How can I delete Dell's OEM partition?

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I’m in the final stage of upgrading my Dell Vista machine to Windows 7. I want to reformat the whole of the old C drive that used to contain Vista. Dell have placed an OEM partition at the beginning of this drive and I want to delete it. Dell fixed the ‘Disk Management’ console so nothing can touch the partition. It’s not theirs, it’s mine and I want it back.

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When you go to clean install Windows 7 you can choose to delete & format it from the boot menu’s options screen.
Remember that a fresh Windows 7 installation may create it’s own 1-2 hundred MB partition. This can easily be
deleted afterward with a free partitioning tool like Partition Wizard Home Edition.

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I was going to say use Partition Wizard to delete and reclaim the Dell partition prior to Clean Installing Win 7. Either way a 3rd party partitioning app such as Partition Wizard does wonders and it’s free.

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I’ve reformatted partitions and installed but never delved deeply enough to know if one can remove all the partitions before reformatting with the upgrade disc.

As mentioned though, 3rd party partitioning boot disc does it, no questions asked, my favorite happens to be Parted Magic (contains GParted).

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I tried Partition Wizard Home Edition. It worked perfectly as advertised. I’d already done a clean install of Windows 7 on the D drive and I’d been using it in dual boot configuration until I was sure everything was working as I wanted it. Thanks for your help.

I’d be a little concerned about deleting any of the partitions created by the Windows 7 installer. I believe I read somewhere that these are not temporary zones used during installation but part of a future implementation of large disk management. There’s more here: Vista’s New Partitioning Rules. See the last section titled “Goodbye to Cylinder Boundaries”. That page has lots of links to more information at the bottom.

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Vista and Windows 7 are compatible with the up and coming newer 4K sector standard. So the only reason
for the partition created in Windows 7 is for use of Microsoft’s file encryption tool BitLocker.
Even if you have a version of W7 that does not have BitLocker, it will still create a partition. I think the rational
being related to a future “Easy upgrade” option. Deleting this partition causes no ill effect.

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There are a great number of programs that can and will remove partitions, even going all the way back to MS-DOS and FDISK.
“Delete Non-DOS Partition” is the option to select when running FDISK.

Then of course, there is the Old Reliable “Partition Magic 8” and even Easus Partition Manager, etc.
The list just goes on and on. Actually, there is NO partition that cannot be removed.

Every time I get a new or used HD, I partition it with FDISK and then do a DOS format of it. That checks every sector on
the drive for reliability and blocks out any bad sectors. Then I can install any OS I want with total assurance that the
drive will perform correctly. It takes a little while, but checking out drives that way has never failed me…..in 30 years.

Good Luck!

The Doctor

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DrWho (or anyone else): Does Windows 7’s partition/format process (non-quick-format) accomplish the same thing as performing FDISK and FORMAT commands?

I’ll be receiving a replacement hard drive for the failing one in my Dell Latitude laptop. To perform an FDISK and FORMAT on the drive, I suppose I would need to boot off of a DOS boot CD-ROM or USB thumbdrive…and then issue these commands to the newly installed blank hard drive. I can do that; but if the partitioning/formatting that is invoked during Windows 7 setup accomplishes the same thing, I won’t bother.

BTW, I found this thread while searching for the best way to prepare the replacement drive; in particular, should I set up the Dell OEM Partition on the drive? If so, how do I do that?

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DrWho (or anyone else): Does Windows 7’s partition/format process (non-quick-format) accomplish the same thing as performing FDISK and FORMAT commands?

I’ll be receiving a replacement hard drive for the failing one in my Dell Latitude laptop. To perform an FDISK and FORMAT on the drive, I suppose I would need to boot off of a DOS boot CD-ROM or USB thumbdrive…and then issue these commands to the newly installed blank hard drive. I can do that; but if the partitioning/formatting that is invoked during Windows 7 setup accomplishes the same thing, I won’t bother.

BTW, I found this thread while searching for the best way to prepare the replacement drive; in particular, should I set up the Dell OEM Partition on the drive? If so, how do I do that?

The short answer is YES about FDISK & FORMAT. You should NOT attempt to setup an OEM partition. That partition is put there by the OEM to be able to return the PC to factory condition. You are much better off setting up your PC the way you wish and then doing an image backup.

Joe

--Joe

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Thanks, Joe. I believe Dell’s OEM Partition (at least on this Latitude E6400) serves purpose other than returning it to factory condition. It’s only 102 MB in size. I believe it contains utility or diagnostic tools, but I haven’t yet seen a definitive explanation.

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I believe it contains utility or diagnostic tools, but I haven’t yet seen a definitive explanation.

The DellUtility partition is a tiny FAT16 partition, typically 32-150MB in size, with its “type” descriptor in the partition table “munged” from 0x0C to 0xDE. The DE is intended to be a uniquely identifiable code so the Dell BIOS can find the partition when you choose to boot the Utility/Diagnostic partition. The partition is bootable only via the BIOS and F12 one-time boot menu. (If you’re really interested, details are covered on my webpage, “Inside the Dell Utility Partition“.)

The Utility partition serves a singular purpose–when it boots it runs a DOS-based diagnostic suite to test the system hardware, and when you quit the program it reboots the computer. That’s all. Installing the program on the HDD is superfluous because the same program can be downloaded from Dell and run from a CD if/whenever you need it … which, as Joe said, is quite rare.

Note the Utility partition is unrelated to the factory OS recovery feature, which is provided by a different partition.

If you have the “Drivers and Utilities” CD that may have come with your laptop, it does include a feature to reinstall the DellUtility partition on a new, blank HDD. However, I don’t consider it worth the effort; the partition just isn’t that useful.

Also, the partition can give some partitioning tools fits. The DellUtility partition is a legacy-style, CHS-aligned partition, although if you’re going to be installing Vista or Win7 you’re almost certainly going to be using Microsoft’s newer, megabyte-aligned partition layout. It’s acceptable to mix alignments on a single HDD, but in the long run it’s probably wiser not to.

Dan Goodell

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@dg1261: Thanks for taking the time and effort to put those pages together Dan, I’ve pointed people there many times! Much appreciated.

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You are correct. I was thinking of the recovery partition. I can tell you that in more than two decades of dealing with OEM PCs I’ve used an OEM partition twice. IMO, not worth the effort on your part.

Joe

--Joe

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You should not have to do the FDisk or Format. When you insert your Win 7 disk, choose custom Install, then point to New. The installation should format and set the partition up for you. It will not hurt to use the dos disk, but why bother when Win 7 can do this for you.

Trying to recover the 102 Mb partition is most likely not worth the effort, it is such a small amount by today’s standards. It can be done with a 3rd party partitioning app, but why bother.

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I will say, although this is an old thread, it’s a good idea to do a Full disk image of a computer prior to deleting anything. Why? First off, it may be under warranty, some OEM’s expects the computer to have the OS that shipped with it. Especially if the warranty claim involves a faulty install by someone who doesn’t know how to properly install an OS. There’s a lot more to that than booting off the Windows 7 install disk & letting it rip, it’s a day or two of work, updating the OS, installing the needed drivers (which should be obtained beforehand), installing your programs, this takes time.

Then do a full defrag, run a Full virus scan & do a Full Disk image of the new install.

The second reason to image the computer beforehand is this. Sometimes, after a couple of years, we want a newer computer. The computer that you have still has value, provided it’s in factory condition. If there was a recovery partition there, many customers (myself included) expects that partition to be there, or the set of recovery disks that’s supposed to be burned within a few days of usage. This gives the buyer a “like new” computer, provided the hardware is OK. I’m not really crazy about buying a used computer, but if I were to, I’d expect to have the “out of the box” experience, especially if it’s only 2 to 3 years old.

Never blindly delete a partition w/o backing it up, it’s there for a reason.

Cat

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You’re welcome, satrow. I’ve been following Dell’s implementation of their diagnostics (DellUtility) partition for over a decade. It was mildly useful back then, but has become essentially useless today.

A decade ago it was a useful feature to help a telephone support tech get technical details about a customer’s system. Rather than hoping the customer hadn’t misplaced his/her Utilities CD, the tech could walk even a complete noob through the process of booting the diagnostics partition and relaying useful information.

About 5-6 yrs ago Dell expanded their BIOSes to add a new, PSA (“Preboot System Assessment”) routine, but IMHO it was a step backwards and counterproductive to the original purpose of the diagnostics partition. When you now use the F12 one-time boot menu to try and boot the diagnostics partition, the BIOS launches into this lengthy PSA routine before eventually getting around to booting the diagnostics partition. PSA can take upwards of 10-15 minutes to complete, and nobody wants to wait that long just to get to the diagnostics menu.

In contrast, if you launch Dell diagnostics from a CD, you don’t have to wait for PSA and can get right to the diagnostics menu. So nowadays it’s actually preferable to launch diagnostics from a CD instead of the DellUtility partition.

The DellUtility partition is a feature that has outlived its usefulness, so I don’t recommend cgwaters (or anyone else in a similar situation) go through extra effort just to try and preserve it.

Dan

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Just as an addition to the Fdisk, format question of Post #8. similarly to Win 7, when I installed Win 8 RP, I deleted the Win 8 CP partition using the Disk Manager, which left that space as unallocated. I then inserted the DVD I burned from the ISO file. I chose Custom Install and pointed the installer to the unallocated space (I did not format the space or use Fdisk) The installer took care of everything else, including formatting the space and preparing for the installation.

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If you’re really concerned about the 32Mb of the Dell Utility partition and the also relatively small restoration partition, you can delete them easily upon installing Windows; restoring them is difficult to almost impossible, and is required for some CMOS functions.

If you’re really concerned upon harddrive space, you might consider purchasing a new multiple Tb harddrive to replace your current multple Gb harddrive. The new hard drive won’t have the Dell partitions and will allow you the necessary space that you think you need.

There’s no reason to make this hard. There are many solutions to your problem, and your bound to get many bad and good ones from this forum. (I have received so many bad recommendations from this forum that I don’t even consider it as a reliable source anymore…)

This is where other forum members call me CENSORED.

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There are many solutions to your problem, and your bound to get many bad and good ones from this forum. (I have received so many bad recommendations from this forum that I don’t even consider it as a reliable source anymore…)

This is where other forum members call me CENSORED.

jgstanley,
Hello… Those of us who volunteer our time and effort to try and help fellow loungers with their PC software problems do get it wrong at times …We do manage to help probably more than not providing answers .. Or at the very least try to help.. Instead of bringing disparaging remarks to those of us who do volunteer their time effort and energy …why don’t you help out ? (seeing by your 30 or so posts that you must have a vast amount of knowledge to share)… Bottom line is if you want …take it somewhere else..Don’t let us stand in the way of your success and happiness…Get after it.:cheers: Regards Fred

PS: You could always demand your money back.:P:

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Told you so…

Way to focus on the last paragraph of a multiple paragraph post.

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Go Fred! I totally agree. If a poster has nothing positive to say to help solve a problem then just don’t say anything.

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