Yes, it is known as Media Direct HPA (Host Protected Area) see http://www.hdat2.com/hdat2_faq.html#q15
You can remove this HPA are with this SW also or with another (google for Dell Media Direct HPA) e.g. http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/mediadirect.htm. On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 7:03 PM, Thane Sherrington < th...@computerconnectionltd.com> wrote: > I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 with a dying hard drive. It's a 100GB Seagate. > I removed the drive and put it in our machine to clone it using Acronis. > It cloned successfully to a Western Digital 160GB drive, and when I > rebooted (still on our computer, both drives showed up normally, the new > drive passed SMART tests, and they appeared to have the same files on each.) > I installed the drive in the Dell and it BSOD'd on boot. When I rebooted > it and went into setup, it said the drive was a 98.5GB drive. I put the > drive back in our machine, and although the BIOS said it was a WD1600BEXT, > it said the size was 98.5GB. I assumed the drive was bad, so I redid the > copy on another drive, and exactly the same thing happened. I'm assuming > that the Dell is somehow screwing up the drive, but I've never seen anything > like that before - has anyone else, and do you know of a fix? > > T > > >
