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    Vostro **XP** reformat bloatware/MD removal???

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by DJMaytag, May 22, 2008.

  1. DJMaytag

    DJMaytag Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey all,

    It seems like this removal is a big deal with the XPS and MediaDirect, but it looks like I may need to do this on my Vostro as well, as I can't seem to set my partitions up with PartitionMagic the way I want (like i have on my Inspiron).

    Can I just run the XP reinstall CD and reformat the drive, dumping Media Direct?
     
    DJMaytag, May 22, 2008
    #1
  2. Rodster

    Rodster Merica

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    Yes you can but once you boot from the XP install CD you'll have an opportunity to delete the media direct partition.
     
    Rodster, May 22, 2008
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  3. DJMaytag

    DJMaytag Notebook Enthusiast

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    Which one is the MD partition? I see this in Partition Magic:

    DELLUTILITY(* :) FAT - 86Mb - Primary
    Local Disc (C :) NTFS - 150Gb - Primary
    (*) Unallocated - 7.8Mb - Primary
    (*) Extended - 2.6Gb - Primary
    (* :) Type DD - 2.6Gb - Logical

    Could I wipe the "Type DD" and resize/split the Extended partition(s)? Or is that where the Dell system restore tools are located, ie the Media Direct is in the FAT partition at the beginning of the disc?
     
    DJMaytag, May 22, 2008
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  4. DJMaytag

    DJMaytag Notebook Enthusiast

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    Anyone? Beuller? Beuller?
     
    DJMaytag, May 22, 2008
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  5. chelet

    chelet Notebook Deity

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    chelet, May 22, 2008
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  6. DJMaytag

    DJMaytag Notebook Enthusiast

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    DJMaytag, May 22, 2008
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  7. chelet

    chelet Notebook Deity

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    From what I've read, if your XP partition extends to the end of the drive, it will boot XP from either button.
    I'm unsure of what happens if you have storage partitions after the XP partition and press the Media Direct button -- whether it tries to boot off the last partition or not. Some people have configured the Media Direct button to boot Ubuntu or something other than XP. Here are a couple of threads about multiple booting.
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=187998
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=187998
     
    chelet, May 22, 2008
    #7