I know there's a reformat thread, but quick easy Q.

I need to reformat windows. I tried just uninstalling all the dell crap and cleaning the registry, however I've just really needed to go ahead and do a reformat.

I've gone through the hoops countless times, but this is the first time I've really hit a odd spot. I want to reformat, but I want to maintain the Media Direct and diagnostics.

I've only got what came with the system, the 3 CD's (works, win reinstall, and Dell drivers/utilities), and Ive read I'll need the Dell MD cd from Dell tech support to complete this (or is that true?)

Basically, my end goal is this:

Remove restore partition, make a partition for windows, a 15 gig partition for OS-X or other storage, and leave both media direct and diagnostics. What is the cleanest way to pull this off, and what do I need in addition to what I have (I have PM8 for dealing with the partitioning), and also, what issues will I run into with the MBR work?

If my questions were answered in other posts, I apologize, don't want to flood up the forum with repetitave threads.

I wanted to hold out till the vista upgrade was here (though I really want to buy a copy of ultimate, tho I hear there's a in vista version upgrade discount), but I can't deal with the random app crashes and remnants of the uninstalled dell crap. I've cleaned it pretty well, but in the end, its just too bothersome for the one machine I want to be stable.

 

I had 4 partitions.

1. 47MB Media Direct
2. 145GB Windows
3. 2GB Media Direct
4. 5GB Restore

I was able to nuke 2 and 4.

I put Windows on 2, and put some games on 4. Because of 3, I could not connect 2 and 4.

I did not have to run any repair utility or anything, and Media Direct worked the only time I used it. I don't plan on using it anyhow.

 

hmm, I wonder though is moving or resizing 4 using space from 2 would really mess things up though... Id like 4 to be ~10gigs more.

I'll get a screencap of my disk management so I can get/give a better idea of how my 80gig drive is laid out.

 

I don't think media direct is a necessary software. It's useless to me . I prefer to use windows to play media files. If u install K-lite codec, you can watch pretty much any kind of video format without any problem.

 

In case you didn't know, you cannot use OSX on any non-Apple machine. Please review SouthernGirl's install guide if you haven't already done so.

 

Some people have problems when they kill the Media Direct though. One user here can't even get Windows to install after killing MD.

I would remove it too, I just can't see ever using it. All my music is on an external hard drive, so, MD does not see it. MD just seems like a half baked stop gap idea to bridge the current scene with the future tech of Flash Ram which is supposed to allow MUCH faster boot times. I think this Flash Ram boot thing is part of Santa Rosa.

 

MD really just depends on the user preference. Some like it especially the new version. Some don't.

The guide has been taken down for today. I need to update it with Media Direct 3.0 information. Sorry for any inconvenience. If you have any specific questions, you can PM me with them.

 

Southern Girl, I'll pm you shortly about a few Q's on this.

 

Just as a reminder, please do not discuss illegal operating systems. We can help with all other issues with formatting, but we can not help you with the OS-X problems.

 

no prob, I had tried to word carefully because of that very thoughtline.

 

Thanks your always a great help

 

Tell me about it. I couldn't get anything to even recognize there was a drive for a few hours a couple of days ago. This was while I was trying to remove Media Direct. Be very careful while messing around with it.

P.S. - I did manage to successfully remove media direct. Just don't ask me how I did it. I really don't know.

 

ok, so how about just reinstalling windows....what do I have to do to repair mediadirect if I don't mess with the partitions besides formatting the xp partition?

 

If you have MD 3.0, you shouldn't have to repair it. It should work, so before you go playing around too much after formatting, test it to see if it works.