi Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    26
    Messages:
    270
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    LOL! This is funny, especially as your pic is like ?
     
    dimodi, Mar 20, 2010
    #4
  5. dg1261

    dg1261 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    95
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Which OS? Is this still the factory partition layout on an original disk, has the disk been repartitioned, or has the OS been reinstalled from CD/DVD?

    XP systems came from the factory with a small 'DellUtility' partition at the front. This was usually (always?) less than 100MB (typically around 40-60MB) and contained the F12/Diagnostics utility. It's expendable, but you need to edit boot.ini in the XP partition or XP won't be able to boot again. The 'DellUtility' partition was followed by the OS partition, and a 3-5GB 'DellRestore' partition at the very end. For a time, some systems came with the OS partition split in two, with one part labeled 'Backup'.

    Vista systems also came with the 'DellUtility' partition. Again, it was usually less than 100MB and contained the F12/Diagnostics tool. This was followed by a 10GB 'Recovery' partition, and the OS partition occupying the rest of the disk space. The OS partition was both 'system' and 'boot'. Vista doesn't use boot.ini, therefore both of the non-OS partitions could be deleted without incident.

    Win7 systems also come with 'DellUtility', 'Recovery', and OS partitions. Unlike Vista systems, however, the 'Recovery' partition is now the 'system' partition. The 'DellUtility' partition can be deleted without incident, but be careful with the other two because the 'system' and 'boot' partitions are no longer one and the same.

    If this isn't the original disk, or if you had erased the factory partitions and did a clean install from the Win7 DVD, the installation routine will create a 100MB 'system' partition, followed by the OS partition. If this is the 100MB partition you are referring to, do not delete it or the OS won't run.
     
    dg1261, Mar 21, 2010
    #5
  6. adam777

    adam777 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Windows 7 standard installation makes a 100MB system reserved partition.
    That is true for every Windows 7 installation, be it a Dell installation or an installation you did on your own.
     
    adam777, Mar 21, 2010
    #6