Dell Latitude D520 !BIG! Problem

They can walk you through reinstalling the factory settings.

You've erased the hard disk, so you will need to reinstall the setup disk.

as you have wiped the Recovery Partition from the Hard drive you will have to use it to reload the Operating System. Try this and then boot from your Recovery CD. If you didn't create the Recovery CD you will have to contact Dell for a replacement.

The Windows Vista Recovery CD can be used to Boot your PC to enable you to create a Primary Partition and set it active.

Creating a Windows Vista Recovery CD

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=622

Download from here:

http://coblitz.codeen.org/neosmart.net/downloads/guides/Vista_Repair/Vista_Recovery_Disc_x86.iso

Burn it to a CD with Nero or equivalent software.

You have deleted the Primary Partition and you will have to recreate it, try this by pressing Enter after each command. Adjust size=20000 to the required size. 20000=20GB 30000=30GB etc.....or leave it blank to use the full drive.

Boot from the CD and on the first screen click Next, click Repair your computer, click Next and select Command Prompt.

using DiskPart. For example, from a command prompt, type:
diskpart
select disk 0
clean
create partition primary size=20000
select partition 1
active

Now type

EXIT to exit the diskpart session

< edited to add the proper access >

What you are describing is exactly correct after Kill Disc has been run the HDD has been wiped.

What you need to do here is insert the XP Recovery Disc and boot off that. This may involve entering the BIOS and resetting the Boot Order to Optical Drive and then HDD you do need to save the Changes when you exit BIOS and then with the Recovery Disc in the Optical Drive allow the system to Boot up and run off the XP Install CD.

Follow the prompts till the Process is complete and then wait for the system to restart and insert the Driver Disc if you have one and install all of the Dell Drivers. That should return your Computer to the As New Condition that it was when you originally purchased it.

Col

Hi Col

According to Dells support website, I have also deleted the Diagnostic Utility partition. When running the diagnostics, it is now giving me error codes for the optical drive as well as the hard drive. Is strange why the Killdisc worked more than once.

I feel like such an effing idiot for using KillDisk in the first place but we live and learn I suppose. I will have to contact Dell in the hope of a solution. Which looks like a replacement more than a fix. But I will give the new recovery disc a go first and see how things go.

Your help and advice has been greatly appreciated though and I thank you.

Cheers
Billy

Scrap that last question. This problem has taken me down a path of discovery. I am hopeful I can fix it. I know where to come if I am still having trouble.

Thanks for all your help folks. This might just be my new fave website. ;>

Where as Windows only looks at the Main Partition in this case here.

So when you instructed Kill Disc to Wipe the HDD it wiped the entire HDD not just the Partition that Windows was located on. Dell like other System Makers have started to incorporate Recovery Partitions to save money in not having to supply install Media. to the individual the cost isn't much but to a place like Dell that's a lot of money when you consider that it is spread over the entire life of that Model.

When I worked as a Design Engineer the Car companies where desperate to save a fraction of a cent per unit as this was a major saving to them. Here with a Recovery Partition the savings are measured in a $1.00 or more per unit so that is a Massive Saving to a place like Dell. Say they make half a million units of this model that is the best part of a Million Dollar saving to the company.

So Kill Disc didn't work twice on the one pass it is to do with the way that the different utilities address the HDD.

But none the less the Recovery Partition while being nice isn't Important and the one big problem with this is that when the HDD Fails you also loose the ability to reinstall the OS as a new HDD doesn't come with the Recovery Partition already installed. So consider this as a New HDD having been fitted here what you have is the same as a Brand New Totally Blank HDD to work with. As you can Boot off a CD the Optical Drive is working and if necessary you can make a Boot CD or DVD to run some Applications off. However as there are already pre-made ones grab yourself a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD from here

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html

Burn it to a CD and drop it into the Optical Drive of this computer and start the thing. It will display the Ultimate CD's Menu and you can use this to do quite a lot of things like Test all of the Hardware with the proper Tools instead of those supplied by Dell Format the HDD in the form that you want as apposed to what the Slipstreamed Recovery Disc allows and other really useful things like that.

Also you can enter the BIOS here and change the Boot Order to Optical First then USB and finally HDD. That will allow you to Boot off a CD/DVD, a USB Thumb Drive and finally the HDD. While it will slow down the Boot procedure every time you boot the system it will only be a few seconds max and more likely a fraction of a second every time but you get a far more versatile system which does as you want instead of how the Makers believe you need to use it.

Even if you buy a New HDD from Dell here you will have exactly the same conditions as you currently have so there is no benefit unless the HDD has suffered some form of damage as stated by it's Makers Testing Utility these are also on the Ultimate Boot CD so it doesn't hurt to test things while you are waiting. :)

Also because this is a NB you should buy a Cool Pad to go under it. These do two things they keep the Airways inside the NB clean and allow far better cooling as there is no dust and other rubbish getting sucked into the when it is running and they insulate the Air Intakes from anything left on the desk top so that things like pieces of paper [b]Can Not[p/b] get sucked up and block the Air Intakes. A Cool Pad looks something like this and is powered from a USB Port

http://www.antec.com/uk/productDetails.php?ProdID=75004

While I personally use the one listed above if you look on E Bay I'm told you can pick then up for about $20.00 they will extend the life of the NB considerably and easily outlast the NB. They also help prevent the HDD's in NB's from overheating which is one of the biggest killers of NB HDD's.

If you want to boot off a USB Thumb Drive you need to copy the Actual Boot Files to the Root of the Thumb Drive so do not copy them into a Folder or the Computer will not be able to find them so it can start running off them. You can however leave the Utility Executables in Folders and using the DOS Command Prompts [b]CD Change Directories[/b] and access & run these Utilities although it is probably just as easy to copy everything required to the Root of the Thumb Drive as none of these need to be [b]Installed[/b] as such like what happens in Windows. All you need do is type in the Files Name at the DOS Prompt and press the Enter Key and that Utility will start to run.

I think I covered all of your questions here but if I missed something or you want more help just post back and I'll see what I can do to help.

Cheers

Col