Partitions on SZ series?

Hi

Am thinking about buying an SZ3 or SZ4

I gather it comes with a hidden partition for restoring factory settings/reformatting.

Does it also come with a partitioned C: / D: drive?

If not, is it possible to create a secondary partition for data without re-installing windows etc?

Thanks

Kevin

 

hi

i know it's not done to ask about partitions on here but can someone at least tell me the starting point? does the SZ come with just a C drive or with C and D?

Thanks

Kevin

 

The answer is no.

 

thanks for clearing that up...

at the risk of pushing the bounds of human decency, if I use something like acronis to partition the hard disc, am i in danger of overwriting the hidden partitionion containing the recovery information?

I promise to do my homework on partitioning!

 

You're wrong.

@Kevin
SZ models have 3 partition on hd: one hidden for system recovery and two partitions (c: and d: ) for os and applications.
You don't need to buy any partitions tools. In case of system recovery you can change the partions size as you wish.

 

The question was If there were any partitions, (visible) like c:\ or d:\. I only have C:\. And my SZ360P/C was not a special order or something. I assume this is the case with the others.

 

It's really strange megamoz.
There are two visible partitions C: and D:, and one hidden recovery partitions an my SZ3.

 

D is a partition? mine says it's a "memory stick"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/dznutz/candd.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v736/dznutz/partitions.jpg

the circled object is the hidden partition.... and can't be removed using windows or my partitioning program. i've read here that i can only remove it if i use the recovery disks and at the very end choose not to make a recovery partition.

 

thanks dznutz that's very useful :O)

 

I only had the WinXP-partition and the hidden one.

I made a backup of the recovery-partition and I burned the DVDs with the tool to have the partition on DVD.
Now I made an image of the Windows XP which came with the notebook for being ready to go.
So I was safe!

Then I formated the hidden recovery partition with Knoppix (Windows/DOS won't recognize it) and deleted all the partitions.
After that I created new partitions and reimaged the WinXP I made an image from.

That is how I did it.

 

Is there any safe way of removing the recovery partition on my SZ3 without having to fully reformat and reinstall an OS? Is there a link to an official Sony way of doing this?

 

My 330 came with a recovery partition and a c partition. I used partition magic to set up my partitions the way I wanted them and had not issues with data loss

 

thanks, that's exactly the sort of info i was after

Now if I get an SZ4 I just have to find partition software that supports VISTA :O)

 

I remember someone posted about that, who tried to remove the hidden partition with Partition Magic without full system recovery. And he was telling, once he deleted it, the computer was not booting up, because the OS somehow was associated with the partition.

 

Unfortunately, it does not come with an “s” partition which is necessary for BitLocker and which is essential if you really want to protect your data. Neither, of course, does it come with an option for Vista Ultimate, which is a prerequisite for BitLocker.

This seems like a lot of work and expense for what is really essential protection for a notebook computer. My understanding from the abysmal tech support at Sony is that the built-in drive protection does not offer full drive encryption, such as BitLocker.

So if I go with the SZ450, I will have to spend almost $3,000 and still pay almost $150 (with tax) for Ultimate upgrade and then repartition. At least Vista Ultimate has a repartition tool for BitLocker.

 

i used partition magic to add a D drive to my SZ360. i didn't bother trying to do anything with the hidden recorvery portion. it's small enough for me to not worry about the space...and hey maybe it will come in handy someday.