Trouble deleting the service partition

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PDADoc · #1 Post by **PDADoc** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 7:28 pm

I can't delete the service partition, even after making it deletable in the OS. In fact, it should show up as visible by the OS (at least that's what it says in the BIOS) but it doesn't.

Whenever I use Partition Magic to try and delete it, it gets about 90% done and then an error message comes up.

Is there another way to do this? If so, any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

slagmi · #2 Post by **slagmi** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:26 pm

serach google for these words: debug partition

IME typing the commands is about as easy (for one time use) as fooling around with a script.

you'll need a bootable floppy or CD and you'll need to get debug.com off a Win98 system. and this wipes all, not just the service partiton.

PDADoc · #3 Post by **PDADoc** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 9:07 pm

Thanks for the response.

So, let me see if I understand this correctly: you're saying that the only way to get rid of this troublesome partition is to debug the whole hard drive? And if I do this, I'll have to wipe the whole thing clean?

Not to sound ungrateful (I am, believe me, as there haven't been any other responses!), but is there another way to do this without clearing the whole drive?

slagmi · #4 Post by **slagmi** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:34 am

Well there's plenty of freeware disk editors avilable if you want to try some things. Backup your data and be prepared to study some!

Put this in perspective for me, what's the trouble with the service partiton?

#5 Post by **jdhurst** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:37 am

Also check the IBM whitepapers. The hidden partition is *not* a partition at all. It is the PreDesktop Area on these newer machines and sits outside of the regular partition structure. This allows all available partitions to be used by the customer. ... JD Hurst

PDADoc · #6 Post by **PDADoc** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:00 am

slagmi wrote:Well there's plenty of freeware disk editors avilable if you want to try some things. Backup your data and be prepared to study some!

Put this in perspective for me, what's the trouble with the service partiton?

The trouble is this: From the moment I received my machine and tried to create restore CDs, the service partition hasn't responded. IBM/Lenovo ended up having to send me a set of restore CDs. So as much as I would like to have that system restore function with me all the time, it would appear that the service partition is somehow corrupted. As such, I would at least like to recoup the lost 4GB, hence my situation as it stands now.

Unless you have another idea for me to get it working again, I'm looking to get rid of it altogether.

JD, thanks for the whitepaper tip; I only hope I can understand the info contained therein.

So, if it sits outside the partition structure, does that mean that it can't be touched at all?

Trouble deleting the service partition

Trouble deleting the service partition

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