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[SOLVED] EISA partition

 
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DocZayus
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2024 2:31 am    Post subject: [SOLVED] EISA partition Reply with quote

OK, I dual-boot my laptop between Ubuntu and Vista because of work related issues.

I've had a hidden partition called "EISA configuration".
From what I've gathered, it's a restoration partition for Vista.
I have all the backup DVD's that came with the laptop, so do I really need to waste 65% of my HDD (115Go) for this or can I calmly delete it and get some storage back into this 200go drive?

I was attempting a re-install of Ubuntu, and remembered that I don't have much space for it. (I had previously deleted it for space for work files...)



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Sabayon
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Last edited by DocZayus on Mon Jun 08, 2024 1:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
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DocZayus
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2024 2:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh yeah, I forgot, it's on a Toshiba p100/p105
(I've never found out which, but apparently mine is a P100, but I have a removable video card that only the P105 has.)



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melloe
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2024 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The only EISA I know of associated with computers or electronics has to do with an early BUS configuration, e.g the ISA bus of the late 80 or early 90's.
The bus that preceded the PCI bus configuration. The ISA files would be in the killobytes or Megs at the outdide.

Most OEM computers come with a "restore" partition ranging from 6 to 10 gig or maybe a bit more, called different names by individual manufacturers.
Deleting that partition will make it impossible to restore the OEM OS. The CD's or DVD that came with the OEM computer are not a full OS usually, and work in conjunction with the restore partition. This is done to eliminate the possibility of using the OS on another box.

A 200 gig drive,depending on manufacturer and how they rate, would have between 180 and 190 gigs. You say your OS partition is 115 gigs?
No OEM I know of uses between 70 and 80 gigs for a restore partition. Are sure of the size of your drive?

Maybe if you gave us a bit more information on the EISA set up.

Bottom line is, be aware there is a good chance that deleting the hidden partition will make it impossible to restore the original OS. Been there and done that with clients.



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DocZayus
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2024 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote




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tlmiller
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2024 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, it shows as totally unused, so I'd say if there ever was anything there, it's long since been removed, so it should be safe to blow it away.

It's only needed until you make backup discs anyway, which you said you have.



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melloe
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2024 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Well, it shows as totally unused, so I'd say if there ever was anything there, it's long since been removed, so it should be safe to blow it away.


i AGREE Obviously if there is or was a restore partition, it ain't the 116 gigs.
The total is just over 186 gigs if I added right, so that probably accounts for the whole drive I would guess.

Strange, but no stranger than some of the things I have ended up with somehow. Now were I in this position, my only concern would be where is this 116 gigs physically on the drive, and what happens when I format it as just because 2K or above is on "C" don't mean it is the first partition if all are not FAT or NTFS. But I assume DocZayus knows the answer to that one.
Any Linux/BSD/UNIX file system it would probably make no difference in any case.

As for the back up, whether this will work or not when you make any changes to the drive will depend on what kind of back up it is. If it is the original OEM disks, you are probably screwed in any case, and better be careful how you proceed. If it is one you made, whether it will work if you make any changes will depend on how it was made and using what.

If it was one that you made the worst case scenario would probably mean you would lose anything you did after the back up..if it was a whole disk back up.



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mushroom
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2024 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DocZayus if the display of disk usage was done from Winsows you may wish to do again using Gparted.

Restore partitions for Windows are often done with a file system that version windows can not read in hopes of preventing a virus from getting in to the restore partition.



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DocZayus
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 08, 2024 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought about it more thoroughly through the weekend.

I have previously removed the EISA partition.
It is virtually useless. But when I have to restore the Vista setup, if the first partition is less than 115Gb, the installation stops because of insufficient space.
Which is why that EISA partition is so big.

I have previously overwritten it with a Linux setup, but I rarely have to reinstall Linux, so I forgot about it.
EISA partitions are not necessary if you have the discs.

I really don't need such a big partition for Linux, 50Gb should be enough so I'm going to resize it and I will use the extra space for my shared/backups Partition that really needs the space.

My Vista partition needs to be flushed, so I'm going to do that first, then I'll probably try out Ubuntu 9.04.

Thanks for your input.

Smile



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