Member Avatar for Whit

Drive: OEM stock that came with my Compaq Presario 6330us.

Failed attempts:

1. Using the 5 System Recovery CDs I cannot reformat the user partition. If I turn it on, press Esc twice I will get into the boot option menu. After I then press Ctrl + Backspace the Hard Disk Prep menu comes up, giving me the options associated with repartitioning, erasing MBR, reformatting, and erasing all sectors of the disk (however, it doesn't seem to really be able or willing to do this...unless they are just refering to the user parttion.)

2. I cannot reset the BIOS to its factory state (to reid myself of two unknown origin network boot options). I pull off the CMOS battery, press the power button and hold for 45 seconds but it doesn't reset it.

3. I cannot rid myself of this remote user. It seems that he has gotten into the Compaq Diagnostic Partition. How do I get in there?

Help!

Whit :mrgreen:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by goldeagle2005
Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

It's true. Most OEMs have a partition that's hidden from the user, and is used for storing diagnostic tools. If you use the media that come with the computer, it will re create that partition and there won't be a blamed thing you can do about it.

What I recommend is that you can go out and buy a retail copy of Windows, and install this on your computer. When you run setup from this new CD, you will have the option of deleting any/all partitions on your hard disk, including the hidden one

Hope this helps. Revert back if you need any clarifications.

Cheers

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