Vendor special partitions (was: HP/Compaq Presario and Linux)

Benjamin Scott bscott at ntisys.com
Sat Jan 29 22:52:01 EST 2005


  There are two types of "special partitions" one usually sees these days:

  One is the "system utility" partition, which contains things like BIOS
setup, diagnostics, and such.  Compaq is famous for using such a partition
*instead* of firmware-based utilities, meaning if your hard disk or RAID
array is on the fritz, fixing the system becomes very difficult indeed.  
Some other vendors ship diagnostics, more capable utilities, etc., in
utility partitions, but still include the "essentials" in firmware.  Dell
does this.  These partitions are usually small, around 50 megabytes or less.

  The other type of special partition is the "system restore" partition.  
This contains a compressed image of the factory pre-loaded software.  This
lets one restore the system to "factory condition" with a few keystrokes.  
As the number one support problem these days is a corrupted Windows software
install (usually due to malware), this is a big bonus for all involved.

  More and more vendors using restore partitions do not ship any external
media (CDs or DVDs) with their systems.  It basically boils down to BOM
cost, coupled with the fact that the vast majority of users never use the
media in the first place, and indeed, will typically lose it if provided.  
Since most never use it, and those that need it typically end up having to 
order a new set anyway, why bother shipping it in the first place?

  I'm not kidding about this; I do support for a living, and it is
practically unheard of for someone to actually know where their original CDs
are.  People regularly lose thousands of dollars of software this way.

  The "system restore" partition will often include a utility which will
create removable media (a CD set or a DVD) which does the same thing.  
This, in theory, gives the operator the chance to make his system recovery
process independent of the hard disk.  Nobody does this, either.

  All this of course penalizes the very small minority of people with a
clue.

  Microsoft encourages the idea of restoring a factory image, rather then
providing install media.  Most Microsoft software shipped with a computer
(called "OEM software" by Microsoft) is legally part of that computer.  It
is not transferable to another computer.  Microsoft discovered that most
people who, for example, "bought" Office with a PC were transferring it to
their next PC, because nobody reads the license which says you can't.  
Microsoft was naturally upset by this.

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
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