# [SOLVED] Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!



## cd216513 (May 2, 2008)

My Dell Inspiron was having a lot of trouble with bluetooth and automatic updates kept getting turned off after I would turn it back on. I gave up and went to Dell System Restore. I used the CTRL + F11 at the BIOS screen, I got in fine, all was good. It started restoring the image, when suddenly, it stopped. I got an abort error message, and it said to contact Dell. So that's what I did, and then they said they couldn't help me because my warranty expired. So I go to see if I can still use the Windows I had before, of course it's corrupt though. So I download DSRFIX from another computer, burn it to a disk, and boot up my Dell. everything's looking good, I run DSRFIX /F to fix up the recovery partition, I'm getting goods on the checks... Then all of a sudden I get a !!fatal. It's reporting that pbr3, the recovery partition, is not fat32, but it should be. Since the condition is fatal, no repairs can be made. I didn't change the format, so why is it reporting to not be fat32? Does anyone have any advice on how to fix this messy situation? I really need to fix this up because this is the computer I take to my classes. Worse case scenario, I could just do a clean install of XP, but I really want to try to repair the recovery partition so I can set up factory defaults, so I have drivers and all the dell programs and everything. So if anyone can help me with this, it would be very appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Chris


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

Hi Chris,

I am guessing here but if it is the original HDD that came with the laptop, then it could be NTFS and NOT FAT32... anyhow whether it is FAT32 or NTFS, I think the issue here is the hard drive hardware.

If you know the harddrive brand (i.e. Hitachi, Fujitsu, Maxtor, etc...), get the diagnostic tool for that specific drive and test your HDD (see HDD Diags link on my sig). Get the ISO file and burn the image into a blank CD using Nero or ImgBurn or similar. If your HDD is indeed dead or dying then consider replacement as no amount of restore will be able to revive it back to life.


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## cd216513 (May 2, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

Thanks for the advice, TriggerFinger. I downloaded the utility for my drive, and chose the thorough scanning. The tests all came back successful, however, so I don't think my disk is bad. Is there a way to fix the recovery partition


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

I am not that familiar on ways to fix the recovery partition. Try running Memtest86+ first to diagnose the RAM. Run it overnight.


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## cd216513 (May 2, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

Alright, I'll give that a shot. If that doesn't work, I'll just reformat the computer myself and create my own recovery partition. Thanks so much for your help, TriggerFinger.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

About the recovery partition... if the HDD is good as it passed the diagnostics, then the error that you get when you try the install may not be from the HDD itself anymore. I may be wrong but I think the files in the recovery partition are still in tact. Assuming the files are still good and you can still access the recovery partition by F11 (?) key then the RAM would be the most likely culprit why you are getting the error... this is why I suggest Memtest86+.


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## cd216513 (May 2, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

Alright, I'll give it a try. Is there a way to back up a hard drive including the hidden recovery partition as an image?


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## cd216513 (May 2, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

Memtest passed 7 times without any errors, so I ruled out that option. Just to be safe, I tried different memory sticks then ran the recovery. Still got the errors. So I guess I'm just going to have to set up my own recovery partition. I would like to back up an image of this recovery partition, however, just in case I do find a fix someday. Does anyone know the best way of doing this?


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

There are backup/cloning software that can do that (AFAIK). I am not sure if Acronis can do the job. Another way is to get the recovery CDs from DELL.


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## auntiej (Aug 14, 2006)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

I use Acronis which enables me to image all 3 partitions on the drive (including the recovery partition).


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## cd216513 (May 2, 2008)

*Re: Dell Inspiron 6400 Big Problems With Recovery! Help!*

Ok, thanks guys. I'll just get acronis and back the disk up for safe keeping, then reformat and make my own recovery partition. I really appreciate all the help!


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