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    M17 Recovery Question

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by panyihan, Dec 23, 2008.

  1. panyihan

    panyihan Notebook Consultant

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    Does M17 have hidden partition for system recovery like other brand laptops do?
     
    panyihan, Dec 23, 2008
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  2. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    i think all AW systems have the Alienware Respawn Utility, yes.
     
    whizzo, Dec 23, 2008
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  3. champs808

    champs808 Notebook Guru

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    I was surprised to see mine has 12 gigs parted off for recovery.
     
    champs808, Dec 23, 2008
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  4. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    hehe, i've got 139Gb available on a 160Gb HDD :)
     
    whizzo, Dec 23, 2008
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  5. champs808

    champs808 Notebook Guru

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    Me too :S

    /me heads to newegg to find the biggest 2nd bay hdd he can find.
     
    champs808, Dec 23, 2008
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  6. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    500gb is the largest 2.5" HDD available right now.
     
    whizzo, Dec 23, 2008
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  7. Oceanus

    Oceanus Ambassador

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    That is, all AW systems that opted to go with Vista.
     
    Oceanus, Dec 23, 2008
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  8. marius

    marius Notebook Consultant

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    SO I shouldnt worry about 'norton ghost' or 'acronis true image' when i receive it?
     
    marius, Dec 23, 2008
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  9. CooLMinE

    CooLMinE Notebook Deity

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    Is it possible to remove that hidden partition btw ? Cant seem to modify/delete it.
     
    CooLMinE, Dec 23, 2008
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  10. Flashback Jack

    Flashback Jack Notebook Consultant

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    You'll need a non-destructible partition program -- something that doesn't require you reformat the whole disc. Find and download the latest Hiren boot
    CD. It has a load of those on the disc.

    - F
     
    Flashback Jack, Dec 23, 2008
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  11. CooLMinE

    CooLMinE Notebook Deity

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    Using EASEUS Partition Manager 3.0 since my Partition magic doesnt work in Vista apparently.

    Tried again and apparently that program can resize/delete the partition. Whats on that partition again ? (alienspawn ?). So pretty much its useless if you dont own the Alienspawn dvd ?
     
    CooLMinE, Dec 23, 2008
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  12. Flashback Jack

    Flashback Jack Notebook Consultant

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    I wouldn't be so quick to draw that conclusion; perhaps there's a fresh Alienware Vista image on the partition, to which a bootstrap program (AlienSpawn) calls forth if you need to restore your OS. Seems to me it might be similar to what Acronis products do, in which case you mightn't outright need the DVD.

    - F
     
    Flashback Jack, Dec 23, 2008
    #12
  13. CooLMinE

    CooLMinE Notebook Deity

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    Think that partition is part of the AW's alienspawn, basically its like restoring an image of the laptop as it came, Vista, drivers and a few softwares.

    Which in my case its useless since most of the drivers are going to need updating and i dont use any AW software.

    So I think ill just wipe that partition and add the free space on C: since i have all the drivers on an external drive and the Vista dvd if i need to reinstall it for any reason :)

    edit: Already tried the f10 while booting (alienspawn) since i had a virus the same day i received my laptop (sigh) and basically the only thing it does without actually owning the Alienspawn Dvd, which you must purchase when you buy the computer or else you can buy that after that (at least thats someone in AW's staff told me, which doesnt sound right but ow well..) the only thing it does its formatting your drive and then ask you for the Alienspawn dvd (which you wont have).

    So in my opinion if you dont own that dvd that partition is pretty much useless.
     
    CooLMinE, Dec 23, 2008
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  14. tanamerra

    tanamerra Notebook Consultant

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    CoolMinE,
    Interesting. i had a Trojan virus the same day i got my M17 from Alienware also. It was " C:windows/syswow64/oem/oscust.exe". Anybody else with the M17 have it?
     
    tanamerra, Dec 23, 2008
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  15. CooLMinE

    CooLMinE Notebook Deity

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    CooLMinE, Dec 23, 2008
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  16. azuma82

    azuma82 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yes Bitdefender found 1 in the Cyberlink Power DVD first Day i was become..... :cool:
     
    azuma82, Dec 23, 2008
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  17. panyihan

    panyihan Notebook Consultant

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    how can I buy the alienware recovery dvd?(I've already placed my M17 order)
     
    panyihan, Dec 23, 2008
    #17
  18. fusionsenses

    fusionsenses The Unbannable

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    Download a free image software and get a Dvd-R, then you get your own respawn.

    Just image it before doing anything to your m17. I think AW staffs laugh their off when customers order the respawn dvd.
     
    fusionsenses, Dec 23, 2008
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  19. CooLMinE

    CooLMinE Notebook Deity

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    Nah not really, its really handy for people that dont know how to image and restore a hard drive. Since its a f10 key in dos and a few "next" clicks.

    Id say it might help a lot of people :)
     
    CooLMinE, Dec 24, 2008
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  20. Flashback Jack

    Flashback Jack Notebook Consultant

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    I got a "recovery DVD" with mine, but I know I didn't specificially order the AlienSpawn one. There a difference between the two? I'm assuming the recovery CD restores a vanilla Vista, missing all the Alienware drivers and such.

    - F
     
    Flashback Jack, Dec 24, 2008
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  21. panyihan

    panyihan Notebook Consultant

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    So...I can not do factory reset to my system without that DVD? My ASUS G1S can do this without any DVD. It just uses hidden partition.
     
    panyihan, Dec 25, 2008
    #21
  22. CooLMinE

    CooLMinE Notebook Deity

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    Recovery did basically only install windows without any drivers.

    Alienspawn basically restores an image to make it like when it arrived.
     
    CooLMinE, Dec 25, 2008
    #22