Deleting Recovery Partition

Today I was preparing an old hard drive for data backup when I had problems deleting 1 of its partitions.  I normally use Disk Management in under Control Panel -> Computer Management however when I right clicked on the partition everything is greyed except the help item.

The above image is not a screenshot of my pc but reflects the same issue

Because this hard drive used to belong to store bought laptop, it came with a recovery partition that is by default hidden and possibly write protected, which is the norm for most laptops today (along with bloatware).  I found this simple solution via sevenforums.com which hopefully helps others as it did for me quickly:

• Go to command prompt
• Type diskpart

Enter the following:

• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk [whatever the disk number is] (e.g. your disk is #5 type: select disk 5)
• list partition
• select partition [Name of partition] (e.g. partition name is recovery: select partition recovery)
• delete partition override 

Not my screenshot, just an example what to look for

  

A thorough guide on how to use diskpart commands you can find here.

This worked wonderful for me. It was quick and easy and no extra 3rd party software was needed.  Of course this will work with any of the O.S that has the diskpart utility (Windows 7, Server 2008, etc) so Win XP users or lower may have to use a utility like Partition Magic or Partition Wizard.  I also wanted to note since this was a secondary drive I was using, I did not have to boot into Win 7 recovery mode to make any changes as some people might need to if this is their boot drive they are working on.

You can view the full thread on it here.

Happy Tech-ing!

USB Emulation and USB Booting Harmony

Last week I spent the full 5 days trying to install Windows 7 and have my PC be able to dual boot with Ubuntu 11.10 (XBMCbuntu).

To say the least, for such a simple task it was a very long and tiring journey. Obstacle over obstacle, I conquered one after the next, some took a few hours, others a couple of days.  Yet Google was with me throughout my time of difficulty.

Praise be to Google

What I wanted to share was an issue I actually came across a long while back when I first installed XBMCbuntu from my 1GB USB key.

Problem: Computer does not boot up any USB key that is 2GB or lower. Seems to ignore the USB key and boots up Hard drive as normal.

As a quick rundown,  normally when you want to bootup your PC from USB key to run a different O/S or installation you would follow the 3 general rules:

• Format USB key.
• Transfer boot able ISO(s)/Files to USB key using special software that would also make USB key boot able.
• Alter the bootup sequence either by bringing up boot device menu (after POST test) or in BIOS itself.

But the USB key still was not booting.

What gives?

Answer:  Switch the USB Storage Emulation to Hard Disk (applies to usb keys 2GB and lower)
Enter BIOS -> Intergrated Prepherials -> USB Storage Emulation -> Select Hard Disk

This setting forces BIOS to recognize USB Drives under 2GB as bootable hard drives.  If selected  as Auto or Floppy, the machine will treat the USB key has a floppy drive.  While I haven't had a chance to fully understand why this feature is needed in BIOS, I can say that majority of users that come across this issue are owners of Acer Computers (via google search) but it is possible users of other Manufactures  can come across the same issue.

Keep in mind I am only sharing this because this worked for me.  My machine is an Acer Revo 3610 that I use as a Media PC hooked up to my living room widescreen TV.  If you tried this and still cannot boot up from your USB Key you might want to try the same key on a different machine to isolate the issue.

Happy Tech-ing!

A quick way of taking screenshots

I just wanted to add a quick reminder for a tool I'd sometimes forget about myself.  This is specifically for Windows 7 and some Vista users (may God help you):

Snipping Tool
Start Menu - > All Programs -> Accessories -> Snipping Tool

• It's Fast
• It's easy
• It's convenient

It allows you to create quick screenshot for any task that may require it within a few mouse clicks.

The tool bar I love due to its simplicity.  I wont go into details about this tool, but you can get more info and a great demo here.

Happy Tech-ing!