Has anyone played around with the hidden partition?  If I remember correctly, it’s about 4-5 GBs?  I could be wrong. 

Since the drive isn’t all that big, I’d like to reclaim as much space as a I can.

I don’t have the Sony iLink drives or other external drives.  Would I still be able to reinstall Windows if I need to? 

With my PC, I usually put all the installation files on the hard drive and do a clean install that way.

With the X505, can I just put all the installation files on the hard drive and just install it from the drive if I ever need to?

Thanks!

Well, to answer one part of your question: your X has a Recovery Wizard that will reinstall the applications or do a complete recovery of your notebook if the need be.

I acutally want a clean install of Windows XP.  That isn’t possible right now because the VAIO Recovery Wizard does it.  And it will install XP along with those other Sony apps.

And the main issue for me is recovering the hidden partition for use and at teh same time still be able to do reinstall Windows if I need to.

You can always make the recovery DVD (or CD set). The recovery DVD has exactly the same capibility as the recovery partition.

A clean install of XP is nice, but then you have to run around and find drivers, Sony hot key utilities, etc.