Re: Dell Utility Partition

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 10:07:21 -0600, Jerry Park <NoReply@xxxxxxx>
wrote:

>Bob Simon wrote:
>> I bought a used Dell Inspiron 8200 with 256MB RAM and without any
>> passwords or CDs. I added another 256MB DIMM and started to
>> re-install Windows XP Pro. I see that there is a 32MB partition
>> before NTFS. I used Ranish Partition Manager to determine that this
>> partition is type 0xDE. A Google search identified this as the Dell
>> Utility Partition.
>>
>> What is on this partition and how do I access it?
>>
>> Is this worth keeping or am I better off reclaiming the space and
>> adding it to my NTFS partion?
>>
>> I read that some laptops store suspend-to-disk data on a partition
>> like this one, but I believe that this one is too small for that. So
>> where is the hibernation data stored? If I'm wrong and this IS where
>> Dell stores suspend-to-disk data, what size partition do I need now
>> that I have 512MB RAM?
>That partition contains Dell's diagnostic utilities. First thing I did
>when I bought my Inspiron 8200 was repartition and reload Windows.
>Haven't missed the partition -- the diagnostics disk is always available.
>
>BTW, don't know how you are supposed to use the partition.

Well, the diagnostic disk would be available if I had one.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any CDs with my notebook.

I searched Dell's web site to try to find what you're talking about.
>From Drivers & Downloads I selected Inspiron 8200 and then Windows XP.
The Diagnostic Utilities section has two entries:
Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics
Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics (Graphical User Interface version)

Is this it?

Hopefully someone else will be able to tell me how to use the utility
partition and where S2D data is stored. (I hope in the 20GB NTFS
partition.)
Bob
.

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