Cloning Dell HD so that hidden restore partition works....

Hi Guys,

I have an Inspiron XPS M1710 with 120gb HD. I have purchased a 160gb HD and would like to clone the hard drive so that the hidden restore partition works.

What I have done so far;

On my original HD I have browsed the partitions and made any which were hidden - unhidden.
I cloned the HD using Acronis True image.

I tried the new HD and it boots XP and runs without a problem.
When I try to access the Dell Restore functions (CTRL + F11) all I get on the screen is a message referring to the PBR4 descriptor and it just hangs.
When I reboot it it just hangs.

Can anyone help???

Is there a special technique or application which clones Dell hard drives to preserve the full restore functionality?

Or how do I fix my cloned HD so that the restore functionality works?

Thanks,

Mark.

 

Which version of TI are you using? Any recent version should have full support for hidden partition but the key is to clone the entire drive rather than selecting partitions and then choosing them one by one.

 

Hi,

I am using Acronis True Image Home 2009 and using the clone disk option.

Thanks,

Mark

 

When the MediaDirect button is pressed, the LBA-3 code instructs the disk controller to expose the HPA, it temporarily swaps the MD partition descriptor into slot #4 ( PBR4 ) of the real partition table, sets that partition active, and proceeds to boot the now active partition. When the computer is powered off or rebooted, the HPA and partition table return to their normal states.

The reason your not able to clone the drive is also due to LBA 3. You can use Roadkil’s Sector Editor to zero out this area on your orignal HDD and then clone the partitions that True Image sees onto your new drive. After this your system will boot again , however if you want the Media Direct feature you must re-install/re-partition your HDD and this will wipe your whole HDD. If you do re-install MD it will create a new LBA 3 sector for you. You will also have to restore the missing partitions with true image again. You will also need to reduce the size of your primary partition to allow room for the MD partition. Due to the zeroing out of LBA 3 True Image will be permitted to use all the new HDD space hence the
Reason your new HDD was reported to be smaller than it actually was.


Partition Magic is one of the best programs to manage your now larger partition and permit the required space for MD to be re-installed.
If you don’t want a perfect clone of your original HDD then simply don’t re-install MD as you will still retain the functionality of Dell's Image Restore feature ( CNTRL + F11 ). Feel
Free to email me if you need more info

 

Hi Ph0enix

Thanks for your reply.

I'm a bit reluctant to edit my original hard drive.

Is there anything that can be done to the cloned hd to make the ctrl+f11 functionality work?

I can get to the original dell 'image' by booting ghost, but ultimately what I really want to do on my new hd is to load the original image, remove all the silly trialware software from it, install my basic laptop setup software then produce an image and transfer it back into the restore partition.

Alternatively, thinking outside the box, if I had a virgin hd and put it into my dell laptop, what would I have to do to it (edit partiitions/sectors) to setup the ctrl+f11 functionality to work on it? I understand that this situation can arise when cloning (clone software not fully aware of this config) but I guess must be a manual way of doing this setup.

I'm guessing they don't have a bank of magicians at the dell factory but a simple bit of software which sets up the hd's in this way

 

You have version 1 or 2 of Media Direct which has a HPA partition, if you can get your hands on Ver 3.x you can simply clone your orignal drive as ver 3.x doesn't have a HPA. From ver 3 and up the media direct partition is a logical partition and True Image can see it. I haven't tried this but i know for sure ver 3 and above are non-HPA partitions and the Media Direct discs once booted to can format your drive for MD to be installed.

I've read another post of yours on another forum and know your aware of goodells site. There is another quide that was created from the guide on goodells and simplifies this whole process and basically picks up where goodells left off. I think you will find this very informative.

 

Hi Phe0nix,

Thanks for the link, was an interesting article.

I checked my sector 3 as per the ariticle on my cloned hd and original hd and in both instances it was already all zeros. So when I cloned it was already zeroed out but it still doesn't work.

My media centre is version 5.1.2715.2812 if that means anything.

Thanks,

Mark.

 

I had ordered a Dell laptop and was reading up on cloning it which is how i ran across your posts. After reading the info on goodells i kept searching and found the link i sent you. I've read alot on Ver 1,2,3 and 4 of media direct yet haven't read any info on ver 5. Since i just received my laptop today i haven't had a chance to apply what i've read. Once i buy an enclosure for the hard drive i will try to clone it and will post my experiences here. My system is listed in the email Dell sent me as ver 4 but i don't know, all i done with it so far and turn it on and setup the fingerprint reader and then put it away. I am addicted to pc's and never give up when faced with adversity. Once i make a successfull clone i will post it here. Maybe untill that time you can post in the thread i sent you.

David