my first gaming laptop - do AWs come with hidden recovery partition...

hi

the m15x will be my first gaming machine!

why?

because performance as finally almost meet portability

and frankly i most say it is the owning of alienware by dell that finally drew my attention to alienware
so the long time alienware fans my question is?

do alienwares come with hidden recovery partition?
also what does the respawn dvd do?
is it like the recovery dvd?
i have true image 11 and i was thinking i would just clone/backup the entire HDD and transfer it to the new hdd

 

The problem with AW Respawn is that it only restores the system back to the original factory install. You would have to then reinstall all the applications and drivers that you added since. In my opinion Respawn is not worth the money for what it does. I would rather pay $50 for recovery software so that I could restore my system to exaclty the way it was when I last used my computer.

 

Doesn't windows have built in functionality for pretty much every feature of the alienware respawn disc? I'd have a hard time justifying buying something that I already had included for free.

 

There is backup software in windows but it is not that good for one you will still need a windows CD to reinstall and THEN restore the backup.

 

My m99750 came with a free Windows Vista system restore CD that has the Vista OS and a drivers CD that has all of the factory installed drivers on it so that I can do a fresh install of the OS and restore the system back to the way it was when I first received it, but it will have the old drivers and no applications.
I really don't see what the AW Respawn CD does beyond that-I guess it is a little more convenient to use, but not worth the money.

 

any hidden partitions?

 

i don't think so if you want that get a Thinkpad from lenovo they have it, but other then that i think AW does not have it but you may be able to make it and have it back up on to it with some sort of software, oh if you find a what software it is tell me.

 

i have the m9750 and i dont think there is any hidden recovery partition like the ones in lenovo or sony laptops. and i think thats why AW supplies you with recovery cd's.

 

The Respawn kit is an image of the computer's hard drive taken after it was tested.

It will give you a fresh Windows install ready to go to work in a matter of minutes (10-15) with all drivers installed, reinstalling Windows manually usually takes about 40 minutes, plus installing drivers and all that.

They offer it as a time-saving solution.

You can make your own image of a clean Windows install, drivers, settings and with the programs you need the most with other software solutions. But it is all up to you.

I personally made an image of my computer's Windows install with the office programs and some graphics applications I need already installed so in the event of a Windows crash or if I want a fresh Windows installation I am ready to work in just a few minutes.

(keep in mind that these wipe the hard drive so make sure to backup all personal data or files that you need first)

 

"and frankly i most say it is the owning of alienware by dell that finally drew my attention to alienware"
That doesn't change anything. Dell owns AW but does not control them.

do alienwares come with hidden recovery partition?
No

also what does the respawn dvd do?
Restores your system with the drivers that came on it (makes it like the first day you opened it).

is it like the recovery dvd?
The recovery DVD just reinstalles whatever OS you have.

i have true image 11 and i was thinking i would just clone/backup the entire HDD and transfer it to the new hdd
Some people have had trouble with sound drivers not working properly when they transfered it over, but you shouldn't have any problems.

 

my 9750 has a respawn partition on it, it's called Respawn Recovery and occupies 7.8Gb...I wasn't going to pay $50 for it, but there it is...