Question

Is it safe to partition this drive ?

Asked by: daveatdanby

I recently bought a PC with a 200 gig Western Digital Hard Drive. On this drive is a hidden partition with the original compressed software stored.
The system came with a reload CD that would in the event of a disaster, access the hidden partition and restore all original software including the O/S.

I would like to use 'partition magic' to partition the drive to four 50gig partitions. Also is it best to change from fat32 to ntfs ?
Partition magic does not see the hidden partition at the moment. Am I likley to lose the stored data if I go ahead ?

System is AMD Athalon64 3200+  1gig ddr ram  Windows XPsp1


Here Is Info on the reload system.  After I bought the PC I found that Tiny support is the worst on the Planet, to have a tech question answered one must have the very expensive service contract in place, or pay 1GBP per minute. Many pc forums here in the uk are full of compaints about this company and its support.

Regards  Dave

TIME GROUP RELOAD DISK POLICY

Changes in our mutual agreement with Microsoft to reduce piracy mean that the Time Group now pre-installs the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) version of Windows onto its computers but cannot supply a separate Windows XP recovery CD (this is only available to those who purchase the full retail version of Windows).
The Time Group understands that some customers may require a facility to easily restore their computers back to the original factory settings by completely reloading all of the pre-installed software.
Over the past year, we have invested in a software development team that has developed a patented process of doing this from a completely hidden partition on the hard disk. This process is unique and the facility is enabled via a RELOAD CD that is bundled FREE with all time support packages. The reload CD does not include any Windows XP software programs and is different to a Backup CD (which includes a copy of the preloaded software including Windows XP).
One of the advantages of this reload CD approach is that, because there is no Windows software on the CD itself, the risk of piracy is eliminated. The CD simply includes software that enables the hidden software on the hard disk to be re-installed. The old Backup CD mechanism limits the software bundle size to just what could be restored by one CD and is more prone to piracy. For example, a backup CD can be used to install a pirate copy of Windows on the same make of PC even when it is encrypted.
The CD is available to purchase separately when a support package is not taken and we hope to build additional features into this product in the future. Over 85% of our customers take up some sort of support package. Some of the revenue from the support packs and reload CD are put back into further software and product development.
Overall we feel the benefits of this reload system are sufficient to justify this cost, whilst at the same time allowing us to work with Microsoft to reduce the risk of Piracy. Using our re-load CD it is impossible to copy Windows XP onto any other PC.


This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2004-07-10 at 08:40:48ID21054269
Tags

fat32

,

limit

,

partition

Topic

Hard Drives & Storage

Participating Experts
6
Points
500
Comments
11

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. WESTERN DIGITAL EZ-BIOS REMOVAL
    I installed a 40 GIG western digital hard drive and had to use EZ-BIOS patch to read the full 40 gig ( that is drive D ). BUT the problem is that this patch installed itself also on drive C which does not need it.WD says that it change the boot sector of the disk,how do I uni...
  2. PC400 DDR Memory
    I am building a computer with the following components. CASE CHENBRO - XPIDER PC61166 WITH A 92mm FRONT FAN AND A 120mm REAR FAN Main board SOYO SY-P4I875P DRAGON 2 PLATINUM EDITION SYSTEM MEMORY CORSAIR TWINX512-4000PT CPU INTEL P4 CP...
  3. DDR RAM problems
    My system: Athlon XP 2600+ ASUS A7V8X (deluxe) Windows 2000 RAM= see below When the computer was built it had 1 stick of 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM (made by Samsung). About a year ago I bought 2 more sticks of 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM (made by Apacer). The computer worked fine f...
  4. Scorched Planet install problems
    I bought a copy of Scorched Planet off of Ebay. The manual that cam with it says that the game requires Windows95 and I have WindowsXP... I tried Compatebility without success. Any suggestions as to how I can install Scorched Planet in WindowsXP?

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

Expert Comment

by: iamthecreatorPosted on 2004-07-10 at 10:45:27ID: 11520062

Rank: Sage

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: sciwriterPosted on 2004-07-10 at 11:38:10ID: 11520241

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Accepted Solution

by: sciwriterPosted on 2004-07-10 at 11:45:30ID: 11520264

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: JohnnyCanuckPosted on 2004-07-10 at 15:14:54ID: 11520912

Rank: Wizard

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: sciwriterPosted on 2004-07-10 at 15:58:44ID: 11521050

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: magus123Posted on 2004-07-10 at 16:45:57ID: 11521183

Rank: Master

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: sciwriterPosted on 2004-07-10 at 17:01:05ID: 11521204

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: coral47Posted on 2004-07-10 at 21:55:59ID: 11521805

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: JohnnyCanuckPosted on 2004-07-11 at 07:52:04ID: 11523382

Rank: Wizard

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: coral47Posted on 2004-07-11 at 20:35:42ID: 11526251

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: PaPaRoGuEPosted on 2004-07-13 at 17:55:11ID: 11544868

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

20120131-EE-VQP-001

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...