I need Advice - HDD size / Wn98SE

[Debbie]

What maximum HDD partition do I expect to get on a system having Win98SE with a PIII Slot 1 processor ?

[Helevitia]

I believe 128GB is the max size hdd for Win98SE. Not sure if there is software that will allow you to bypass this limitation.

[SitFlyer]

Limitations of FAT32 File System

The ScanDisk tool included with Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows 98 is a 16-bit program. Such programs have a single memory block maximum allocation size of 16 MB less 64 KB. Therefore, The Windows 95 or Windows 98 ScanDisk tool cannot process volumes using the FAT32 file system that have a FAT larger than 16 MB less 64 KB in size. A FAT entry on a volume using the FAT32 file system uses 4 bytes, so ScanDisk cannot process the FAT on a volume using the FAT32 file system that defines more than 4,177,920 clusters (including the two reserved clusters). Including the FATs themselves, this works out, at the maximum of 32 KB per cluster, to a volume size of 127.53 gigabytes (GB).

[Paddy]

Why all the questions about Win98SE?

What are you up to?

[Dr Mordrid]

Either a fan of old games or a glutton for punishment

Dr. Mordrid

[Debbie]

I''ll let you into my secret ...... Hush !! A time machine that goes a long way back in time. Please keep it a secret, will you, otherwise I will never trust you again. hehehehe

PS.
At the moment I'm using a PI processor. Have been working on the MK2 model and will be using a PIII.

[ayoub_ibrahim]

hmm, just thinking out aloud here as I have no first hand experience but why would promise offer drivers for their ata100 pci card that state in the description " Supports 48-bit LBA for drives larger than 137 GB". is it just meant for win2k/xp?

http://www.promise.com/support/download/download2_eng.asp?productId=18&category=driver&os=0

[Wombat]

Originally posted by ayoub_ibrahim
hmm, just thinking out aloud here as I have no first hand experience but why would promise offer drivers for their ata100 pci card that state in the description " Supports 48-bit LBA for drives larger than 137 GB". is it just meant for win2k/xp?
http://www.promise.com/support/downl...ry=driver&os=0

Or Unix, Linux, or a ton of other things. It's just old versions of Windows that have thils problem.

[Mcollector]

The W98SE HDD limitation is dependent on 2 factors:
(1) your mobo's bios
(2) whether or not you have downloaded the updated Fdisk for W98SE. If you have not, the limit is 64 GB, assuming the bios permits this size.

The fact it is a Slot 1 Piii is of little relevance, other than to approximately date the mobo.

You need to check your mobo brand, model and chipset, the current bios revision, and maybe even the revision level of the mobo model itself (sometimes certain bios revisions only work on certain mobo model revision levels). Go to the mobo manufacturer's site and check for bios updates for your mobo model. There are usually comments about what bios revision level you need to support what size HDDs. Not all mobos of that vintage can support HDDs up to 128 GB, and those that can may require a bios update to do so. (They may even require a bios update to support HDDs larger than 32 GB.)

The Fdisk program shipped with W98SE will not support HDDs larger than 64 GB. To support up to the 128 GB potential, you must download an Fdisk update from Microsoft. If your Fdisk program has a date of 1999, you will not be able to partition HDDs over 64 GB. To support HDDs over 64 GB, Fdisk should have a date of May 2000. (There are separate versions for W98 and W98SE, both with May 2000 dates, but different days.) I'm not sure if you have to get an updated Format, too.
See http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;Q26304 for more information on this issue.

Normally, I would not recommend an HDD larger than ~60 GB for W98SE, just to skirt the entire issue with Fdisk, and because FAT32 is pretty lame to use with very large HDDs. I'd also split the HDD into 2 or more partitions. You still need to check to see if your mobo bios supports HDDs of the size you want. A "release version" of an updated bios is usually a good idea to apply; they often fix other problems. Some older mobo bioses had problems with some ATA66 and faster HDDs. A bios update usually fixed this. (Sometimes it was the HDDs fault.) This is something else you may need to consider.

[Debbie]

Thank you all for your advice and comments. A 120 GB HDD/2 partitions will be fine.

[High_Jumbllama]

You also have to watch out for HD controller drivers that are designed with 32GB limitations though things like promise controllers do not have this problem.

Edit:
The 686A southbridge had this problem on the K7M motherboards.

[Mcollector]

Originally posted by Debbie
Thank you all for your advice and comments. A 120 GB HDD/2 partitions will be fine.

Just realize if you are going to use a 120GB HDD, you MUST download the Fdisk update from Micro$oft, or it won't work. Splitting the 120GB HDD into 2x60GB partitions won't skirt this problem. It is the HDD size. You MUST download the Fdisk update.

I suppose there are 3rd party (meaning the disk manufacturer) drivers that will get around the whole issue of bios and fdisk, but the fewer extraneous drivers in the system, the better. I never liked those. THEY can cause problems and disk corruption under certain circumstances if your system crashes.

[Dr Mordrid]

The HDD size limitation of a mainboard is caused by the level of INT 13h extensions supported in its BIOS.

This can largely be overcome using a Promise Ultra IDE or some other IDE controller that supports a higher level of extensions. Their internal BIOS use 48 bit LBA extensions allowing for HDD's > 137 gb.

After that it's up to the OS to determine how large a partiton is acceptable. In an older OS like Win9x this means partitioning a very large drive into several OS-legal segments.

Dr. Mordrid

[ayoub_ibrahim]

Can I just add that the old version of fdisk will work with drives over 64GB but you'll have to use percentages instead of capacities when using it to partition the drive. If you want to use capacities then you'll have to get the updated version of fdisk.

[High_Jumbllama]

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