Hi Rick,

The extra partition that Compaq uses on the 7360, and other models of that
time frame, is used by the Compaq SystemSave feature. SystemSave works very
much like Windows System Restore, but it's more reliable in that it can be
started from inside Windows or with an emergency recovery boot disk if
Windows can't be started. In a sense, it's akin to having a Ghost (or other)
image backup on a separate partition. For some models at that time (the
5BW120 for one), only a recovery CD for use with the SystemSave partition
was provided. For those, if that partition became unusable a full recovery
set had to be ordered from Compaq and a full restore performed.

With Selective SystemRestore you can (1) perform a "Full" restore returning
the computer to it's factory state, (2) perform a "Typical" restore to the
state it was in from the last SystemSave (only if a SystemSave was performed
by the user) and, (3) a "Custom" restore to reinstall drivers or
applications.

I'm assuming you don't have the original manual. The one available for
download (24.02 MB in PDF) is not the original and only covers the basics.
It doesn't fully explain the Compaq Selective QuickRestore process.

I have a Presario 5724 that's similar to the 7360 but I've only used it with
the factory configuration and a clean install of Windows Millennium so I
haven't experienced a situation such as yours. On the surface it doesn't
seem that deleting the second partition alone would interfere with Windows.
Could it be that during the process you deleted or changed something else to
cause the boot problem? I don't recall if there is an option to completely
disable SystemSave but if there is, it may be possible to do that and then
reclaim the D: drive. I hope this helps...

Sven Swanson, Sr.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Glazier" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2005 9:58 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Compaq Restore -- OEM


The question is, does the special Compaq partition need to be there,
and why?  (And yes, it is old and I have newer computers.)

A friend gave me an old Compaq 7360 computer (p-500) to
fool around with. The HD was blown, but I also got the factory
restore disks.

I did a factory restore on a different totally clean HD.
I had the box working fine and started fooling with the HD
using Acronis Partition Expert2003 and True Image7 or 8.

Along the way (somewhere), I deleted the partition that Compaq
had put a lot of their stuff in since it was around 1 G or 2 out of a
20G hd. The clean HD was an archive drive of mine (I cleared) and it
had seen very little actual running time.

The reason for the question is: After the partitions were fooled with,
the computer rarely boots anymore. (But it still does sometimes?.)
The hardware boots fine from a floppy (win98) IF the HD is disconnected...

It is an odd set of circumstances that I have not dealt with before,
and I can start to understand why some members have been very
vocal about these OEM type restores, etc...

The question is, does the special Compaq partition need to be there,
and why?
                                                   Rick Glazier

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