Hard Drive problem?

[dinesh]

Hi everyone,
I m trying to reinstall windows vista and when im trying to delete all the partitions, it still shows that i have 3 unpartitioned space in which 2 unpartitioned space are empty without any space and i cannot delete them. However, i can still install windows on the 1st unpartitioned space which is of 160 GB.
My question is how can i remove the 2 orphaned unpartitioned space?

Note: I also tried deleting all the partitions using windows xp cd and windows 7 dvd, it still shows that i have 3 unpartitioned space in which 2 are just aliened.

 

[SIW2]

Hi Dinesh,

My guess is they are manufacturer partitions, possibly an eisa (oem health ) and recovery partition.

They are quite resistant to removal.

You could either boot to System recovery options on the dvd and use Diskpart command.

If you have 1hd, it is disk 0. List the partitions, select the number of the first partition you wish to delete (I have assumed it is 1 in the example below- replace with the number for yours).

Then repeat for the other partition you wish to delete.

Type Exit when done. Like this :

X:\sources>DISKPART {enter}

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.0.6001
Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: PC-PC

DISKPART> SELECT DISK 0 {enter}

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.


DISKPART> LIST PARTITION {enter}

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 30 GB 1024 KB
Partition 2 Primary 25 GB 30 GB
Partition 3 Primary 23 GB 55 GB
Partition 0 Extended 71 GB 78 GB
Partition 4 Logical 40 GB 78 GB
Partition 5 Logical 31 GB 119 GB


DISKPART> SELECT PARTITION 1 {enter}

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.


DISKPART> DELETE PARTITION {enter}

DiskPart successfully deleted the selected partition.


DISKPART> EXIT {enter}

Leaving DiskPart...

Or d/l GParted free, burn the iso to a cd, boot in from that to delete them.

SourceForge.net: GParted: Files

Hope it helps

SIW2

 

[dinesh]

I will try this and will let you know if this works.
i will also try Gparted. If nothing works, i will probably dubug the hard drive.
Thanks for the help SIW2.

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

Are you sure you want to do that?

I assume you have the proper M$ install dvd and product key - just checking.

If you are using the product key that came with an oem preinstall - you will almost certainly need to ring the oem to activate.

Hope it helps

SIW2

 

[dinesh]

Well i have a compaq laptop and i use Vista Ultimate provided by Dell. But i have activated it and it works just fine. by doind a debug, i will erase all the partitions and will turn it into a blank hard drive.

 

[lordbob75]

If nothing else, search for Darren's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) and put that on a CD. I have used it multiple times.

Just let it run all night and your HDD should be a white sheet.

~Lordbob

 

[kword88]

have you tried deleting them from "disk management" in the MMC console? if that doesnt work, can you run fdisk before formatting?

 

[dinesh]

have you tried deleting them from "disk management" in the MMC console? if that doesnt work, can you run fdisk before formatting?

it wont show up in diskmgmt.msc
well i have tried the debug method and it did turn my HDD to a white sheet.
no more extra unpartitioned space.
Anyways, thanks for the replies.

 

[SIW2]

Hi Dinesh,

If you are using the dvd provided by Dell, it does a silent install of the product key, so that should always be fine.

Did you try the Diskpart commands?

SIW2

 

[dinesh]

Hi Dinesh,

If you are using the dvd provided by Dell, it does a silent install of the product key, so that should always be fine.

Did you try the Diskpart commands?

SIW2

i did but it still wont show up the 2 orphaned unpartitioned space neither it will delete it.

 

[SIW2]

Hi,

I heard Dell use non standard partitioning to hide them from Windows.

Gparted should do the trick

SourceForge.net: GParted: Files

I have used v3.9.4, but the version 4.1.2 is more recent.

Just burn the iso to a cd - don't format the cd.

Boot in from the cd - it stops a couple of times asking about keyboard and language - just press Enter, the defaults are fine.

You right click the partition, select delete, then click apply.

Once deleted, you will probably find Disk Management will see them as unallocated space.

Hope it helps

SIW2