Removing hidden partition on Compaq Presario HD

[videobruce 0]

On a Bigfoot HD on a Compaq Presaro 5630 box the 12GB HD has a hidden partition for the backup of the system as delivered.

 

Can this hidden partition be removed using Fdisk or Partition Magic?

I want to re partition the whole drive to include the space used by this partition.

[AndyFair 0]

I'm not sure it can be deleted - I think that some Compaq machines also use a small partition to hold the BIOS program - so deleting the partition may also render your PC useless.

 

Rgds

AndyF

[adamvjackson 0]

If the partition is FAT(16) and the volume name is SYSTEM_SAV then yes, it's fine to delete. Be advised however, that the original QuickRestore CD will not work correctly. If you ever need to restore the os in the future, you'll need to order a 2 cd set of QuickRestore cds.

[videobruce 0]

Don't care about the orginal setup. That's 4 years old.

 

Just don't want to wipe the bios if it was still on the drive like older Compaqs.

 

I removed the IDE cable from the dsrive and booted to a floppy ok. I assume that means the bios IS on the MB, since if it was on the HD the MB wouldn't even post, correct?

[adamvjackson 0]

Correct.

[Davros 0]

Do you have an extra drive laying around that you can use to verify that you can reload the machine without problems?

[DosFreak 2]

Well yes but make sure that you can access the bios...because eventually down the road you may need to actually configure it....

 

Quote:

Don't care about the orginal setup. That's 4 years old.

 

Just don't want to wipe the bios if it was still on the drive like older Compaqs.

 

I removed the IDE cable from the dsrive and booted to a floppy ok. I assume that means the bios IS on the MB, since if it was on the HD the MB wouldn't even post, correct?

[videobruce 0]

Yes on the extra drive.

 

I did think about that, to load a O/S to a new drive and see if that works without doing anything to the old drive.

[Davros 0]

Quote:

Yes on the extra drive.

I did think about that, to load a O/S to a new drive and see if that works without doing anything to the old drive.

That would be the safest way. You'll find out about any problems you may run into and always be able to put the old drive back in if you can't get it to work.

[CyberGenX 0]

Disconnect the drive and then try to enter CMOS/BIOS. You'll find out then if it is on the drive or not.

[videobruce 0]

That did come to mind also, which I will try.

 

Finally, I did find a Compaq forum:

 

http://communities.compaq.com/servlet/Pr...p;UCATEGORY_S=0

[AndyFair 0]

Quote:

Quote:

Don't care about the orginal setup. That's 4 years old.

Just don't want to wipe the bios if it was still on the drive like older Compaqs.

I removed the IDE cable from the dsrive and booted to a floppy ok. I assume that means the bios IS on the MB, since if it was on the HD the MB wouldn't even post, correct?

Correct.

No, I don't think this is correct. The partition doesn't store the BIOS per se - AFAIK, it only stores the program to change the BIOS. So the PC would boot fine without the partition (or the original hard drive), but you wouldn't be able to change any of the BIOS settings.

AndyF

[videobruce 0]

On a older Deskpro desktop unit, the bios was on the MD as far as I knew. The HD had a very small hidden partition (less than a MB).

 

This one apparently doesn't have that or the other version that has the utility to access the bios on the drivre. There is a 700MB hidden partition that holds the restore feature though.