Dell :: Hard Drive Upgrade With Media Direct 3.3
Feb 9, 2009
I have Vostro1400 with Vista premium and I am planning to upgrade my hard drive from 120GB to 320GB. I have 3 partitions C: OS, Data, E: Recovery and I think hidden Media Direct 3.3
I plan to do the following:
Make an image of the hard drive on the itself or an external USB drive. Get the new 320GB drive install it in a USB enclosure and restorre this image into the 320GB HD.
Once done put the new 320GB that now has the image into my laptop. I thonk I may have to use Vista or some other program to extend the partitions to get the full HD capacity as my HD will only have 120GB because of the image
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Jan 16, 2009
I use Media Direct frequently... This Morning When i Press the Md Bottun it Start up And got Blank......
when i press the power off Buttun the screen backs and then it turns off......
i used the Md the night before correctly......
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Jan 15, 2009
i have an inspiron e1505 with a dead harddrive. i was wondering if you could run media direct from a flash drive and how would i do this?
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Nov 9, 2009
I'm trying to get hold of Media Direct for the Dell 6000. I've searched quite a few boards and come across links to where it was supposed to be, but they've been old links.
I've also been able to download 80% of the ISO on a torrent I've found, but its now stopped as the guys who had 100% have gone off line.
I was hoping someone here has still got a copy of the ISO so I can reinstall it onto the laptop I've just replaced the hard drive with.
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Oct 22, 2007
I just got an i9300, that I'm having fun setting up. I've already done a couple hardware upgrades (OUT; 1GB PC4200, IN; 2GB PC5300. OUT; 60GB/5400, IN; 160GB/5400). See "sig" for rest of specs.
I've got a copy of Windows MCE 05. I'd like to set this up with Dell Media Direct 3.0. I've done a ton of searching the forums here, and a few other sites. I've printed out several hard copies of "How To Install MD3" threads for reference.
OK...so, here's the crux. I need a copy of MD3. I "acquired" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more) a copy, and burned the ISO to DVD. When I first used it, it set up the partitions, and then gave a wierd error about "not being able to find the Media Direct PLAY button...". Setup halted in it's tracks. I ran it a couple times, same error. After the 2nd try, I exited out and installed MCE05.
My hard drive had the 47MB (EISA Configuration) partition on the front, my C: drive, followed by a 2.01GB "Unknown Partition". Looks right, but, both the 47MB and 2.01GB partitions are empty. 100% empty.
So, I install MCE05, all the drivers, Nero 7 and Cyberlink PowerDVD 6. Defrag. I then put the MD3 disk in, and let it do it's thing. The Installation Notice comes up, and then it halts IMMEDIATELY thereafter, giving an error of "This system is not supported by this Reinstallation DVD. Installation will now exit."
Are there different versions of MD for different machines/OS'es/etc?? What version do I need for my system/OS??
What are the chances that I can sweet talk Dell into sending me a copy, where this system is out of warranty and I'm the 2nd owner?
If the chances of that (above) are "none", does anyone have a copy of the "correct" version I can "borrow" so I can get this set up?
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Dec 16, 2007
Does anyone knows where i can download this?
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May 9, 2009
When I press the media direct button, the media direct screen flashes for about 1 second and then the computer boots into Vista
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May 14, 2009
Windows Vista crashed and the OS disk that was included with the system was corrupt so I had a local company re-install from their disk, however, I did not
supply them with the media direct CD (v3.5 on an Inspiron 1525) because I didn't know that it had to be installed at the same time.
Now I need to (from looking at other threads) partition the disk - will this be done by just running the Media Direct CD and picking option 1?
Or do I have to have the OS disk (which I don't have)? I don't want to pick option 1 until I know that I don't need the OS disk .....
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Sep 16, 2008
I just got my Studio 15 last week and love this notebook! On previous Inspiron notebooks if you pressed one of the media buttons while the system was off, it would then do a quick boot to a Media Direct partition where you could play movies and music and also view photos. However, on my studio, when I press the media direct botton while the notebook is off, it changes the splash screen during POST to a Media Direct splash screen but then boots into the OS, where I have to log in, and then the Media Diract app launches. This was a big dissapointment for me. Is anyone else seeing this? I was hoping that maybe I got a bad factory install, but if others are seeing this then I guess Dell has done away with the hidden Media Direct partition.
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Apr 3, 2010
I have been having terrible problems with Dell Media Direct. All started when I done the dell factory restore and after that the dell media direct fast boot option no longer worked. The hidden partition I suspect somehow corrupted. It worked okay under Windows Vista though.
Anyway I tried many fixes this without resorting to the drastic measure of repartitioning and losing my windows installation (which has taken me months to get it how I want).
The other I day I uninstalled Dell Media Direct under add/remove programs on vista. I then tried to reinstall it but now I cannot get the software to reinstall under vista. I have done this before several times without a hitch so I do not know why it is now causing problems.
I run dellkit.exe and it goes through the percentage bar so looks like it is installing. However there is very little cd drive activity indicating it is not doing an awful look. Eventually at approx 17% it suddenly pops up saying it's installed
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Apr 22, 2010
I have M1330 that is trying to boot to media direct then promptly BSOD's. I believe the scenario that happened was the notebook was hibernated, then they pressed the media direct button instead of power to wake it up.
How do I tell not to boot to media direct?
I saw this exact same message in another thread but no resolve.
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Mar 12, 2009
I need your help to get the MD iso for my Vostro 1500. I can't ask for it to Dell cause I bought it from a reseller. Dell asked me to do the transfer of ownership but the dealer didn't wanted to give me the information to do that.
So that is why I'm asking four your help. I have downloaded several versions posted in the www but non of them are for Vostro and I can't intall it.
I formated my HD and tried to installed as factory with those downloaded versions. This make the 3 partitions, I install the Vista and at that point everything is ok, but when I insert the MD disc it says that the system version is not supported by the MD i have
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Dec 6, 2008
i have 4 primary partitions, one EISA, one OS, one DATA and one Mediadirect. Now im wondering if it is safe and if its possible to format the Mediadirect partition in windows vista diskmanagement? Will windows still work without the MBR screwing up after rebooting the computer?
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Jan 20, 2009
I've just bought a Dell Studio 1535 notebook, and when i'm installed windows vista, i deleted and formatted the media direct partition (don't knew what is it).
How can i reinstall dell media direct? I need it, but I don't get a cd or dvd with media direct... Can anyone help me? Where can i find this cd or dvd image?
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Jan 27, 2010
I'm in the process of preparing a Dell 1405 to give to a relative and was wordering about the need for all the partitions on the hard disk. Is it possible to format the drive with a single partition and forget about Media Direct booting.
This was a problem with XP Home on the system after replacing the hard drive and since I'm going to install Vista, I thought I'd eliminate it all together. Would this affect anything else? Or any suggestions with doing this?
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Jan 26, 2009
I've ordered an Inspiron 1525 but it comes with Vista. I would like to format
the Hard Drive and Install XP.
My main concern is that I've heard that if you want Media Direct you need to install it first before you format the Hard Drive and Install XP so it doesn't corrupt the Media buttion .....
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Jul 14, 2008
Basically I bought a Dell Inspirion 1525 with Vista, Downgraded to XP, had to change the Hard drive to IDA for the system to recognise XP. Been running fine then I pressed the MD button by mistake thinking it was the power button, it gets as far as 'Building you MD files' then says ''DMD cannot access your hard drive. This maybe because you have enabled Microsoft Bit Locker (Drive Encryption)'' etc etc. Now i'm hoping that means it hasn't wiped my HD cos i've read a load of people who've had problems with that button wiping everything out but i think it can't recognise my HD cos I switched it to IDA.
Anyways whenever I press the power button now it keeps loading MD and doing the same cycle and I can't load XP at all, tried loading it in safe mode and it crashes. PLEASE HELP ME!!! I can't get windows on at all and I really don't care about MD, infact when I can access windows again i'll be researching how to deactivate the MD button so this doesn't happen again unless someone can provide that info aswell
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Apr 7, 2009
With my recent acquisition of a Studio XPS 16, I am selling my Inspiron 1720 to a friend of mine (yep he's getting a good deal and I am throwing in 200 or 300 bucks worth of stuff to boot because he's a good guy),
but I've noticed that my play and volume up media direct buttons tend to stick as if they've got some buildup behind them.
I hardly ever eat when using my laptop and I've never spilled anything on it so I'm guessing it's just normal buildup gunk but I'd rather take it apart and clean it to give it to him as clean as possible, if it's a relatively easy task.
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Jul 30, 2009
I have a Vostro 1700 with Vista installed. When I got it I didn't want the Dell Mediadirect softare on there so reinstalled with those partitions removed and just Vista on there.
I also tried installing Windows XP to see how that worked on it; XP installed fine and worked well, but I had the problem that if I touched the Media Direct button it could knacker up the whole XP installation. Obviously,
I couldn't resist trying, and low and behold, when I pressed the button my XP installation was corrupted! (my original thread on it was here - New Vostro 1700 laptop! Why are there four partitions, and can I get rid of them?!)
I've really not liked Vista, and do want to get Windows 7 on the Vostro, but what I want to make sure before I pay out for Windows 7 is that I'm not going to have the same problem with that damn Media Direct button .....
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Jan 22, 2009
I'm new here, so I apologize if I'm not doing this right or if this has been addressed.
I recieved a new Studio 1535 for Christmas. It was purchased on Thanksgiving Day so its past the 21 days. Everything was working great, but all of a sudden, randomly the eject button started lighting up and trying to eject a cd.
This did it for a little while, my sister has a MAC and says her's does the same thing. It was my first time with a slot loading cd drive..so I took her word for it.
Then it kept happening. Next, the volume button would light up..raise the volume up all the way on the screen and stay there. I would manually try to lower it, and it wouldn't let me
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Jan 30, 2009
So I have a Dell XPS M140 and the blue lights for the Media Direct buttons are much brighter than those on my Inspiron E1405..
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Mar 11, 2010
I have been asked to recover a HP Mini 210-2080ee with a failed hard drive. I am unable to source a recovery DVD or USB since the machine was bought in the Middle East and the media is not available in Ireland or the UK.
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Nov 17, 2008
I currently installed Ubuntu and it was good but It drained my battery so I decided to take it off. After that my computer started to act weird. The Media Direct partition appeared in next to my OS and Recovery partitions. When i would press the MD button, I would get a blue screen and eventually every time I press the button It just turns on my computer. When I try to turn it back on after putting it on hibernate, it states that windows did not turn off right and it restarts windows. I have decided to a clean reinstall of Vista and MD but I have a few questions. I found this tutorial on how to do it on the internet but i found that i have to completely delete all the partitions including the recovery partition. I was wondering if there is a way to do this without having to delete that partition?
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Dec 4, 2007
Currently I have a 60gb 7200 drive and I'm constantly battling for disk space and I regularly have to move files off on to my desktop to reserve space. The last straw was just last week I wanted to install all of the Orange Box and well that's like half my hard drive. I had to remove my entire mp3 and photo collection and uninstall a ton of crap to find room for it.
Anyway, I'd like to get a bigger hard drive. 100+ gig minimum. I'd like to stay with a 7200 rpm drive but it seems from some threads around here that you can get virtually the same performance from the larger 5400 drives. If that's the case, I don't really care which speed it is.
Is there a certain formfactor for the drive I'm looking for? Certain brands? Anyone who's upgraded the harddrive in this system have any advice? Most of the threads I found regarding new harddrives are on the newer Dell systems; and mine is a few years old.
I suppose an external drive is always an option; but like another post here it'd have to be usb powered as I need it to be fully portable and carrying another power cord around just isn't gonna work. I've never had any experience with external drives however; though I imagine they work identical to an internal for all normal purposes. How about speed though? Are they feasable to run games off of or can you pretty much only use them for file storage?
It seems ideally I'd minimum want to upgrade my internal drive with 100+gig drive and then possibly also get an external drive later. So knowing that what should I be looking for for an internal drive upgrade. Can anyone give me any models or links to good ones or where I should be looking?
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Mar 3, 2009
i'm thinking about upgrade my hard drive,
anyone have suggestion on what HD is good for this laptop?
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Oct 21, 2009
I'm new here, so firstly HELLO! ;-) I'm typical a SONY laptop person, but since their latest model has a seriously bad fault that would have me sending it back to them every 6 months to be repaired, and they refused to swap it for a laptop without that design, I decided to return to Dell.
So far, I'm pretty happy with my XPS 1330, other than my stupid decision to upgrade the operating system to Vista Ultimate. I ended up losing all required drivers and now it likes to crash now and then (I think it's because of the display drivers). However, that's another story!!
The purpose of THIS post is to find out from you all whether the XPS 1330 can take a 750 gig sata drive. I'm thinking of getting this drive and installing Windows 7 onto it, and starting over.
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Apr 17, 2008
Dell 9300 upgrade question.
Bought a Dell 9300 couple years ago and I'm wondering if upgrading my hard drive from 5400 to a 7200 rpm will I notice a big enough boost in performance to justify the purchase?.
and second will this work in my laptop?
HITACHI Travelstar 7K200 HTS722020K9SA00 (0A50940) 200GB 7200 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s found on this page »www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi···7200+RP
or can someone suggest another hard drive?.
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Mar 13, 2010
I am thinking of upgrading the hard drive on my Dell E1405. I was just curious if there is some kind of limit as to how big a drive I can get or is just whatever my wallet will tolerate.
In addition, can anyone point me to the "correct" hard-drive that my laptop supports? (I'm assuming it's a SATA drive.)
I wasn't sure what type (if there is one) that I need to buy for my laptop. Just anything on amazon or fry.com, or something along those lines.
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Aug 27, 2009
I've got an Inspiron 9300 that I bought in 2004. Now, I know that it's a bit outdated (it's processor is an Intel Pentium M 1.86) with a 100gb hard drive.
My question is is it possible to get a bigger compatible hard drive in the computer's slot? I'm almost full with music (that I've copied from my CDs) and family photos, etc. so it would be handy to have more space to work with.
It's still in good shape. The warrantee just ran out a year ago and I've got a bunch of newer expensive parts (screen, heat sinks, heat fans, etc.) so it's likely worth my while if such a hard drive is available.
My computer might last another three or four years without having to need serious costly repairs making it best to simply buy a newer one. (I'm keeping all of my necessary files on a 320 gb USB drive in case that happens.)
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Jan 26, 2010
which hdd is best to upgrade the slow 4200rpm 1.8-inch drive that my laptop came with?
I'm interested in the best value price/performance.
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