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    Boot Media Direct only from a separate Partition

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by davron, Dec 8, 2007.

  1. davron

    davron Notebook Evangelist

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    Hi,

    I got a 1520 and when I shut it down and press the media direct button - Vista boots up and THEN opens media direct, WITHIN Vista.

    I thought Media Direct is supposed to boot itself, I thought it was designed to boot without booting the OS to save time to access your media?

    I saw a separate partition (hidden) on my friend's DELL called Media Direct (or something) but I don't seem to have it on mine,

    And I don't remember deleting any partitions,

    Currently I have a VIsta/XP dual boot with another partition called "Recovery".

    So my question is: is media direct supposed to boot by itself (without booting the whole OS) and if so - is there a way to make it do so on my pc,

    Thanks
     
    davron, Dec 8, 2007
    #1
  2. chipper3152

    chipper3152 Notebook Consultant

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    are you sure you are actually shutting down the computer and not putting it into hibernate?
     
    chipper3152, Dec 8, 2007
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  3. BSOD

    BSOD Newbie

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    From what I understand the computer must be completely shut down so that it boots from the Media direct partition...
     
    BSOD, Dec 8, 2007
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  4. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    Yes you are right - when DELL loads a laptop with an OS it comes with Mediadirect which can be booted by directly pressing the MD button.... I believe you might have deleted the MD or the Utility partition which might be the reason why MD is not booting up.... Recovery partition has nothing to do with MD....

    To get MD back working you need to format your hard drive and start from scratch and it is a waste IMO.... I once loved MD but it only causes more and more trouble while reinstalling the OS.... So better to not have it at all...
     
    TuxDude, Dec 8, 2007
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  5. davron

    davron Notebook Evangelist

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    Ok, I just shut it down fully and tried to boot MD. I press it, see the MD logo, then I see the BIOS password - type it in, press enter, then I see the OS menu with XP and Vista. I select Vista. Vista boots up and MD opens...

    I guess I've deleted the MD partition accidentally or it just doesn't work - as Ash.. said.

    Yea, I don't really need it but it's a waste of button :)

    Thanks
     
    davron, Dec 8, 2007
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  6. BSOD

    BSOD Newbie

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    Is there a way to make that button boot to something else....that you may need ?
     
    BSOD, Dec 8, 2007
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  7. TuxDude

    TuxDude Notebook Deity

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    TuxDude, Dec 8, 2007
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  8. davron

    davron Notebook Evangelist

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    Oh, that's great - thanks for the link Ash
     
    davron, Dec 8, 2007
    #8