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FDISK help

Discussion in 'Legacy Windows' started by MinnesotaMike, 2003/11/11.

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  1. 2003/11/11
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    I am starting over with my 2153 system. I want to wipe the drive clean, repartition the drive, and install 98 again. The problem is that I can't get DOS to see the whole drive in FDISK. I have a 120GB drive and DOS reports the size as 52261MB. If i'm not mistaken, that is a little short. Say about 67000MB

    This is what I've done so far. I had two partitions, so I formatted each. I entered FDISK and deleted all partitions. I restarted the system and entered FDISK again. I created the Primary DOS partition, at 10GB. I created the Extended DOS partition with the remaining space. I created a logical DOS partition of 30GB. I tried to create another partition of 30GB and it wouldn't let me. The maximum size I could create was around 12GB.

    What am I missing here? I had no problems the first time I put the drive in. I want to create 1 10GB partition, 3 30GB partitions, and 1 partition with the rest (about 20GB). Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

    Mike
     
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  2. 2003/11/11
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Hi Mike!

    I seem to remember a limitation in the Win98 version of FDISK regarding harddisk size and that the WinME version should be able to handle large harddisks better.

    Download a WinME (OEM) start disk from Bootdisk.Com and try it.

    Format using the WinME start disk too.

    Hope it works!

    Christer
     
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  4. 2003/11/11
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Christer,

    Thanks for the reply! I just downloaded the disk and I will give it a try. I'll post back with my results.

    Mike
     
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  5. 2003/11/11
    goddez1

    goddez1 Inactive

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    goddez1,
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  6. 2003/11/11
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Thanks for the responses. I have installed Win98 and downloaded the disk. I will erase everything, again, and try this again. I will post back with results when I can.

    Mike
     
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  7. 2003/11/12
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Update- When I had 98 loaded in, Windows saw 115GB for the drive. I assume that is the best I will get. I made the disk, with the FDISK update and tried to FDISK. This time, it showed about 11500MB for the disk. So I formatted the drive. After formatting, DOS said the available drive space was 117xxx. I figured that I had it made. I went into FDISK and disk dropped 52261MB again. Any suggestions? I'll have to wait until after work today to try things again. Ugh!

    goddez1,

    That is the file that I downloaded when I reloaded 98 temporarily yesterday. It allowed me to see the full drive after a format, but not in FDISK. I will format again today and start again. Maybe that will help.

    Mike
     
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  8. 2003/11/12
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    115Gb is about the best you will see from a 120Gb drive - the balance is taken up by file system, etc. My 80Gb is reported as 78.159 GB and there is also the question of what is a Gigabyte.

    1 Mb is not 1000Kb, but something like 1040 Kb (guessing the figure here), but HD manufacturers like to kid you along and use the first figure to 'enhance' the drive capacity :)
     
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  9. 2003/11/12
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Guys,

    I don´t believe that the file system consumes 5 GB!

    1 GB is 1024 MB which makes 120 GB > 122880 MB.

    If 120 GB is derived from 120000 MB then the actual size is approximately 117 GB, which means that DOS reads it right.

    Mike,
    did You use a modified Win98 start disk or a WinME start disk?

    I´m not telling You that there is a difference but ...... :confused: ......

    Christer
     
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  10. 2003/11/12
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Mike,
    try ignoring the sizes reported by FDISK and go by percentage:

    10% of 120000 = 12000 MB primary C:

    the rest extended with

    28% of 108000 = 30240 MB logical D:

    38% of 77760 = 29549 MB logical E:

    62% of 48211 = 29891 MB logical F:

    the rest = 18320 MB logical G:

    Just enter the respective percentages and the sizes might become approximately what You want them to be.

    Christer
     
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  11. 2003/11/12
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    PeteC,

    I figured the 117xxx figure was right. If I remember right, Windows showed the two partitions as a total of about 115GB the first time I put it in.

    Christer,

    Yes, I did modify the disks. The modified 98 disk gave me the 117xxx drive size after the format. I will try the percentage and see what I get. Anything is worth a try. Funny how something can go in without a problem the first time but is a real pain the second time. Go figure!

    Mike
     
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  12. 2003/11/12
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Gone figuring ...... :D ......

    Christer
     
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  13. 2003/11/12
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Not sure what I forgot, but I got the drive partitioned and half of it formatted. There lies the new problem. I have the drive partitioned into 5 parts. I can get the C: and D: drives formatted, but not the rest. I either get an "Invalid Drive Specification" or "Format not supported on drive E:" message. This goes for the other 2 partitions also. The strange thing is that when I partitioned, I used percentages at first. I began with 52261MB disk space. After creating the D: drive, the rest of the drive space came up and I was able to use MB amounts instead of the percentage.

    What can I do to get the rest of the drives formatted? I've tried booting with three different disks with no luck.

    Mike
     
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  14. 2003/11/13
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Mike,
    You never mentioned which type and model the harddisk is but at this point when every option seems to be exhausted, I would pay a visit to the manufacturer's homepage.

    I would look for a disk management utility for download.

    If none available, I would drop them an E-mail with a piece of my mind.

    Christer
     
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  15. 2003/11/13
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Christer,

    Sorry I didn't mention the drive. It's an IBM Deskstar 120GXP 120GB ATA/100 7200RPM hard drive. I will check with IBM to see if there is anything there.

    Mike
     
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  16. 2003/11/13
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Mike,
    I´ve got an IBM myself. I haven´t had any problems but I´ve been to their site, which is now linked to a Hitachi site.

    This page for IBM Deskstar:

    Download and Utilities

    Christer
     
    Last edited: 2003/11/13
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  17. 2003/11/14
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Good news everyone! Let me first thank all of you who offered suggestions. I appreciate it. Everything is now formatted and partitioned the way I want it. I went with percentages during FDISK. I had to format each partition right after creating it. I had the understanding that I could create all the partitions then format each one. Guess I was wrong. :( Any ways, everything is loaded and running smooth. Let's hope that things stay that way for awhile.

    Thanks again!

    Mike
     
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  18. 2003/11/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Hi Mike,
    You´re welcome!

    I´m glad that You worked it out.

    You should be able to create all partitions at once and format afterwards.

    However, computers come loaded with at least one Gremlin ...... ;) ...... so anything could happen.

    Christer
     
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  19. 2003/11/16
    MinnesotaMike

    MinnesotaMike Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Christer,

    That's what I thought. Oh well, as long as that's the only gremlin for now! My son is thrilled to have his computer back. It's been a long few days for him. :rolleyes:

    Mike
     
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