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    Dell MediaDirect should i keep it?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by tomcat, Jun 7, 2006.

  1. tomcat

    tomcat Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have just bought a 640m. I'm about to reformat the HDD and install xp pro, but i'm not so sure if i want to keep the mediadirect. What are the pros/cons?
    I hardly watch dvds and when i do i use windvd from windows. I sometimes listen mp3s and i use winamp...but not so often i use my laptop for multimedia.
     
  2. Amber

    Amber Notebook Prophet NBR Reviewer

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    Media Direct is basically for users that want to watch movies or listen to music while the laptop is off. It basically boots your laptop without loading XP so that you can have limited functions. If this sounds like something that you don't want, then don't worry about it. If you want this function, then all you have to do is repair Media Direct.
     
  3. catennacio

    catennacio Notebook Consultant

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    yes you should keep it. its good for parties, and it only needs little space on your hard drive. (im dont remember how much it comsumes thou, but should be less than 5gb)
     
  4. drumfu

    drumfu super modfu

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    yeah, but why waste 5 GB (or ANY space, for that matter), when you can do everything in windows anyways? that's another 5 GB for mp3s or something.
     
  5. catennacio

    catennacio Notebook Consultant

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    yeah 5gb is a bit too much. but we can always resize the partition and give it smaller size, then reinstall the media direct..i suppose it only take 1gb.
    edit: oh.. can we copy media files to it?
     
  6. ChangFest

    ChangFest Notebook Consultant

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    I think you've answered your question there. If you're content with viewing in the Windows environment, then there is no reason to mess with media direct. I got rid it when I re-installed Windows without even trying it.
     
  7. ejohnson0547

    ejohnson0547 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am not sure about the 640m you have, but I have the E1505 and the MediaDirect is installed on a hidden HPA (Host Protected Area) of the hard drive. Most normal harddrive partioning programs won't even see it and can't delete/resize/modify it at all. Even the Windows XP setup won't delete/modify it.
    I had three visible partitions on my system:
    47 MB Fat partition (Diagnostics)
    105 GB NTFS (XP)
    5 GB (Restore) partition.
    plus there is the invisible HPA MediaDirect partition.
    I deleted the 105 GB and 5 GB partition, I kept the 47 MB Diag partition. Reinstalled windows using all available space.
    Then used the MediaDirect repair utility to get MediaDirect working again. This repair utility just modifies the boot code to allow the computer to boot from the HPA if you press the MediaDirect button, or the normal partition if booting normally. You just boot from the CD, then enter the command as described and takes about one second to finish.

    So even if you delete all visible partitions you still have lost the drive space for the MediaDirect.

    The small first partition is required for the repair utility or the boot code to boot properly into MediaDirect. So I decided to keep the Diag, install XP and repair MediaDirect.
     
  8. doughy

    doughy Notebook Consultant

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    i deleted my hpa partition but now my mate wants to but i cant remember how, any guides or advice please?
     
  9. shinji257

    shinji257 Notebook Deity

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    I'm not sure how to do that but my Media Direct partition only takes up 2GB of space. Also it is not HPA but I have MD3 on my laptop.

    55MB Diag
    105GB Windows XP
    2GB Media Direct
    4.64GB Restore