Windows 98 backup

Hi ,

i have an windows 98 system and it has an software installed on it and i dont have the hardcopy of the software,so if this system crashes i will be in trouble,so is it possible for me to backup the harddrive of this system onto an external hard drive,If yes can you suggest me the hard drive which i can use.

Thanks,
Tri

 

Hi Tri and welcome to WindowsBBS

Given that it's 98 cloning to another internal drive may be a better option (98SE and USB generally get along well but there could be complications).

If you post your system details we would have a better idea of your options.

If this is your main system it would be helpful if you add your system details to your profile. Please click on the link and follow those instructions it could save some time when resolving this or further issues.

A common error is to forget to show your system details in your profile

If you do add your system specifications be sure to do the above

 

HI,
Thanks for the reply,Actually the system which i am talking is not my main system ,
So i am giving you the details what ever i know to you,

Its an Pentium II processor with 64mb ram and it has 98 SE installed on it.it has an hard drive with 2gb capacity in FAT32 format.

I dont have the exact info of hard drive in the properties of mycomputer,If you want me to give you exact info can you tell me any other way to find it except opening the CPU which i want to use as an last option.

Thanks,
TRI

 

Follow that System Details Link, SIW should still work on your system, but since it's only a 2Gig drive can't you just backup to DVD/memory stick etc?

 

Its not recognising any memory sticks and also its having cd drive,its not even getting connected to internet for me to download drivers for the usb drives, do u have any other option

 

Transplant the drive to another computer and perform the backup from there or buy a larger drive for your computer and clone the system across.

To be honest you'll have to decide how much effort is worth it (my phone has over 2 Gig storage).

 

Can you help me in connecting this guy to internet,so that half of the problem is solved,i have no idea why its not connecting to internet because the ethernet drivers are good and they are enabled , when i am trying to connect it to the internet its not getting connected, i am using a network which had its DNS names and it automatically ip address to the clients dats how the rest of systems are configured,they are xp though.
So can you suggest me any steps which can help me connect this guy to internet and i wanna join it to my domain if possible.

Thanks,
TRi

 

A different question and better asked in the networking forum.

 

hey i copied your SIW s/w on to cd and pasted it on the 98 system i am getting the exact System info ,

Hard drive : MAXTAR 84320D4 model size 4174 MB

Can you suggest me any options now for back up or cloning and steps to how to perform any of those operations wud be great

THanks,
TRI

 

Ok, so 4Gb not 2

My previous comments still stand though, this is easily backed up to memory stick, DVD/CD etc. (1 DVD / Max of 6 CD's).

 

its not recognising any memory sticks and it doesnt have a DVD drive to backup so you want me to just use 6 empty cd and insert one by one in the backup process.

 

If that's what it takes. Personally I'd just buy a DVD writer (£20) and burn to one disk. Realistically I'd admit that every machine has had it's day and your 98 one is way past sell by date.

 

I suggest that you consider installing a second hard drive on the Primary IDE cable in the computer. Almost any size of hard disk will do, since you are bound to be *unable* to buy one smaller than 4 GB!

Make sure the new hard disk is not larger than 64 GB. Win98 has a barrier limit at that size, and a bigger disk would not be properly recognised.

Make SURE that the partition on your current hard disk is using FAT32. If it is using FAT16 (which I am inclined to suspect it is, because it is a 2 GB partition) then the absolute size limit for the new partition is going to be 2 GB also.

Not that it really matters to me if you buy a 40 GB disk and can only use 2 GB of it! But in that case, cloning the old disk on the new one would occupy only 2 GB of the new disk and leave you the option to create a second partition on the new disk, occupying the remaining space. It's a more complicated scenario, but not too bad an option.

It would be a fatal error to create a FAT16 partition larger than 2 GB on the new disk, as 2 GB is the barrier limit for a FAT16 partition.

IMPORTANT: You have to take careful note of the proper anti-static precautions before you open the computer's case. Read the page at this link:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winme/1177076589

I can't go into all the complications here of installing a FAT32 hard disk. First, make sure you really are dealing with a FAT32 disk! Then, if you are - but my guess is you're not - then I suggest you read this link: Installing a FAT32 hard disk

To clone one FAT32 partition onto another FAT32 partition, read this link: Cloning a FAT32 hard disk

The page those links take you to contains enough detail for you to work out whether what you have is a FAT16 disk. I suggest you run Norton's DiskEdit.exe and view the disk's Boot Sector (sector 63 usually), which will contain either the text "FAT16" or the text "FAT32 ".

Alternatively, the number of clusters can tell you the type of FAT in use, as a FAT16 partition cannot exceed 65,517 clusters. If the number of clusters is greater than 65,518 the partition is using FAT32. Run CHKDSK.EXE : go to START > RUN and in the box there type CHKDSK C: then click on OK.

If the number of Allocation Units is less than 65,517 then the Drive C is a FAT16 drive.

 

FAT version?

Hi, wouldn´t fdisk be a good way to quickly find out which FAT Trishanth´s current HD has?
In MS-DOS prompt, type fdisk. It will then show four options, last one being something like "display partition information ", type four. Fdisk will then display information about the hd, including FAT version.
By the way, If computer has USB flash drive attached, fdisk sees it as another hard drive.

 

Hi ED,
Thanks for your reply,my computer is using a FAT32 format so i bought a 40gb hard drive now the issue is the links which you posted for installing and clonning are not working can you repost them plzzzzzzzzzz,

the way i found was using Thomas's reply,thanks thomas

 

Please be careful!

No, that would be very dangerous.

Merely running the FDISK program can cause that program to write data to your hard disk. This can happen even though you do not instruct FDISK to take any steps! In that event, your chances of recovering your damaged data will get a *lot* worse. FDISK is a very dangerous program.

Don't do that. Instead, carefully follow the steps that I originally outlined.

Using CHKDSK to identify the number of clusters is a VERY simple option. If the user is unsure of such a straightforward step, I would strongly recommend paying for professional data recovery.

 

Any links to support this? Seriously I've never heard of this issue and am interested. I do agree using FDISK can be dangerous if you're inexperienced.

I doubt anything FDISK does would cause much of a problem for a data recovery service

 

Hi Trishanth,

Sorry for the delay in replying to you. I've checked the links which I posted, and they all work in my browser. Please try them again.

Or try this link: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bridip/recovery.htm


If you aren't able to use them, this may be because your web browser is not properly configured. It may be (incorrectly) set to block certain sites, for instance by adding them to the Restricted Sites Zone list.

If so, you will have to clear that list in Internet Explorer (go to: Tools > Internet Options > Security > Restricted Sites).

Or you may have a HOSTS file that blocks access to the sites in mu links. In which case go to your C:\WINDOWS folder and rename the file HOSTS to HOSTS.OLD (or any new name you prefer).

In each case, restart your computer after making the necessary changes.


If you still can't use the links I posted, try a Google search for the information you need: http://www.google.com/search?as_q=installing+cloning+FAT32

 

Dangers of FDISK

Hi Wildfire,

The command FDISK /status is safe, provided it's issued from a DOS prompt.

But the problem is that if a partition is lost or damaged, if you merely open the FDISK "create partition" screen, FDISK will write sectors containing ASCII character 246 (hex F6) to large areas at the beginning of the free partition space, potentially overwriting the reserved sectors, both FATs, and the root directory table.

I agree that in theory a data recovery service should not be defeated by such an occurance. But I did once encounter one that was!

 

I have no wish to hijack this thread, is there any chance you can send me a private message with further details?