WIN98 HD Issue

harryt · 14th December 2008

Hi there.

I have windows installed on an older HD.

I have a new one, and wanted to install a fresh copy of WIN98 on it. The HD is a Maxtor Diamond and it says 30GB on it.

I tried to test it and put it as a 2nd drive. In windows it shows that the drive only has a capacity of 8GB?? I did a format and same thing?

BTW, this new drive was on another PC. It is no longer used, so I took it out and wanted to use it as another drive on my own PC.

**wildfire** · 14th December 2008

It's probably a BIOS limitation on your system, you can look for an updated BIOS or use disk management software (Dynamic Drive Overlay) to circumvent the limit.

It may be worth checking the drive as well there may be a jumper setting to cap the limit at 8Gb.

Have a look here for Maxblast if you need to use the disk managment route.

harryt · 20th December 2008

Okay, so I got it working.

I have an issue though.

When I try to create a Primary Partion, it won't let me choose the file size. EG. How much that partion can hold.

It by default assigns it 8MB and then allows me to create extended or additional partions to which ever size I want them to be.

I'm trying to create one huge primary partion if possible.

**wildfire** · 20th December 2008

Probably a requirement of the DDO, I wouldn't worry about it, compared to 30GB, 8MB is tiny. 30GB is approx 30,000 Mb.

harryt · 21st December 2008

Well it assigns the 8MB primary area as C:

Unless there is a way I can assign the Extended partion as C: ??

**wildfire** · 21st December 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by harryt

Well it assigns the 8MB primary area as C:

Unless there is a way I can assign the Extended partion as C: ??

Harry, you'll have to bear with me... It's been a while since I've done this

How exactly are you partitioning the drive? Using FDisk or Maxblast?

harryt · 22nd December 2008

Hey wildfire.

I'm using FDisk in Dos.

**wildfire** · 22nd December 2008

Are you sure it's 8Mb and not 8Gb fdisk is offering?

harryt · 23rd December 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildfire

Are you sure it's 8Mb and not 8Gb fdisk is offering?

It's 8MB.

I also tried putting the WIN98 folder on that partion and that's when I noticed it's size.

I also noted, this drive was used with a novell system on an earlier PC.

**wildfire** · 23rd December 2008

Ok, Does Maxblast offer a partioning facility?

My memory's failing here (and I'm really hoping I don't need to drag out an antique to help

) but IIRC 98 versions of FDISK did have problems with large hard drives but I thought up to 32GB was ok. Can you try other partitioning software?

**markp62** · 23rd December 2008

If a drive overlay is installed on the drive, you need to partition and format the drive with the maxblast software. If you use a plain dos disk to fdisk and format the drive, the drive overlay software is not loaded and you get the problem that you have. The dos disk will only see what the BIOS is reporting, which will be incorrect information.
http://www.softwarepatch.com/utilities/maxblast.html
The above page has a download that will make a bootable maxblast CD.

IuliusAugustus · 23rd December 2008

one explanation is here :

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=225822

even if they say it applies to win2000... the same 8Mb problem appears on:
Xp/w2003/Vista/Win7 ...

indeed, i don`t remember on w98

if you still can`t manage to remove it try using a (bootable) Partition Magic

also, keep in mind that Fat16 has a very small size limitation ...2 Gb ; Fat32 - 4 GB ( and this 2 are the only accepted by win98 )

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/bios/sizeGB2-c.html

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314463

good luck

**wildfire** · 23rd December 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by IuliusAugustus

Fat32 - 4 GB ( and this 2 are the only accepted by win98 )

Iullius,

Your input is welcome and I'm sure you can teach me a thing or two but FAT32 can support far greater than 4Gb, in fact the link you posted suggested 8TB. I agree Win98 has other limitations a 2TB is indicated in this knowledge base

I've alway felt safe using anything less than 32GB with 98 but have never heard of the 4Gb limit you suggest.

Edit: Perhaps it's filesize and not partition size you're thinking off?

IuliusAugustus · 24th December 2008

you are right wildfire...a file

don`t know where i was thinking

harryt · 24th December 2008

Well. My windows 98 isn't loading properly now on my old drive. All my files are intact, but some of the windows files have problems.

Anyways, I noticed the problem.

It seems like the PRIMARY Partion on the new disk created a 8MB FAT16 format..
However, when I create the EXTENDED partion on the new disk, it created the 30GB FAT32 format. The drive its self is 30GB.

I'm going to see if I can make a boot cd for maxblast or Partition Magic, and run it on the PC.

Hopefully this will fix stuff up.