My new laptop came with two independent internal drives (1TB 500GB x 2), drives C and D. I have since partitioned Drive C. If I use the reinstallation DVD that came with the computer will I be able to reinstall the OS to the OS partition or will I have to delete the C and F partitions and format C as one single drive and install the OS to it instead. Would it be better to use the Recovery partition to reinstall and if so will it reformat Drive C during the process, leaving me with a single, non-partitioned drive. I suppose it doesn't really matter since I can always partition the drive after installation. Thank you in advance for your time and any assistance provided.
Thank you for your prompt reply, acrsn. I appreciate it very much. I spoke to a Dell agent, which of course was a waste of my time. Dell tells me that there is no bloatware in the Recovery partition or on the OEM reinstallation DVD. I've always wondered about that. We'll see. C.B.
you can install to whatever partition that you want to, all you have to do is click on the partition that you want to install to when it asks during the initial install process. simple.
If I were you I'd (I have done this dozens of times, lol) forget the recovery DVD and partition - why need all that junk/bloated OS? Just get Win7 with SP1 clean media from here, partition your C drive 100/400, install and use Daz loader to activate it....since you got new SLIC2.1 in your bios Da'z tool will only add cert and OEM SLP key.
no prob if your reinstall disc from Dell is anything like an EMachines reinstall disc there won't be any bloatware contained on it, the only thing that it will have other than a regular retail disc is the OEM drivers for your machine, unless they come on separate disc that was included with your machine also. most of the time the bloatware is only on the OEM recovery partition--this is because the image on the recovery partition is most usually a generic image that is used on every similar machine from the same manufacturer and that image is made after bloatware and drivers are installed. They rarely ever take the time to slipstream this same stuff into their reinstall media--unless they have a specific contract with a certain software maker that requires them to... of course this is all manufacturer specific too. some will, some won't. most that ship with reinstall media do not take the time to change the install disc at all. manufacturers that do not ship the discs but require you to make one yourself the first time you use the machine, these images will usually have the bloatware because the image you are burning to disc is the exact stuff that is on the recovery partition, such as most HP/Compaq machines...
The reinstallation is now in operation. I was given the choice to install to the OS partition of Drive C, which is what I wanted to do. Dell tells me that there is no third party software on either the Recovery partition of Drive C or on the Windows 7 reinstallation DVD that came with the computer. The bloatware can be downloaded from Dell's website. We shall see. Thank you for your prompt reply. I appreciate it. C.B.
Did you check out my update to my last post in this thread? I've never seen anything like this before. C.B.
Well, here we go; problem #1. I suppose that means the reinstallation DVD doesn't contain the Dell Utility partition. The installation did not detect a properly installed network adapter. I suppose I'll have to use this desktop, go to Dell's driver downloads and find the driver, burn it to a CD and install it on the laptop. I've never encountered this problem in any previous installation/reinstallation I've done on any of my computers. Oops! I just remembered I have a separate Dell supplied Drivers and Utilities installation disc that came with the laptop. Damn, I'm such an idiot. C.B.
I simply updated the thread post. C.B. For some reason the post didn't make it. It's not there. I'll repost the update when I'm done installing.
This is the update I was referring to: Update: Well, the installation is finished, except for all the updating. The only difference I notice is that my previous F partition on Disk 0 has changed to E and I'm showing Disk 1 as Drive D, which is as it was; however, I'm also showing, at the bottom of the list in Disk Management CD-ROM O DVD 5.23 GB Online and W7SP1_ULTIMATE (F) 5.23 GB UDF Healthy (Primary Partition). I've never seen this happen before during any other installation I've done. C.B.
I'm installing the drivers now. I've already taken the screenshots and they're on the desktop. I'll send you a screenshot as soon as they are installed and I have an Internet connection. I'm installing the chipset drivers first. C.B.
It's not too often that someone will reinstall an OS on a new laptop that is only eleven days old but I was determined to get my 32-bit gadgets working on my 64-bit laptop. I first did a clean install using the Dell reinstallation DVD because it contains no bloatware, placing the OS on the already existing reduced size OS partition, which had been reduced to 200GB using Partition Wizard, instead of reformatting the entire drive, leaving the recovery partition in place. The Dell supplied Drivers and Utilities DVD did not work properly, switching from English to Russian to Swedish to etc, etc, etc. so I again reinstalled using the recovery partition. I'm thankful that I had left the recovery partition in place because the only backups I had were based on the drive status before using Partition Wizard and I wasn't sure an image of the OS partition made before I reduced its size would work on the reduced size OS partition. Once I had reinstalled all my third party software on the recovered drive I decided to once again use Partition Wizard, which performed quickly and flawlessly the first time, to reduce my C drive OS partition to 200 GB. I decided to do a Windows Backup and Recovery backup first, which I placed on my D drive, a separate drive. It took only 15 minutes to complete. I also created a repair DVD using the same application. This time around Partition Wizard, during the resizing process, stopped working appx. 75% of the way to completion and produced an error code, of which I neglected to write down. It left a stretch of unallocated space, 12GB in size, on the left side of my OS partition, next to the recovery partition, in addition to the expected unallocated space to the right of the resized OS partition. After my attempts to merge this orphaned space into my OS partition on two occasions I ended up with the Dell boot initiator partition, the recovery partition, my OS partition and four additional logical partitions of various sizes, to the left and right of the OS partition. Talk about self-induced FUBAR! I was amazed at my incompetency. Live and learn. I decided to do a restore using the Dell DataSafe application but it wanted to reformat the entire C drive, eliminating the factory recovery partition. I don't need the Dell recovery partition but I always leave it in place because it takes up so little of my drive space. In addition, as everyone reading my prior posts in this thread knows, the Dell recovery partition is the active partition, not the OS partition. I didn't want to go through the hassle of using the recovery partition and once again spending hour after hour reinstalling my third party software so I used the Windows Backup and Restore backup, along with the repair DVD I had made before the attempt to reduce the size of my OS partition. Again, I wasn't certain that the larger OS Windows B&R image would successfully work on the reduced size OS partition. I selected the Windows B&R image made just before the Partition Wizard resizing attempt, along with the Windows B&R produced repair DVD, to fix the self-inflicted damage. It took only fifteen minutes to complete and my C drive was returned to its initial state. I was amazed at the simplicity of use and the successful repair of my C drive by the Windows backup and Windows B&R produced repair DVD. I'm going to leave the C drive just as it is, the same way it came from Dell. I am in no way badmouthing Partition Wizard. Whatever caused the mess I experienced was undoubtedly initiated by my actions in one way or another, even though I had successfully, and without any problems, used Partition Wizard previously. How does that old saying go? Ah yes, I remember; most computer problems are caused by what is situated between the chair and the computer. My 32-bit gadgets are now working on my 64-bit laptop, just as they have always worked on my 64-bit desktop. I had made a registry change with the desktop to get them to work; however, I made no registry changes on the laptop this time, as I had done the first time. Upon reinstallation of the laptop OS there was no 64-bit sidebar process running, as verified by using Task Manager. I uninstalled all the 64-bit gadgets that came with the OS and restarted the laptop. I then checked Task Manager again to verify that no 64-bit sidebar process was running and went to my x86 Program Files and executed the sidebar process from there. I checked the registry under HKCU>Software>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>Run and found that the 32-bit sidebar entry had been automatically produced. I added the 32-bit gadgets to my desktop and they work perfectly. Once again, I thank all those who have previously assisted me with my problems. I don't know what I would have done without your knowledge and your willingness to help. You have my respect and admiration. I made this post for one reason and one reason only and that is to acknowledge that stupidity and ignorance can be overcome with a little effort and common sense. C.B.