Software Mirror / Diagnostic Partition

[Ayman Altounji]

Hi,

Using W2K to software mirror the OS (Boot) partition. I pull the mirrored drive and install it on another ML350. Everything mirrors except the 37MB diagnostic partition.

Question One: What's the function of this partition, and by not installing it do I lose any sort of real diagnostic capability?

Question Two: How can I install this partition w/out using the SmartStart CD (which obviously erases all drive content before you can accomplish much).

Thanks,
Jeff

[Ayman Altounji]

More Info:

After doing a bit of research - it's clear that the partition is not needed. However, in my case, it is needed per Microsoft KB article:

Reasons Why Windows NT Does Not Boot From a Shadow Mirror Drive (Q167045)

Problem:
The primary drive had an EISA partition in front of the system partition and you mirrored to a drive that did not contain an EISA partition.

Solution:
Prior to mirroring to the shadow drive, make an identically sized EISA partition. It may be possible to move the shadow drive to another Windows NT computer to modify the MBS Hidden Sector value by using the Windows NT 4.0 resource kit utility Dskprobe.exe to make it bootable.

So, I can re-mirror my drive - however I need to place the 37MB partition on it first. Is there a way to accomplish this other than the SmartStart CD (so I don't have to go through the entire SmartStart/OS process just to get the EISA partition installed)?

Thanks,
Jeff