Re-installing Media Direct - Is it worth it?

I've clean installed Vista Ultimate on my laptop. I was wondering if i should reinstall the Media Direct Stuff. I already have a patition set up for it. So i it worth reinstalling or just leave it?

 

I was wondering if it was worth it too, but maybe for another reason. Les said it was nice to play DVD's and do stuff with pictures and whatnot without booting up, but I'm not sure if that's worth it.

Anyway, don't mean to hijack your thread, but do you have a guide you followed for a clean install? I was going to follow the one Les made, and I still may, but his includes Media Direct which I don't think I need. Thank you

 

benna, did you install it all onto one partition or did you install it on two? What program do you use to repartition?

I'd say leave it. Mediadirect could come in handy as it also allows quick access to applications like Microsoft Word and stuff, not just for media. Though I dont picture myself using it and I havnt tried it out myself either, it just still feels nice to have in the event I ever feel like word processing or doing work without booting up the whole thing. I dont see why I would, but why not. lol.

Ive been having some trouble following the sticky thread. I mean its easy to follow, but I would like to know more about partitions cause it keeps messing them up.

Its very odd, Ive been experimenting many times now. It is very weird. This is what happens:

Mediadirect to Repartition
Option 2: Specify C Drive to 207GB (Max)
Vista Install to Partition 3 15GB
Result after Windows Loads - D Drive: 207GB C Drive: 15GB
---------------
Mediadirect to Repartition
Option 2: Specify C Drive to 207GB (Max)
Vista Install to Partition 2 15GB
Result after Windows Loads - D Drive: 0 bytes C Drive: 207GB
----------------
Mediadirect to Repartition
Option 2: Specify C Drive to 10GB (Max)
Vista Install to Partition 3 OR 2 15GB 207GB
Result after Windows Loads - C Drive: 10GB D Drive: 0 bytes
---------------------------
Mediadirect to Repartition
Option 1: All go to C Drive
Vista Install to Partition 2 215GB
Result after Windows Loads - C Drive: 215GB
------------------------

From what I can tell, the recovery D drive is gone forever, but the #1 hidden recovery partition is still there. Im comparing the differences between the two systems, one formatted and the other not formatted and the folder structure really is basically the same thing with a few added folders. Its not as bloated as I expected. It is the least bloated out of all the laptops I've ever owned. Just now im installing all the drivers, and the folders created as a result of installing new drivers is identical to the ones before I formatted so they are not linked to the registry or anything like that.

I think I will just keep it the way it is and not reformat my new one.

Just to let you guys know... if your planning on reformatting, there are 4 partitions on the M1530.

1) Recovery Partition (Hidden)
2) Windows C
3) Recovery D
4) Mediadirect Partition (Hidden)

When you follow the steps of the Stickyed reformatting guide, the mediadirect does repartition but does NOT remove the hidden recovery partition. Hence why when you install Windows Vista after the Mediadirect step and you get to choose what partition to install it on, you have the options of Partition 2,3, or 4 and it doesnt show 1. The only way to do anything with it, is to use repartition software.

Also keep in mind that the recovery partitions is the only thing that helps you in restoring your PC to factory state. So you should definintely back it up even though you might not use it. Who knows, maybe one day you will want to sell it after 4 years.

 

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but my plan when I get my laptop is to completely format, and install Vista 64-bit. I do not need MediaDirect, so I'd really like to remove that partition. The recovery partitions seem a waste given they likely contain drivers for 32-bit Vista. If I was to remove both the Recovery Partition and the Hidden Recovery partition, I guess that would render the restore discs useless? Can I at least remove one of them?

 

You can remove the #3 Recovery D partition for sure. Though I am unsure the role the Hidden recovery partition (#1) plays in the whole thing. I think it would be best to leave the hidden one intact unless someone can explain what exactly that hidden recovery partition is used for.

If you really just want to kill the whole recovery partitions, you can use a partition program to merge all of the partitions into one or do whatever you like, though you just will never be able to get back to factory state, for such a say, you want to sell your notebook in 4 years or something.

 

Media Direct.. I'm on my 3rd laptop now that's got Media Direct intalled on it. Each time, I've told myself "hmm neat feature, I might use this one day". But.. I never did.. not even once I guess that others may have used it, and enjoyed it much. Just not me personnaly. My laptop is turned on almost 24/24. I just have no need for it.

 

you can follow the sticky post w/o the media direct. media direct just will not work. which i did not worry about. I have had it for years and never used it.

 

For clean install, i recieved the laptop with two visible partitions. One the Local Disk (C and RECOVERY (D Partition. The media direct partition was hidden but it worked.

What i did is, just formatted the C drive as it is and clean installed vista onto it. The RECOVERY and MEDIA DIRECT is still untouched and lying there but Media direct wont but up since it lost its partition structure and will have to set up media direct again, by just popping up the disk and install it onto the current MEDIA DIRECT partition.

I was wondering if i should do that.

 

Here is my partition structure. I will be installing media direct onto the partition marked BLUE

 

I've had two laptops with it, and have never felt the need to use it other than boot it up once to take a look. I always eventually delete the partition and never regret it.

About the only benefit I could see is if you wanted to watch DVD's somewhere (maybe an airport) and didn't have access to a power outlet. My guess is that booting to MediaDirect is somewhat less battery consuming than booting to a full version of Windows. But I'm only guessing.

 

I'm wondering about that as well (power saving issue) Fountainhead. However, Windows has good power saving features built into it, which works in the user's favor. Does Media Direct? A valid concern.

 

Is the EISA Configuration drive in benna's picture the hidden recovery partition? If so, at 118 meg it may we well be kept.

 

Yes, that is the hidden recovery partion. I guess I'll just keep it for the heck of it. Benna, what program did you use to split partitions? Also when you followed the mediadirect step, did you just select option 1 and install everything onto the C drive?

 

Im the same, i have a few dells and have never used media direct once, i cant see the point in it

 

+1 for never even trying it. I don't usually just sit down and watch stuff, have a lot of other programs running so MD is kind of useless to me.

 

No, No changes to the partition. Just clean installed Vista onto C:

The 118 MB is automatically left when formatting completly. It is allocated automatically..

 

Wait so if all you did was do a clean install of vista with the vista CD without using the mediadirect, shouldnt all the other partitions remain intact? So all you have to do is just install the Mediadirect to windows and not have any need to repartition.

In other words, does doing a clean install of Just vista format the C drive then install it, but leave the D drive and stuff intact? Shouldnt mediadirect be intact too?

 

But there is a partition code set up factory default. I mean if i install it on Windows it would be of no use. It will be just like Win Media Center. The main feature is to boot directly and that wont work if the partiotion structure is lost. WIll have to reinstall

 

Yeah, but what Im saying is, what you did was you didnt use the Mediadirect Cd at all. All you did was stick in the Vista CD and reinstalled it by choosing the C drive as your installation drive. So what it did was automatically format the C drive, then reinstall Vista onto the drive.

The other partitions like #1 Recovery hidden, #3 D: Recovery, and #4 Mediadirect (Hidden) were completely untouched right?

So can't you just insert the Mediadirect CD after windows is booted to just install it so you have the drivers in order to make it work like normal to boot directly?

 

I don't know about the current version of MD, but I can tell you that on my previous XPS notebook, that wouldn't work. The partitions were there, but they were no longer bootable in the way they were before, even if you tried to install MD back to the existing partition after the fact. I'm guessing that the Master Boot Record gets altered during the Vista/XP install and screws it up.

I've not tried the method of partitioning directly with the Media Direct disk, mostly because I don't care. But that method would probably leave media Direct intact and bootable. I don't know if the recovery partition still behaves normally though. That one might get lost.

 

I am in the same boat. I have reinstalled. I did not get a MD cd so I could not even try to repair. Tech support tech is sending me a cd and will call me this weekend to help me fix. I really do not even know if I want to. I know I do not care. I will have a fix sunday nite after my call but I will probably just delete that partition and the recovery partition, if i can find a free partition utility, and make a knew partition from the that space for my own OS image backup.

 

Yes, he is right. The master boot record gets altered and it will no longer be useful even if Media Direct is installed on Windows and the data is still on the partition. The one one WIndows is different from the media direct installed on the 2.5 GB partition.

Inorder for it to boot, i should be reinstalled again on that 2.5 GB Partition.

 

The more I think of this, the less inclined I am to upgrade. Even if Im not going to use Mediadirect, it still renders that home button useless on my laptop. Plus Mediadirect can be used for word processing by loading up office, etc.

On top of that, all the risks that come with repartitioning and people having problems getting it to work or essentially screwing up their boot sectors causing them to be unable to boot up.. its really really making me think twice. I might just not reformat at all.

 

if you have the media direct dvd all is still good. i just did not have mine but if you have it everything will still work. if you do not have it dell willl send you one. mine is in the mail

 

Media Direct doesn't work with the nvidia 176.16 video drivers on my M1730. I ended up buying Corel WinDVD + BluRay (Corel's CS is a joke, but their app works great once you download the microsoft C++ 5.0 libraries).

 

By default without reformat, the partition with media direct takes 2.5GB whereas after reformat, the partition for media direct takes of 3.0GB.

Also the hidden recovery partition that is 86MB initially is shrunken down to 46. No clue what impact that has, but doesnt sound great. There is no way to shrink the mediadirect partition down to 2.5GB like the default or it causes bootup problems.

The D Recovery partition that I just made from my C drive is only 9.54GB down from the original 10.

It feels stupid to sacrifice 500MB just for Mediadirect if I reformat, so I think its better not to.

 

I'm just going to install Media Direct on the 2.5 GB partition just to give it a try.

And the point? I have a MEDIA DIRCECT Partition lying there uselss. Even if i needed to use it to store my data and merge it to C: all those partition will screw up. So i think its better to install Media Direct on that partition rather than wasting the partition space.

I'll let you guys know the result.

BTW, I've got 2 MEDIA DIRECT Reinstall DVDs over here. One with MD 3.5 and MD 3.0. Has any one got a changelog for these versions? The MD 3.0 Came with my M1210 and 3.5 with the 1330.

Edit: Anyone who doesn't have MEDIA DIRECT reinstall DVD, the ISO is on DEMONOID. Ill post the torrent link with the next post.

 

Wow wow wow wow....

Just wondering if i should install 3.5 now...or wait for the 4.0

 

B U M P

Guess like i've to reformat the hd and start from scratch for the MD to work.

What do you guys think of the 10.00 GB Recovery partition? Worth keeping? I've already taken a backup of the whole HDD, consider removing the RECOVERY Partition?

 

i'd rather keep a second OS there, which i find more secure proof, or just reclaim the free space.

if you are using another way of backuping, then more reason the reclaim the space

 

I think I'd rather wait the extra few seconds and just boot into windows lol then use Media Direct.

 

When I get my M1530, can I just wipe absolutely everything off and just have one big 320 GB partition with Vista on it?

That won't mess up any boot sectors or anything will it?

 

Ya you should be able to do that, but you will lose Media Direct and the recovery partition obviously.

 

Hmmm...to each their own...

I use MediaDirect all the time...and my m1710 is by no means portable...I commute to work, and it just ends up being my oversized mp3 player...

I use it on airplane trips to watch DVDs and either entertain myself or myself and my son...I've never done a comparison on battery usage between PowerDVD inside Windows and PowerDVD with MediaDirect outside Windows...

Boot up time is about 15 seconds from button press to listening to music...

I only have two annoyances with MediaDirect...(1) my m1710 does not have a MediaDirect button on the front panel (not MediaDirect's fault) and I would have to open the laptop anyway to get to the music (unless I could figure out how to have MediaDirect begin playing music once started), and (2) I can't get rid of all the music files from the MediaDirect database that loaded from my game folders...

MediaDirect is the closest that I have come to my Toshiba 5205 where, with the lid closed, I could press a single button, and the machine would boot into Windows, start Windows Media Player and play whatever music list I had been listening to when I last closed the player...

Yes, an mp3 player would solve all my problems, but I loved that I could just put in my earphones, press the button on the 5205 and go back to sleep without ever removing my laptop from its bag...I think the m1710 might get a little hot in the bag but I've never even noticed the fans coming on when in MediaDirect...

 

I'm waiting for the 64 bit Vista DVD to clean up all the mess.

The recovery partition, I have taken an image of the the full HDD when i booted the system for the first time after purchase using Acronis.

 

Here's my story, I couldn't bother re-installing it again, it was the cause of the problem to me. When I tried booting into windows it instead boots itself into MediaDirect, and what's worst is the Mediadirect directory was corrupted and showed itself a BSOD. Then I soon discovered that MediaDirect re-letters itself onto the C drive, and the OS which was originally installed now became the D drive; what a swap! No wonder it didn't boot as it was made to be.

Windows Restore didn't work, and worst still, the 10GB partition where the factory restore is, is also corrupted and had an error restoring to factory settings. Neat huh? Then I realised I had no choice but to re-install my windows manually. It was apparently a great time to do so, because my Harddisk Caddy arrived on the same day the boot failure began for my inspiron 1720. Neat timing....

Before reinstalling I still had a chance to backup my stuff in the original harddisk. My Documents and Pictures is the only place on harddisk that isn't corrupted. (Here's the trick, while Vista asks for your SATA drivers before installing Vista you just need to connect your external drive and viola! You're actually tricking Vista thinking you're looking for drivers, while you're actually transferring your stuff to your external HD. Just simply click and Drag the contents from Documents and it's done! You don't need to remove your HD and set as slave drive or anything like that at all. It was a success.)

So yeah, that was how it went. My machine is currently holding 2 harddisks now, and for 4 months and counting, I never had any problems with the mediadirect gone. But the 10GB factory recovery partition was irretrievable anymore.

Now pressing the mediadirect button on my machine booted me into windows. I like it that way, because as a matter of opinion, I don't really use it, I don't watch movies, (Only Simpsons and Family Guy episodes) and also my boot up time into Vista is about just 30 secs. Everything apparently loads in a flash and I have more options to enjoy using.

Here's what my partitions look like now:


2 harddisks, so 2 partitions in total.

 

I got rid of MediaDirect after my 2nd clean install and haven't missed it since.

 

Hey can sumbody tell which one is better MD 3.5 or MD 4.0 ?? and which will work with more than 2 HD partitions with vista as OS??