Using 200 gegabytes external hard disc with 98SE

Recently I bought a Maxtor 200 Gega bytes hard drive to use for backing up
various computers. It is USB external drive. Some one told me that it will not
work with windows 98SE,as 98SE cannot address a large drive like that.
Some one else told me that limitation is caused by Pheonix Bios and there is
a windows update to solve that problem.

Before I get bent out of shape over this, is it really a problem and if it is, can it
really be solved by some windows update?

Many thanks for your help.

Gulabg

 

Win98 uses the FAT32 file system, which can handle a drive from 512 mb up to 2 terabytes, with a maximum size of 4 gb for a single file. Drives aren't that large yet, so we don't know for sure.
Your BIOS won't be reading the drive, as Win98 will be accessing via USB.
The only update concerning drives that comes to mind is the shutdown update, which adds 2 seconds delay to the windows shutdown to allow any data to be written to disk.

 

Many thanks.

I tried to back up using Norton Ghost 2003, but I am getting a message saying that
"Unable to read MBR in virtual partition DLL USB." Whatever that means. Back to
base 1.

Best regards,
Gulab Gidwani

 

Hi, you don't say what type of drive it is, example a "One Touch" or is it a maxtor drive in that has been put into a USB case?

Win 98 was made before USB drives were available. I just looked at the requirements for a Maxtor Basicsâ„¢ Personal Storage 3200 and they did not cover Win 98 (or in fact, Win ME). Win 2000 and XP can identify USB drives without using drivers.

If it is a "pre-built" drive, check the System Requirements:
http://www.maxtorsolutions.com/en/Main/home_home_office.html
If it is not listed, put the model number and "requirements" or "specifications" into a search at the Maxtor website.

Matt

 

I also bought a Maxtor Personal Storage 3200 external Maxtor, and trying to get files off of a Win98 machine that is being phased out.

I can't get it recognized.

There are Win98 drivers for the 3100 series, but not the 3200 series.

Tried MS USB/IDE update packs, and still nothing.

Any help appreciated.

 

To Gulabg,
You need to know if all your components: win98, usb version, external harddrive and version Ghost, are compatible, updated and support this type of operation. Have you thoroughly read and understood all documentation reguarding this? You may need to research both maxtor and symantec sites for updates, issues (not to mention win98 updates reguarding usb in particular).

The update mentioned maybe due to win98/possibly bios USB support limitations and this:
usb timing

Maybe of interest:
Ghost compatibility with USB devices

I did find this snippet:
Norton Ghost 2003 does support USB 1.1 and USB 2 connections for cloning operations that work with an external storage device such as an external USB hard drive.

For this type of cloning operation, use a Ghost Virtual Partition or the Standard Ghost Boot Disk. The option "USB Devices" is available only in the Symantec Ghost 8.x and Norton Ghost 2003 versions of the Ghost Boot Wizard.

Some problems using USB and FireWire in Norton Ghost 2003 were resolved in the November 1, 2002 update to Ghost. To prevent these problems, run LiveUpdate to update Norton Ghost 2003 to the latest version. Read the document Updates to Norton Ghost 2003. These problems are not present in Symantec Ghost 8.x.

Conclusion: may need to focus on the procedures needed and used for the "Ghost Virtual Partition" or the alternative "Standard Ghost Boot Disk ".
Double check and make sure you've done this correctly.

As Mattman has already pointed out, your external model number will be needed to determine what your particular issues and hurdles maybe. I did come across some known issues regarding the combination of Ghost 2003 and specific maxtor externals. Whether this includes or covers yours is yet to be known, (determinate, your model).

On the flip side of the coin and using the error you have posted, a google search provided these, which maybe more related to the application Ghost: (I hate to throw these at you but you may still like to look through a few of these, anyway, just to familiarize yourself with the varied possible reasons why your getting the error. No one knows better than yourself how you have setup the harddrive or are using Ghost.)
http://www.google.com/search?source...able+to+read+MBR+in+virtual+partition+DLL+USB

To ShiniGami, (regarding the 3200 model)
You really should have started your own post as this may be complicating/confusing original poster "gulabg ", who may be using another ex harddrive. Moderators may wish to separate you two. Since I understand "happy mouse fingers" and "gutt reaction" when reading a post concerning ones' own current problem and may be guilty of doing this myself from time to time.....

The information below is provided with no personal knowledge on the external harddrive in question. All info, passed on, is based on site reading and research. Some guru somewhere may know how to workaround this but I have to comment that it doesn't look very likely. That said, here's the scoop:

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Storage/Q_21807543.html

Maxtor.com says:
The system requirements for the Personal Storage 3200 are Windows 2000 or Windows XP Home or Professional editions only. Support is not provided for older versions of Windows.

I assume this is because drivers are not provided and rely upon the native supported OS built-ins for the supported operating systems and if I understand this correctly:
specifications
They may come "preformatted" with NTFS fat. While a reformat in 32 bit fat may be possible, your still dead in the water as far as win98 goes. It may be time to consider other alternatives for backing up win98 files. Suggestions, get the supported OS disk and either install dualboot win98/xp or win2000. Slave win98 harddrive to comp that has the supported system and backup that way. Sorry..... It boils down to using another method to either backup or workaround your limitations.

 

Yes, if Maxtor don't support 98 by offering drivers, you may be stuck (with your original plans).

Dual boot, good suggestion, but would involve repartitioning the drive with a partition manager if you only have 1 (C: ) drive.

mmmm...upgrade (?). Think about upgrading 98 to XP, backing up your data, then doing a fresh install of XP if the upgrade does not fit with the business's plans or your Win 98 system was getting "tired ". I think most or all of Windows XP CDs are capable of doing an upgrade.

If Win XP is coming in a new computer, you could take the harddrive out of the Win 98 system and put it into the new computer as slave or secondary master and copy the data across to the external drive.

If there is a new computer involved look at networking the two of them (or even getting an adapter cable and using "direct cable connection ", see Help).

A little more expense, but depending on the size of the data, you may be able to put it onto a USB flash/microdrive for transfer. These are very handy for file transfer (again, you would need to check if it supported Win 98).

Burn the data to CD or DVD. This would give you a permanent "hardcopy" of the data. This is the way I back up my data.

Matt