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    200mb hidden partition in Windows 7

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by niceguy1234, Feb 2, 2009.

  1. niceguy1234

    niceguy1234 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have a new FW285DH. The hard drive is 350GB 7200rpm. I found there is hidden 10gb at the first partition for recovery. You can't see that in My Computer. You can only see it in Disk Management. Since I don't need vista any more, I deleted that partition and make myself 10gb more space.

    When you do a clean installation of Windows 7, it will force a 200mb at the first partition which is also a hidden partition. I wonder what is that 200mb partition for. There is no such thing in Vista.

    Anyone know?
     
    niceguy1234, Feb 2, 2009
    #1
  2. nons_

    nons_ Notebook Consultant

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    I dont know what's that hidden partition for, but I just wanted to remind you that your Windows 7 will stop working on August 1.
     
    nons_, Feb 2, 2009
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  3. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    hehe yeah... better get that Ubuntu live disc ready for data recovery.
     
    whizzo, Feb 2, 2009
    #3
  4. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    I just found this:
    See this link: How to avoid 200mb Hidden Partition on a clean Windows 7 install

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Feb 2, 2009
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  5. niceguy1234

    niceguy1234 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I had google this 200mb hidden partition for Windows 7. Some says the 200mb is the boot partition, some says it is for the recovery, some says it is for the windows update... Conclusion, you cannot have Windows 7 without it.

    I did a experiment. I install Windows 7 without this 200mb by installing W7 in a preformated partition. Everything works fine without this 200mb hidden partition. I can backup the system by creating a image in another hard drive or other partition, and restore the W7 by using the W7 boot disc. So I don't need Norton Ghost any more.

    I still don't know what that 200mb hidden partition for. Everything works fine without it.
     
    niceguy1234, Feb 2, 2009
    #5
  6. niceguy1234

    niceguy1234 Notebook Enthusiast

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    This 200mb hidden partition is not helping, but creates problem. If you use Norton Ghost and want to put your Vista/Window XP back as you OS, be careful, you may not be able to recover your OS because of that hidden partition.

    When you decide not to use and Windows & and go back to Vista/XP, you need to delete this 200mb partition first, and then boot the Vista boot disk and delete the 1st (200mb) partition and delete 2nd (your OS) partition to form the original partition size. Restart and boot Norton Ghost to restore the image.

    With the 200mb hidden partition attached. The partition size does not match if you go straight to Norton system recovery.
     
    niceguy1234, Feb 2, 2009
    #6