kiwi2000

I have a 531 desk top and have a question regarding the interior of the desk top.
If I click on computer in windows vista it shows three partitions. Question one should there be three partitions?

OS (C) 149 of 215GB free

dell backup D 71.8 of 72GB free

Recovery E 384 of 9.99 GB free

It was shipped this way.
The recovery partition is red and has been this way since it was powered on. Ther is no space left in recovery and it is new.

I ordered a raid 1 array. I think they futsted it up, again.
can someone tell me if there is supposed to be 3 partitions. I think I know that the E should not be full on start up.

raptor_pa

There should be 3, and E should probably be full or close to full. The Dell backup is if you use their ustilities to make a backup, the Recovery (E:) partition would be used if you restore the machine to factory defaults. Check your service tag on line to see if it includes multiple drives for the raid configuration.

kiwi2000

How do I check the service tag online? Dont you need a password?

So those three partitions look normal to you?

raptor_pa

Yep the partitions are pretty normal for a Dell. All you should need is the service tag number from the back of the machine, or you can use the express service codw. Go to the support link on Dell.com

kiwi2000

Does this tell you anything?
can you see if it has the raid?
1 HK982 MOD,LBL,FASC,DT,AMD,A64X2
1 KP919 SHIP,MNTW,531,US,ENG,DAO
1 JY172 PLCMT,GETS,DIM,DAO/BCC
1 RY573 BASE,MNTW,X2,5600+,2C,531N
1 01323 INFO,NO ITEM
1 DR246 PRC,X2,5600+,2.8,1MB,2C,89W,F3
1 CJ340 MOD,MSE,2BTN,OPTCL,BLK,PMX,DIM
1 CJ339 MSE,USB,2BTN,WHL,ULD,OPTCL,BLK
1 GM493 MOD,LBL,MS,VSTA,PREM,DIM
1 RR326 MOD,DOC,CAT,DIB,DIM/INSP,CAN
1 DX914 CAT,DIB,DIM/INSP,SNP,CAN
1 PT329 MOD,KYBD,104,US,SLVR
1 NM467 KYBD,104,USB,US,NTRY,SLVR,LTON
1 KU432 MOD,DIMM,2GB,2X1GB,667,DIM
1 PN424 DIMM,1G,667M,128X64,8,240,2RX8
1 54981 MOD,INFO,NOSPEAKER
1 MY647 MOD,MDM,SON,INT,DIM,DAO
1 JF495 MDM,V.92,DFAX,INT,SON2,ULD,DAO
1 YR052 MOD,DVD+/-RW,16,BARE,HLDS,INSP
1 HX876 ASSY,DVD+/-RW,16X,HH,BARE,HLDS
1 TT269 MOD,MEDIA,DVD,DRVR,RDVD,BRST
1 79621 MOD,INFO,NO,MON,DV/SV,XPS,DIM2
1 TJ054 MOD,HD,320G,S2,#1,ULD,WD-RADR
1 TJ016 HD,320G,S2,7.2K,16M,ULD,WD-RAD
1 TJ060 MOD,HD,320G,S2,#2,ULD,WD-RADR
1 TJ016 HD,320G,S2,7.2K,16M,ULD,WD-RAD
1 WN317 MOD,CBL,SATA,HD,4,MNTW/SLTW
1 MD717 ASSY,CBL,SATA,HD,4,PWS,490
1 TY819 MOD,FSD,USB,ENH,BARE,MT,INSP
1 NT424 ASSY,CBL,FLEX-BAY,MNTW/SLTW
1 XN068 ASSY,FSD,USB,RDR,ENH,BARE,TEAC
1 HU671 MOD,SW,SYMT,DTSV,ENG
1 HU091 KIT,SW,NSR,V1.1,OEM,ENG
1 WK528 MOD,SW,GOOGLE,SRCH,CSMR
1 XM544 MOD,SW,PC-RESTORE,TLOB
1 XM387 MOD,SW,RXO,CRTR,DE,9.0,TLOB
1 DT012 MOD,SW,VHP32,DIM,ENG,DAO,NDD
1 HT741 MOD,SW,QFE,VHP32,DIM
1 JP927 MOD,SW,DELL-WELCOME, TLOB
1 UN078 MOD,SW,VSTA,HTML,GUIDE,WW
1 WR336 MOD,SW,VHP32,DVD,ENG,DAO
1 HX425 KIT,SW,OVPK,VHP32,A01,DVD,ENG
1 TK051 MOD,SW,ADB,ACBTRDR,8.1,ENG
1 KW181 MOD,SW,DSPRT-CTR,2.0
1 CM498 MOD,SW,TRND,14.7,30DAY,ENG,DAO
1 YY676 MOD,SW,OFCSBE-2K7,ENG,DAO
1 UN494 KIT,SW,OFCSBE-2K7,ENG,DAO
1 XN190 MOD,SW,DTSV,OL,ENG
1 XN278 MOD,SW,DTSV,OL,3GB,1YR-FREE
1 PY929 LBL,FASC,AMD,CARTON
1 TM734 LBL,FASC,DT,AMD,A64X2
1 08123 INFO, NO DELL DIRECT CATALOG
1 GX189 SHP MTL,CSHN,MNTW
1 JM114 KIT,SHP MTL,BNDL,INSP,DT,DAO
1 MM384 SHP MTL,BOX,SYSM,M/S,DAO
1 TF468 INSTR,NO ITEM,BSD,TRANSAC
1 23503 LBL,BRCD,TRACK,SYS,GNRC
1 4564U INFO,SW,DEFAULT,FAT32
1 48480 SCR,6-32X1/4",HX,TF,ZPS,TRI-PT
1 57154 SRV,SW,FIST
1 58548 INFO,SW,UTILITY-PARTITION,10MB
1 8564U INFO,SW,DEFAULT,NTFS
1 KP329 SRV,SW,PWR-MGMT,UTIL,INSP DT
1 KP351 SRV,SW,HDF-AUD,RLTX,E531/C531
1 KP353 SRV,SW,PRC,DIM,E531
1 KP354 SRV,UTIL,NVIDIA,LOM,I/D,BRST
1 KP365 SRV,DRVR,APPS,MEDIA-SHIELD,531
1 KP366 SRV,APPS,MEDIA-SHIELD,531
1 KP370 SRV,HTML,NVIDIA,LOM,I/D,BRST
1 KP371 SRV,DIAG,NVIDIA,LOM,I/D,BRST
1 KP372 SRV,DRVR,NVIDIA,LOM,I/D,BRST
1 KP467 SRV,SW,NVIDIA,VID,DIM,531
1 KP470 SRV,SW,OWNR-MNL,DIM,E531
1 NH517 SRV,SW,UP-DIAG,DIM
1 NW946 SRV,SW,VISTA,INSP DT,W/PAPER
1 PN771 SRV,OS,NON-INTEL,RGSTRY-FIX
1 RU305 ASSY,HTSNK,FAN,MNTW,SLTW
1 TP601 ASSY,CHAS,MNTW,531,NPFC,L6
1 KX102 LBL,MS,VSTA,PREM,DT
1 00009 INFO,GNRC,PN
1 F3634 SRV,DRVR,MDM,DFAX,CHER,DIM
1 F3639 SRV,MDM-HLD,MDM,DFAX,CHER,DIM
1 F3644 SRV,HTML,MDM,DFAX,CHER,DIM
1 F3646 SRV,DLG,MDM,DFAX,CHER,DIM
1 KN595 SRV,DIAG,CNXT,DFAX,PCI
1 DU555 SCR,M3X.5X5MM,HEX,PHH,TF,ZPS
1 TT270 KIT,MEDIA,DVD,DRVR,RDVD,BRST
1 00009 INFO,GNRC,PN
1 DU555 SCR,M3X.5X5MM,HEX,PHH,TF,ZPS
1 P7697 INFO,1394,USB,RDR
1 TY875 SRV,APPS,ICON,MGR,FSD,RDR,INSP
1 TP071 SRV,SW,NSR,HTML,ICON
1 WR854 SRV,SW,SYMT,NSR,ENG
1 GW414 SRV,SW,GOOGLE,SRCH,CSMR
1 TX271 SRV,SW,VSTA,PC-RESTORE,ALL
1 CW662 SRV,SW,ROXIO,CREATOR,LE,9.0
1 JT786 SRV,SW,ROXIO,MYDVD,LE,9.0
1 NY889 KIT,CDSK,CRTR,MYDVD,9.0
1 YW651 SRV,SW,RXO,DRCT-DISC,9.0
1 YW655 SRV,SW,SNC,PACT,9.0
1 C5245 SRV,OS,SUN-JRE INSTALLER
1 CT097 SRV,OS,VISTA,FLASH,INSTALLER
1 FM782 SRV,OS,VISTA,HW,INDEX,LNK,DAO
1 R0920 SRV,OS,DIRECT-X INSTALLER
1 RN840 SRV,OS,VISTA,Q936141
1 T2673 SRV,OS,OCA-MARKER
1 XJ967 SRV,OS,VHP32,ENG
1 YK196 LBL,COA,OS,VHP3/6,V#2007
1 XK547 SRV,OS,VSTA,WMDC
1 HY806 SRV,SW,DELL-WELCOME,TLOB
1 UP051 SRV,SW,WLCM-CTR-CSTMS,TLOB
1 UP839 SRV,HTML,GETS,VSTA,WW
1 TK043 SRV,SW,ADB,ACBTRDR,8.1,ENG
1 PP570 SRV,SW,DSPRT-CTR,2.0
1 CM197 SRV,SW,TRND,14.7,30DAY,ENG,DAO
1 00009 INFO,GNRC,PN
1 00009 INFO,GNRC,PN
1 00009 INFO,GNRC,PN
1 00009 INFO,GNRC,PN
1 WP341 SRV,SW,OFC-2K7,PTCH,WXP
1 YY547 SRV,SW,OFCSBE-2K7,ENG
1 YY641 SRV,SW,OFC-BCMGR,2K7,ENG
1 92158 INFO,PERFORMANCE,SHP FEE,CAN
1 DM762 SRV,SW,DTSV,OL,ENG

raptor_pa

1 TJ054 MOD,HD,320G,S2,#1,ULD,WD-RADR
1 TJ016 HD,320G,S2,7.2K,16M,ULD,WD-RAD
1 TJ060 MOD,HD,320G,S2,#2,ULD,WD-RADR
1 TJ016 HD,320G,S2,7.2K,16M,ULD,WD-RAD
Looks like 2 320 GB drives - so yeah, if you ordered Raid 1 you got the raid, and it is split into 3 partitions after the raid was created. Raid 1 is mirroring, both disks hold exact copies of the same information, so if one disk fails the system can run on the second disk. All looks well!

kiwi2000

Thanks so much but please tell me why would the recovery be red highlighted. I dont know too much but I know that things highlighted in red are generally not good.

raptor_pa

Partitions are tagged with a one byte value that defines the type of partition it is. Not sure what the id on that partition is, but I would assume it is something Vista interprets as a special partition and displays red. I have seen it on an HP with a recovery partition also.