Lost Acer OEM Partition

HippsieGypsie

It's Gururrrrrr8!
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Location
Lilymoor, IL
As you all may know I'm not the savviest of users. Long ago when using 7 early on I botched up trying to remove an Acer OEM partition to no avail only to be left missing roughly 65GBs of my hard drive and not being able to see the partition. Luckily I didn't destroy the HD!

Thanks to this forum I found a nice little free utility that Brink introduced here: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/31950-partition-recover-deleted-partitions-windows.html that I ran and it was able to see the partition. Not only that partition, but a bunch of smaller ones. I couldn't believe my eyes when I came to look at this after it was finished scanning!

I am asking for help to clean this mess up. Below is the results of the scan. The first one listed (no label) is my Windows 8 Pro partition. The one labled 8.1 is obviosly my 8.1 RP that I dual boot. The one with the checkmark with no label I'm guessing is the Acer partition. As you can see Windows Disk Management does not see any other partitions other than 8 and 8.1.

If at all possible, what do I need to do to correct this? I'd like not to touch my 8 partition because of Office, but I will if I need to. 8.1 is just a preview. What are all those smaller ones? What does overlapped mean?

View attachment 28529


View attachment 28530
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
It looks like a mess, but it isn't really. It looks like your drive is, or thinks it is actually a 250GB ST250620AS with Guaranteed sectors 488,397,168. Your maximum sector count (LBA) is 488394750 which fits this nicely.

I'd check out what is written on the disk drive label, and what was written on the specs for your Acer model when you bought it.

Acer Aspire T690 Specs (Pentium D 935 3.2GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, Vista Home Premium) - Desktops - CNET Reviews

http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/manuals/sata/100402371a.pdf

The usable size of a disk is less than the advertised capacity, because 300GB would be 300,000,000,000 Bytes according to the disk manufacturer.

This is the decimal Gigabyte.

Your operating system, NTFS uses the binary gibibyte or 1073741824 bytes

The capacity of a 300GB disk would be 279,396,772,384, under NTFS, or about 93% of the rated capacity.

The capacity of a 250GB disk would be 232,830,643,653, again about 93% of the rated capacity.

You currently get 135.23 + 97.66 = 232.89, which is spot on with any rounding errors.

So there is no lost space, and Disk Manager is not wrong. When you upgraded from Vista to 7, you gained the space from the OEM partition to approximately the maximum possible for your disk.

Don't worry about the lost or overlapping partitions, they have nothing of value to you any more, they are just ghosts of systems past. Do label your volumes in the disk properties - it may resolve ambiguity when you may need it for future problems.





 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP COMPAQ Presario CQ57
    CPU
    AMD E- 300 APU with Radion HD Graphics 1.30GHz
    Motherboard
    inbuilt
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI
    Sound Card
    High Definition Audio on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    notebook
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST9500325AS
    Google drive 15GB
    Skydrive 25GB
    BT Cloud
    PSU
    external 20v
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    pretty good
    Keyboard
    inbuilt
    Mouse
    touchpad
    Internet Speed
    BT Infinity Unlimited - 80 up 20 down =70/16 really
    Browser
    Chrome Canary usually
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    no Start menu modifications
    Upgraded with no issues to 8.0 and to 8.1
Thanks for answering, fafhrd.

I'm absolutely positive it is a 300GB Seagate ST3250820AS Barracuda HD, so therefore it's missing 65GBs or so.

I don't remember the program I used to boot with to attempt to remove the partition. It was 6 or 7 years ago. Obviously I performed something wrong. When I opened C: properties my heart sank that I was missing 65GBs after that. I could never see the partition again. Eventually I gave up until I ran this utility. Not sure, but I don't recall if Disk Manager was never able to see this type of partition.

I have minimum knowledge on the subject, but I understand that a drive will show a certain percentage due to MBR files and the like. What is the file called that describes the partition to "see type/manage/move/manipulate" it? For the life of me I can't seem to find it in researching.

As requested, I won't worry about the lost or overlapping partitions. I understand that they were deleted but continue to be seen as ghosts. What I don't understand is why the labled W8.1 partition's listed status is "overlapped". What does that mean? It is also in a faded font like the rest of the "overlapped" "ghost" partitions are. Then the one I think is the lost Acer recovery partition is in regular font as all the rest of the Lost/Deleted "ghost" partitions. Why is it and what does the regular font mean?

I relabled my C: drive as reqested. I posted the new Disk Management results.

Is there any way to recover the 65GBs missing? Is it worth the effort? I,ve never had any trouble with the drive.

View attachment 28541
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7/8 Mint
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo W530
    CPU
    intell i7
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16gb
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    512 gb ssd
    Other Info
    Around 13 million employes
Yes, that particular model and number was manufactured with different GB sizes as so with some of their other models. I'm absolutely positive it is the 300GB model. I know what I bought and I used to see 300GBs in the drive's properties until I screwed it up.

Is there any your hope in this or should I just write it off and move on? I've been thinking of getting a HDD for OSs and use the old drive for backup. I see the prices for HDDs continue to decline.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Yes, that particular model and number was manufactured with different GB sizes as so with some of their other models. I'm absolutely positive it is the 300GB model. I know what I bought and I used to see 300GBs in the drive's properties until I screwed it up.

Is there any your hope in this or should I just write it off and move on? I've been thinking of getting a HDD for OSs and use the old drive for backup. I see the prices for HDDs continue to decline.
I think you should just write it off and get a new HDD or SSD as the SSD would give you a boost in speed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7/8 Mint
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo W530
    CPU
    intell i7
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16gb
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    512 gb ssd
    Other Info
    Around 13 million employes
Thanks, labeeman.

What do you think, fafhrd?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
I stick with what I said in post #2.

Here's the thing in the drive name: ST3250820AS.

Check the label on the drive itself, and make up your mind if you actually have a 300GB drive or really a 250GB drive as all other evidence indicates.

Download SeaTools SeaTools for Windows | Seagate and check the drive out for SMART status and their short drive self test, and see if the drive is failing. I would guess it is generally OK, but a 7 year old drive may have some potentially weak areas.

Run msinfo32.exe to see what System/Components/Storage/Disks tells you about your disk and partitions.

I think you have lost nothing, and your disk is running at full capacity, and you, of course can add a SSD and another disk for even greater storage, but with your current needs do not merit this, having about only one quarter of each of your partitions used, and a total of 178GB of free space.

I wish I had that much free space to play with!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP COMPAQ Presario CQ57
    CPU
    AMD E- 300 APU with Radion HD Graphics 1.30GHz
    Motherboard
    inbuilt
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI
    Sound Card
    High Definition Audio on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    notebook
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST9500325AS
    Google drive 15GB
    Skydrive 25GB
    BT Cloud
    PSU
    external 20v
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    pretty good
    Keyboard
    inbuilt
    Mouse
    touchpad
    Internet Speed
    BT Infinity Unlimited - 80 up 20 down =70/16 really
    Browser
    Chrome Canary usually
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    no Start menu modifications
    Upgraded with no issues to 8.0 and to 8.1
Thanks for answering, fafhrd. It looks as though my memory didn't serve me right. It probably is a 250 gig drive as you stated. I will physically check the hard drive is you suggested.

Lol! I realize the drive size was an overkill for me at the time, but nearing retirement it will serve me well. I plan on doing more partitioning to learn and play around with other OSs.

Yes, The drive is getting older which is getting to be a concern. I was considering a new machine until I loaded 8RP then bought 8 OEM, which uses far less resources. It runs so much faster 7 did, so therefore I decided no new machine. I've never had a lick of trouble with this machine so far is hardware, save the shortage of RAM with Vista of which I upgraded to 2GBs max since then.

Please allow me to ask you or anyone for further advice.

I know it gets to be where we have to make a decision on whether or not to dump money into older machines. We don't want to chase good money after bad. In all things there's a risk. I'm thinking of taking a risk with this older Acer. I'll take the money saved and invest some into it. What are some thoughts on that?

My old Buffalo exterior backup drive took a crap about 3 weeks ago due to a bad transformer. $20 to replace, but to me it isn't worth it. So what I'll do is get a new SSD as you and labeeman suggested to get better performance and use the Seagate drive for backup and other OSs if it checks out ok with the tools you suggested. I think it will be ok for that, but we know sooner or later that'll go bad. I'll just replace that with another SSD or get a good-sized thumb drive. Those are getting to be quite large, more reasonably priced, and are more convenient.

Onboard graphics has always been the lowest WEI score. I've always considered a graphics card of which I have a slot for. I want to get another monitor, so the card will not only help with performance but also accommodate the monitor hookups. I think I can go with HDMI with the new, which is more efficient. Correct? It may even be a touch monitor. Haven't made that decision yet, although I'm leaning more towards it.

There's a new version of BIOS that I could update to, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. What's yours or anyone's thoughts on that? If I go to upgrade that, I may as well change the CMOS battery as well. Yes?

As I stated earlier, I upgraded RAM to 2GBs max. The processor is Intel dual core D series running at 3 gigahertz. This should be more than sufficient for 8.1 resource demands of which I'll upgrade to. Yes?

The only thing I would lack in would be USB3 which has a higher data transfer rate. That's no big deal to me since I'll have more time upon retirement. :)

Another thing in my plan is to build a custom rig in a few years or possibly sooner. I'll then use this Acer as a test machine.

Anyone's advice and guidance will be greatly appreciated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
I upgraded RAM to 2GBs max. The processor is Intel dual core D series running at 3 gigahertz. This should be more than sufficient for 8.1 resource demands of which I'll upgrade to.

I have an old desktop with 2gb and an intel Core 2duo E8400. Nt6 x64 all run well on it. There is only heavy paging when I do something intense e.g. updating installation media. I could fix that by upping to 4gb ram, for or other activities it is pretty decent.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
There's always the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it" adage.

I've never has a BIOS upgrade disaster, but I wouldn't do the upgrade unless I was having difficulties with the old version.

As far as the battery, the same goes - I just put together a PC using an old motherboard that my daughter threw out as "broken" about 6 years ago, and the CMOS battery was still fine, and the two old Athlon 64 processors she thought were dead both worked too, after straightening a few pins. (The problem was the first memory bank socket was faulty.)

As far as the rest, the choice is between you and the depth of your pockets. I'd rather have a spare old PC that still works, as well as my main machine, rather than a single PC bristling with performance, bells and whistles.

I don't spend a lot on computers these days. My first 486 DX2 66 cost about £1,500, in 1993, and my most recent laptop in my specs, about £250, last year. The case that I used for the mobo I mentioned above, someone had thrown out with the trash.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP COMPAQ Presario CQ57
    CPU
    AMD E- 300 APU with Radion HD Graphics 1.30GHz
    Motherboard
    inbuilt
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI
    Sound Card
    High Definition Audio on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    notebook
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST9500325AS
    Google drive 15GB
    Skydrive 25GB
    BT Cloud
    PSU
    external 20v
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    pretty good
    Keyboard
    inbuilt
    Mouse
    touchpad
    Internet Speed
    BT Infinity Unlimited - 80 up 20 down =70/16 really
    Browser
    Chrome Canary usually
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    no Start menu modifications
    Upgraded with no issues to 8.0 and to 8.1
Thanks much, guys. I am more assured to keep it and add the SSD, graphics card, and additional monitor.

Simon, the RAM is maxed for this particular mobo, so there's no more upgrading there. If I get into something that needs page filing the new SSD will somewhat help out there. Yes?

NT6? Are you referring to Vista, Server 2008, or neither?

I'd like to experiment with a touch monitor, but they are a little pricey right now. I'll wait until the prices drop a little. My daughter got a new lappie recently and gave me her old Dell tower running XP that runs slower than molasses in the Arctic. Its got a decent Philips 180P 18" LCD Monitor, though, that I'll use in the meantime. Eventually I'll get something bigger.

The BIOS I won't mess with it all then, for it's like you said, fafhrd, if it works don't fix it. Unless someone says different I don't see any advantage if it's an older BIOS anyway. Perhaps something with newer tech, but not old.

Well then, I'm off to look for a SSD and a graphics card.

I'll keep you posted on how things went with the old spinner.

Thanks much again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
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