Removing a partition

[Qwertvert]

I'm pretty new to computers, and want to get rid of a partition on my hard drive. (Not sure if that is what it is called.)

A new drive, visible in my computer, in the Hard Disk Drives section (G:\). I want to get rid of it without killing my computer. This is what is in it:

Volume in drive G has no label.

Volume Serial Number is 07D3-090A

Directory of G:\

08/24/1996 11:11 AM 93,812 COMMAND.COM

09/10/2003 07:08 AM <DIR> DELL

04/08/2003 10:56 AM 47,777 SEAL.EXE

04/15/2003 03:49 PM 77 CONFIG.SYS

09/10/2003 07:09 AM 998 UPKEEP.LST

09/10/2003 07:09 AM 10,765 SEAL.INI

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 269,083 ADAPTEC.MDM

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 38,375 AMI_RAID.MDM

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 18,839 BIOSMP.MDM

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 98,342 CABLES.MDM

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 48,811 CACHE.MDM

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 14,743 CPU.MDM

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 121,099 CSAUDIO.MDM

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 4,419 DDINIT.MIM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 1,694 DDINIT.MLM

04/15/2003 03:49 PM 10,145 DELLDIAG.COM

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 1,023,467 DELLDIAG.EXE

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 319 DELLDIAG.INI

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 58,595 DELLSYS.MSM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 186,959 DISK.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 61,951 DISKETTE.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 14,818 DVD.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 163,722 GENAUDIO.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 52,815 IAUDIO.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 28,575 IEEE1394.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 24,308 IMCHECC.MDM

04/15/2003 03:49 PM 900 INT15_88.COM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 50,722 IOAPIC.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 62,394 IR.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 169,440 KEYBOARD.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 43,251 LSI.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 105,836 MEMORY.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 27,926 MISCPCI.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 77,501 MOUSE.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 57,842 MPCACHE.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 42,872 NBBATT.MDM

04/15/2003 05:51 PM 28,764 NBFAN.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 43,200 NBSVC.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 43,608 NBTHERM.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 245,808 NIC.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 83,471 NIC8254X.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 43,601 PARALLEL.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 14,571 PCI.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 28,778 PERC2ADA.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 13,963 PM.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 24,179 PNP.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 62,178 RAID.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 194,167 SCSI.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 48,516 SERIAL.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 105,882 SMBIOS.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 19,252 SMBUS.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 18,510 SMI.MDM

04/15/2003 03:50 PM 1,836 SYMTREE.INI

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 79,705 SYSBDMON.MDM

04/15/2003 05:52 PM 71,086 SYSTEM.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 58,671 USB.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 43,947 USB2.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 109,480 USBDEVID.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 67,922 USBKBD.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 50,918 USBMOUSE.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 33,847 USBOHCI.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 38,512 USBTM.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 38,371 USBUHCI.MDM

04/15/2003 05:53 PM 140,522 VIDEO.MDM

04/15/2003 03:49 PM 398 AUTOEXEC.UP

04/15/2003 03:49 PM 77 CONFIG.UP

04/15/2003 03:49 PM 85 COPYUP.BAT

04/15/2003 03:49 PM 2,613 DELLBOOT.EXE

04/15/2003 05:50 PM 859,183 DELLTBUI.EXE

04/15/2003 03:49 PM 398 AUTOEXEC.BAT

04/13/2005 10:30 PM 0 all.txt

70 File(s) 5,649,211 bytes

Directory of G:\DELL

09/10/2003 07:08 AM <DIR> .

09/10/2003 07:08 AM <DIR> ..

09/30/1993 06:20 AM 11,111 DELTREE.EXE

07/09/2003 03:59 PM 6,987 RESTART.EXE

11/19/1996 02:46 PM 3 ENGLISH

03/31/2000 09:55 AM 308,278 B10_USA.BMP

08/12/1999 10:30 PM 65,078 FONT.BMP

03/31/2000 09:55 AM 308,278 P10_USA.BMP

04/03/2000 09:44 AM 308,278 EBTS_ENG.BMP

09/10/2003 07:08 AM 244 ZWIKBOOT.BAT

08/22/2004 11:49 AM 45,363 pspbrwse.jbf

9 File(s) 1,053,620 bytes

Directory of G:\Recycled

08/12/2004 09:41 PM <DIR> .

08/12/2004 09:41 PM <DIR> ..

0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of G:\System Volume Information

08/12/2004 09:41 PM <DIR> .

08/12/2004 09:41 PM <DIR> ..

08/12/2004 09:41 PM <DIR> _restore{987E0331-0F01-427C-A58A-7A2E4AABF84D}

0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of G:\System Volume Information\_restore{987E0331-0F01-427C-A58A-7A2E4AABF84D}

08/12/2004 09:41 PM <DIR> .

08/12/2004 09:41 PM <DIR> ..

0 File(s) 0 bytes

Total Files Listed:

79 File(s) 6,702,831 bytes

10 Dir(s) 33,900,544 bytes free

Yes, I have a Dell. No this was not on it when it first came. I've had this computer for about a year (Nov. 2004), and I jsut noticed this a few weeks ago. Don't think that I've installed much, but I can list 'em if you want 'em. All the files are way old too.

I've backed them all up onto a CD, but I really want to get rid of this drive (I have only one hard drive, so I guess that this is a partition).

So, anyone know how or what to do?

Thanks.

[-pops-]

Can I assume that you don't have a full Windows disc with your machine but do have a "recovery" disc?

My thinking is that you have somehow managed to access a part of the hard drive that you shouldn't have and what you are seeing is all the re-install information and data which you need in case you have a catastrophic failure.

That listing looks similar to content that is normally hidden but which contains all the necessaries to enable your recovery disc to do its thing.

Best (vital) to leave it alone, I think, unless others here have better ideas.

[Scarecrow Man]

It would seem pops is right. This is your Dell Restore directory. I would leave it alone.

You can format it, which would erase all data on it. But to merge it with your main partition would require a 3rd party app, such as Partition Magic.

[-pops-]

Thanks for the backup, crowman.

I'm never sure with these Dell machines - they seem to do everything differently. If it were a standard PC, I would have had little doubt about my reply.

[Scarecrow Man]

While a google for MDM, MLM or MIM shows nothing, I believe they are dell coded files, to restore drivers and operating system files. They opperate more like a zipped image file of a device or folder rather than the file itself.

[Qwertvert]

Thanks for the information on it.

That leads to a few more questions:

1. How safe are these 3rd party apps?

2. If I merged it with my C: drive, would they files still server their purpose?

3. I'm a really messed up person in that way that things like these annoy the heck out of me; is there a way to make it not normally visible in Windows Explorer?

[Scarecrow Man]

1. Depends on which App. Symantec Partition Magic (formaly PowerQuest) is quite good, and can change a partition without damaging it. Windows also has its own partition utility, fdisk. But it is a dos only application, and will destry any current partitions.

2. Nope. They would just be dead space. The file used to extract the dell files, or copy them has likely been coded with the path (G:\filename.ext) into it. Moving them would make it not work.

3. I found this but I would recomend making a system restore point before trying this.

[Qwertvert]

Thanks, I use the registry hack (change) to make it go away.