Big Hard Drives on Win98

[Derek]

Hi I've just added a 200GB HDD to my system and have found that transferring
files across to it is very slow - taking hours instead of seconds.

I have WIN98SE AMD 1Mhz CPU and 640 RAM (which hasn't caused a problem
before) I have 60GB and 80 Gb HDDs already installed and have added to last
200Gb drive on the 2nd IDE channel with my DVD RW. I have tested the
problem by putting the new 200 GB drive without the dvd on the same channel
and used it on the primary ide channel with just one other (60GB) Hdd and
the problem is the same.
Running scandisk on it did show up read and write errors - repartitioning it
and reformatting was a flaky process as the partitions remained unstable -
the partitions on the 200GB drive weren't being recognized properly in
windows. I also used partition magic to try to format it (FAT32) but it
often said the drive may be damaged. I suspect after some research its may
be the 137GB limit making the data unstable.

So I wonder if anybody has had similar problem with these big drives and
what if any was a reliable patch/fix workaround.

Thanks

Derek

--

[glee]

What are the sizes of the partitions on the 200GB drive?
What are the cluster sizes used for each partition?
Does your BIOS support greater than 137GB drives, or are you using a controller card
that does?

from http://support.octek.com.au/FAQ/faq_0113.htm :

"The only current Windows operating systems that natively support the full capacity
of ATA drives larger than 137GB are:

Windows XP Home Service Pack 1 (SP1) or higher
Windows XP Professional SP1 or higher
Windows 2000 Professional SP3 or higher
Windows 2000 Server SP3 or higher "

"If you do not have one of the operating systems listed above, we recommend that you
limit the partition size to 137GB or upgrade your operating system or try one of
the solutions listed" on the web page.

Has it occurred to you that scandisk and PM may actually be telling you the
truth....that the drive may be damaged?
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"Derek" <nos...@thanks.com> wrote in message
news:kNHYc.114$E33...@newsfe5-win.ntli.net...

[glee]

Here is a better reference...137 GB Limitation:
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/capacity/137/os/win98.html

--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"glee" <gle...@spamindspring.com> wrote in message
news:Ooi2$hrjEH...@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

[Derek]

I have tried different partition sizes, the largest setup being two at
c.94GB each, so this is below the 137 limit. The cluster sizes have always
been 32K.

I have just scrolled scrolled through the various preset HDD sizes in the
bios and none match up to the 200GB size - and auto detect only show the
total size of the HDD (203GB) but no the cyls head sector etc. details as
it does for my other HDD's so perhaps the bios is at fault here. My
motherboard is an AMD athlon processor one - GA-71XE4 which i flashed some
time ago to the latest update.

I will see if I can get more details of the drive from the maxtor site and
manual put them into the bios to see if that helps

Derek

"glee" <gle...@spamindspring.com> wrote in message

news:u0$ZCorjE...@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...

[glee]

According to Maxtor, Windows 9x (95/98/ME) do not support drives over 137 GB. They
went so far as to include their Ultra ATA 133 PCI card free of charge when the
DiamondMax Plus 9 200GB Hard Drive was introduced....with this card, older Windows
versions can use the entire 200 GB.

See here, from Maxtor's Knowledge Base:
http://snipurl.com/8t4s

It seems that the partition size is not relevant....the drive cannot be used in its
entirety unless you use add-in Ultra ATA PCI adapter card with a 48-Bit LBA
compliant BIOS and controller driver.

--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"Derek" <nos...@thanks.com> wrote in message

news:LbnZc.675$YA4...@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...

[Derek]

I've decided to buy a PCI ATA card - I think this will be the simplest
answer.

I think this 137GB limit will catch quite a few people out, seeing as how
broadband lets us fill up our hard drives much quicker these days, till it
becomes common knowledge of how to get around it - i.e. Win XP or PCI
card.

Thanks for your feedback glee

Derek

"glee" <gle...@spamindspring.com> wrote in message

news:uAL6TYJk...@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...

[Rick Chauvin]

Derek wrote:
> I've decided to buy a PCI ATA card - I think this will be the
> simplest answer.
>
> I think this 137GB limit will catch quite a few people out, seeing as
> how broadband lets us fill up our hard drives much quicker these
> days, till it becomes common knowledge of how to get around it -
> i.e. Win XP or PCI card.
>
> Thanks for your feedback glee
>
> Derek

Promise already makes it for many of the other brand names anyway, like Maxtor,
etc, and I've found you'll pay more for them and as well will also have to
update its drivers and flash it too, and so I would suggest the latest version
Promise ULTRA133 TX2 from the link below, or anywhere else you want, but it
comes with an excellent brand 80wire cable and it's bios is already flashed to
the very latest; has a manual and new driver floppy ..it's top shelf in my
book.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=&sumit=Go&description=16%2D1
02%2D007&searchdepa=0

Anyway the advantages of using one are far more than just the 137gb issue, such
as the extra ports for neat abilities, and for W98x especially with faster
processors the cards remarkable ability similar to an application accelerator
but better - to Dramatically improve overall data transfer speed system wide.
W2K & WXP show an improvement also.

Rick