HDD size of my E1405 is less than ordered

I have received my E1405 Dual core with 1GB RAM and 60GB HDD. I configured the laptop as per the instructions and there are two drives C:/ and D:/ by default. D: is mentioned as backup, i am not sure why it mentioned so. When i calculate total capacity of both the drives (C: - 37.2, D: 12.5) total around 50GB only. Where is the remaining 10GB ? Did anybody face the same issue...

 

Yeah the advertised size of hard drives are always larger than the actual formatted capacity, that sounds about right for a 60 GB.

My hard drives on my desktop are 120 GB and 160 GB but windows shows them as 111 and 149 GB.

 

Did you happen to delete the spare partition? I have a 60gb and mine is divided as:
C - 32.4
D - 23.4
Total = 55.8

You won't have the full 60gb, but it seems like you might have 5gb as unpartition space or possible the restore partition. Another option is Media Direct. It is on the HDD, but I don't know how much it takes up and it is hidden.

 

Thanks for the replies. But i didn't delete any spare partition. When dell shipped it came with two drives c:,D:
Do i need to do something to get that partition space of 5GB.

 

I think there is a funda of base2 and base10 caluculation of disk space with respect to OS. I saw this Dell support site. But still as Southern Girl said i have 5GB less space after total calculation...



http://support.dell.com/support/top...d=53DED00BF63D11DA83667D9B96330098&l=en&s=dhs

 

a 60 GB HD is actually about 55.8 with absolutely no data on it

image partition is about 3-4 GBs

don't know if you have a 'mediaplay' (or whatever it's called) partition or not

 

Okay, lets go back to the beginning. Exactly what have you done? Did you repartition your HDD at all by using Partition Magic or some other software? Have you reformatted?

Reason that I am asking is that I have never seen dell send out a HDD split up into two partitions with one being back up. Normally Dell has their HDD set up as the following:
Partition 1 - Dell Diagnostics - basically a series of tests (49mb)
Partition 2 - XP Partition - majority of the space
Partition 3 - Restore partition - around 5gb

Partition 1 & 3 are not visible in "My Computer", so I'm wondering what you are seeing as the D: drive.

 

I didn't partition the HD. Dell shipped me with two partitions one is C: with all junk S/w included and the other is D: says backup with no content in it but still has 512MB occupied. I am wondering why dell did so?

 

Okay, well then i can guess that the other 5gb is your restore partition which you can only see when you are formatting XP or using some type of software.

I don't know why you have a second partition. Is it showing up in "My Computer" ?

 

Yes D: partition shows up in "My Computer". So does this mean 5GB is not for use..

 

administrative tools > computer management > disk management

will tell you what you want to know about your HDs and partitions

 

It shows same partitions and size which i mentioned. But restore partition is not visible as SouthernGirl mentioned.

 

You can use the 5gb, but you have to reformat or use software to delete it. The restore partition contains software that will return your HDD to factory state - aka first day you recieve it with all of the junkware on it. If you don't like the idea of reformatting, then it probably would be good to keep this partition. The only problem is that you can not edit the partitions in any way - else the restore partition will become useless and not work.

If you comfortable with reformatting XP, then chances are you will not use the restore partition. My theory is that if you have reformatted before and have the XP disc from Dell, then you don't need the restore partition, but that is just my opinion.

 

See this topic for more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte

The hard drive companies definition of a GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes.
Windows and all OS's define a GB as 1 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 bytes.

Do the math to convert and a 60 GB hd will be reported as 55.879 GB in Windows XP.

 

out of those, which would be safe to delete when i reformat? or can i delete them all, and use the media direct repair, to get that back?

 

delete partition 2 & 3, leave partition 1 alone would be the easiest way. If you leave partition 1 alone, then you are avoiding most of the problems associated with Media Direct errors.

 

i got my e1405 with the 60gig hd today and my C and D drives are the exact same sizes as the OP's.

I think the D, "backup" drive might be for the stupid Norton Ghost 10 trail software that's installed?

 

Yes, that's right. If you uninstall the Norton Ghost trial, on your next restart the D/Backup Partition will be deleted and consolidated into your main/c drive.

 

ya i got 55.4 gb or someething like that when i reformated my e1405 completely.

 

Yes it looks like the D: is for norton ghost. Looks like it is preinstalled. I had spoken to dell support today and they told
D: drive won't be there when dell ships from the factory. They told to restore the factory settings using PC restore by Symantec.
They even told hidden 5GB partition also will be added to C: when i do restore. can i do system restore or do i need to
format the system...

 

Look 2 posts above yours

 

Yes i looked at them. My question is when i do restore will i get the hidden partition or do i need to do reformat.

I think i confused myself. If i am correct i need to do reformat to get the hidden partition counted as it contains s/w to restore. Restore only clubs the c: and d: together. is this correct..

 

the ultimate answer = format the drive using the OS install disc...the one you paid an extra $8 for...


within that process you can kill all the partitions and make one big fat macadaddy one.

 

don't make just one partition - if you do that, you basically just screwed up your whole media direct partition, and will have to go through a ton of work to get it right.

As for the restore questions, unless dell changed it, your restore partition will be there even if you do a restore. It does not add in with your XP partition unless you do a format. Doing a restore, will format your laptop back to factory condition, so you will have all of the junkware.

 

but who cares about media direct??? I haven't been in a situation when i've even wanted it...and according to some other post i've seen, it only adds 20 minutes to the battery life anyways.

 

it just depends on the user. Some users like it, some don't. Personally, I'm with you - I can't stand media direct, and never reinstalled it after I formatted. At the same time, I know that it is a mess to clean up if the user does want Media Direct.