Unrecognised HD space

I recently purchased a new computer so decided to format my old one and leave it with my wife. After formatting it I began to initiate the W95 setup process using my W95 installation floppy disks. In checking the drive the setup process said that I only had 8+ mb on my c: drive which was also the space indicated after the format. In actual fact my HD has a capacity of over 6gb. Since W95 requires 9+ mb to install I'm unable to proceed because of the 8mb indicated. Why is the format and setup process telling me that I only have 8mb when in actual fact I have 6+gb? How can I get the other 6gb recognised? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

Your setup disks are for Win95a, which is limited to fat16 and hence, a 2 gig partition. You need a win98 setup disk, fdisk with large disk support, and format it fat 32. You might then be able to install win95 from the CD.
Get a win98 diskette (or WinME diskette will also work) at www.bootdisk.com
If you dont' have the win95b CD, and only the (30 or so) diskettes for Win95a, then it's time to peruse the auction sites for a win98 disk, or at least Win95b or c.

 

Thanks, reboot, for the clear and concise information. I'm much obliged.

 

Just 8mb? And before you had something like 2gb? with other 2gb partitions on the drive? or was it the full 6gb?
Did you happen to use Fdisk?
Do you know if you have 95a, 95b or c?

 

In actual fact I had 8gb, no partitions. As far as I remember I just used 'format c:' The end result was that when I typed 'dir' after the DOS prompt I was given the information that I now had no files and 8mb free. When I tried to install my old floppies version of W95 I got the message that I didn't have enough free space to install it (9+mb required). Unfortunately my cd-rom is not working so I couldn't use my modern W95 cd.

 

Would it be possible you have two different versions of 95?.
The main difference between 95a and 95b/c is that 95a uses a FAT16 file system, and B and C use a FAT32. FAT16 will only allow a MAX of 2gb in a partition, FAT32 would allow larger, say the 8gb you had.
I was wondering if you accidently used a 95a boot floppy, and formatted a FAT32 file system with a FAT16 format.com file. I would recommend going to Bootdisk's, and download a file that will create a bootdisk for you. I am partial to the one for 98SE. You can use it to get the drive going. Put a floppy in the drive, and double click the downloaded file and the boot floppy will be created for you.
Now boot with it and use Fdisk to delete the Primary Partition.

Here is how to use fdisk to delete, create, and format to ready the HD
At A:\> type fdisk enter
press "Y" enter for large disk support
at FDISK Option select "3" enter
at Delete DOS Partition or logical DOS Drive select "1" enter
Y you want to delete
at FDISK Option select "1" enter
at Create DOS Partition or logical DOS Drive select "1" enter
Verifying drive integrity, **%
press "Y" enter at do you wish to use the maximum available size for Primary DOS Partition
and make the partition active (Y/N)..?
If you want to partition the disk set the size of your primary.
Verifying drive integrity, **%
you then get a message to RESTART your system for changes to take effect
To create a second partition, you must create a extended partition and then create the logical drive(s) or other partitions.
YOU MUST REBOOT and format AFTER FDISK.

Press Esc and then Ctrl,Alt,Del, with bootdisk/Startup disk still in the floppy drive
At windows Startup Menu select without CD-Rom support
at A:\> type format c: (this will only format the HDD)
At WARNING, ALL DATA WILL BE LOST PRESS "Y "
Formatting and the size of your HDD (i.e. 19,09.84M for a 20Gig)
after format enter a name for the HDD or just press enter you can name it later
Press Ctrl,Alt,Del, to reboot with bootdisk/startdisk in floppy
Select with CD-Rom support
enter A:\>C:\
and C:\>dir to see HDD space (i.e. 19,083.48 MB free for 20Gig)

 

Thanks, Mark, for taking the time to type out those excellent instructions.

"I was wondering if you accidently used a 95a boot floppy, and formatted a FAT32 file system with a FAT16 format.com file. "

Yes, I believe that's exactly what I did.

I'll now take some time (when I get it) to proceed through your instructions and see how things go. I'll report back on the outcome. Thanks again.