Windows 7: EISA and Recovery

Using a Dell XPS420 desktop. I checked my hard drive partitions, getting ready for Windows 7. I found 3 partitions: Windows (C), Recovery (D) and EISA. Should I delete EISA and recovery, before I attempt a clean install with the 7 upgrade disc?

I prefer that I have only one partition after upgrade.

Hey rich
the eisa parttition may contain dell specific things. My dell is the same way. they put things that have to load first in the eisa. Media, nero, all the junk dell gives you. if you dont use it or want it trash it. I did

Are you going to use win 7 backup? if so you are going to need a recovery partition for the backups

Ken

If I delete EISA and D. Will Window 7 make its own partitions for Recovery and the OS?
I definately want the Windows 7 backup. I think that is an awesome feature.

You can install Windows 7 in the partition you want it installed in or you can modify the current partition structure but Windows 7 doesn't create a recovery partition.

The EISA partition is the Dell Diagnostics Partition. You can boot Hardware Diagnostics with the F12 boot menu.
The D:\RECOVERY partition holds the image of the system as it was shipped to you.

You can delete either or both. If you don't want that hidden diagnostics partition, you can download the same Dell Diagnostics from Dell's Drivers and Downloads site and create a bootable CD or USB stick with the Diagnostics.

If you delete D:\RECOVERY, you will lose the ability to restore the system to factory shipped (Vista) conditions (Vista and any software you purchased with the computer). Installing Windows 7 in the current C:\OS partition will remove the automated F8 factory recovery option but the factory image can be restored manually as long as the partition is still intact.

Having the D: partition doesn't hurt anything and you can even hide it if you wish. Having your original Vista installation available and deployable in about 15 minutes might be handy for any warranty work, troubleshooting, or whatever.

You can have up to 4 primary partitions so you could keep both the hidden EISA and the D:\RECOVERY, install Windows 7 in the current C:\OS partition and create another partition for backups if you wish.

Lastly, at a minimum, if you really wish to clean the hard drive and delete the recovery partition, you might consider copying the whole D:\RECOVERY partition (probably around 9-10GB) to a backup drive, USB drive, etc. The partition could later be copied to any hard drive and the factory image could be manually deployed (I could help you with the details if necessary).
Tom

I truly appreciate the help that you both have given me. All of your help is truly making the changing of my OS, so much easier. Thank you both

You know what the cool thing is? You'll put the Windows 7 installation disk in, and when it's done its magic, just about everything on your XPS 420 will work fantastic and without needing to add any drivers....(I use an XPS 420 as my main desktop).

I agree with zrtom, keep or at least copy the D: partition.

It is in Dell's warranty that they can insist that you put the original OS back for any warranty hardware issues.
If you ever need it, you'll have it. If you have the re-install DVD then it's much less important.

Make another logical partition for backups, install Windows 7 in your current OS partition, is the easiest way.
A better idea is to get an external HD for your backups. If your internal HD fails you will loose everything.

You'll like Windows 7

Delete and Remove to Unlock EISA Hidden Recovery or Diagnostic Partition in Vista » My Digital Life

Most recovery partitions are disabled once you replace the OS, so making the disks or having them sent to you is good backup. Manufacturers today don't much support clean reinstalls since their profit margin comes from the sponsored bloatware, so you will need these if you need certain support, upgrade reinstall or to restore to factory condition for resale.

The 100 mb partition Windows 7 may create at install contains the boot and tools accessed via F8 which are the same as on the Install or Repair disk Recovery console. After installation, you might also want to create another primary partition to easily save your backup image made using the great new Windows 7 imaging utility - just be sure to copy it also to an external drive for safekeeping in case of HDD failure, since it makes reinstalls a thing of the past.

The EISA partition on current Dells is only a Diagnostics Partition (that can be booted from the F12 boot menu). It that takes up about 30MB and is the first partition on the disk. It is not a recovery partition, like many other brands. Dell's recovery partition is the second partition, labelled D:\RECOVERY. It is not hidden and it doesn't get hidden after the Dell Factory Image Restoration process has been used. The recovery partition houses the factory.wim file as well as tools in the D:\Tools folder that are invoked through the F8 Recovery Console (though a custom WinRE, developed by Dell) to restore the Factory Image.

Perhaps unlike others, Dell does support clean OS reinstalls. Indeed Dell is one of a very few manufacturers (if not the only one) that supplies a clean, pre-activated Vista (or XP on XP machines) installation disk. Not a recovery disk but a MS OS disk that compares file-for-file with a Vista disk from the store except for the $OEM folder which does the pre-activation magic when the correct Dell BIOS boot flag is found.

Leaving the Dell Diags EISA partition has no effect on the Windows 7. Further, leaving it in place will allow booting into a rather exhaustive set of hardware diagnostics utilities. It's existence has an effect on warranty claims because the first thing Dell Technicians do is have you boot into the Diags. Indeed, depending on the warranty issue, they may not dispatch (in the case of onsite warranty repairs) a tech until you've gone through the built-in hardware diagnostics on the phone with them. I guess that's my main caution when I hear suggestions to "just get rid of it." Not necessarily in this thread but I hear it elsewhere. To risk warranty coverage by deleting something that does absolutely no harm doesn't seem worth it.

Thanks for the heads up about Dell.

Thought eMachines/Gateway were the last to provide a clean copy of the installed OS, and had heard (from Acer tech support) that Acer's purchase of them would end that.

That call to Acer after my roomie got a new one recently was eerily similar to one last year to Toshiba, when I was told that any mention of a clean reinstall would void the support warranty. Acer was a bit nicer, offering to send recovery disks since we'd called within 90 days of purchase, but wanting to know where we were getting clean copy of Vista (I told them possibly MS - we used an eMachine Vista Premium OEM fine) and saying firmly "We can't help with clean reinstalls." You now have to be politely careful what you divulge.

I'm gettin a Dell, Dude.