Manufacturers hide boot managers in these things, along with an image of a partition containing the software install files and a copy of any special drivers relevant to the hardware, and - in the case of some Time systems - there was a Txt format file that listed the required drivers that was on the recovery CD and the main installed OS partition You merely had to know which of the many files detailed the set of drivers relevant to your particular PC so you could have that file available for use with the generic recovery CD.
In summary - Yes you probably needed that partition - First thing I do with pre-installed PC's is put the drive in my back-up PC and image the partitions from it, and then copy over the MBR sector as well Then I may consider trying to set-up the OS etc. as per the supplied? 'documentation' There is even more fun with some suppliers who put their stuff on the drive in portions that are marked as not to be used/bad, rather than being in a hidden partition and those that have partition descriptors for partition images imbedded within other partitions - AKA Ghost 2003 processing for a backup of your OS partition JimB ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Glazier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2005 3:38 PM Subject: Compaq Computer Restore disk > A friend gave me an old Compaq 7360 computer (p-500) to > fool around with. The HD was blown, but I also got the factory > restore disks. > > The question is, does the special Compaq partition need to be there, > and why? > > I did a factory restore on a different totally clean HD. > I had the box working fine and started fooling with the HD > using Acronis Partition Expert2003 and True Image7 or 8. > > Along the way (somewhere), I deleted the partition that Compaq > had put a lot of their stuff in since it was around 1 G or 2 out of a > 20G hd. The clean HD was an archive drive of mine (I cleared) and it > had seen very little actual running time. > > The reason for the question is: After the partitions were fooled with, > the computer rarely boots anymore. (But it still does sometimes?.) > The hardware boots fine from a floppy (win98) IF the HD is disconnected... > > It is an odd set of circumstances that I have not dealt with before, > and I can start to understand why some members have been very > vocal about these OEM type restores, etc... > > The question is, does the special Compaq partition need to be there, > and why? > Rick Glazier > > > > > -- > No virus found in this outgoing message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.13.8/183 - Release Date: 11/25/2005 > > -- > ---------------------------------------- > The WIN-HOME mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned > LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: > http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html > > -- ---------------------------------------- The WIN-HOME mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
