Windows 98SE upgrade?
Michael Romes
want to upgrade my operating system to a newer version because I want to
be able to use internal harddisks larger than 128 GB without problems or
external solutions.
The next version of Windows after 98SE was Windows Me which offers a few
advantages over 98. However as Me still uses FAT 32 I have no idea if
it´s possible under Me to use Harddisks larger than 128 GB or not.
I know that even under Me I can´t format *partitions* larger than 32 MB
- but I don´t care about that. Currently I have partitioned my 80 GB HD
into 12 GB partitions.
98 Guy
> I currently still use Windows98SE and have now reached the point
> where I want to upgrade my operating system to a newer version
> because I want to be able to use internal harddisks larger than
> 128 GB without problems or external solutions.
You can still run win-98 and use hard drives larger than 128 gb without
resorting to USB or external drives.
You have the following choices:
To solve the root problem (which is a limitation within the Microsoft
driver file esdi_506.pdr) you can:
a) Obtain a piece of software known as the "Intel Application
Accelerator". This will install an updated driver, but only if your
computer has a motherboard with a certain version or versions of Intel
chipsets.
b) Obtain a free driver - created by the readers/contributors to
msfn.org. I can provide a URL if you can't find it.
c) Obtain a driver you have to pay for, written by rlowe - who is also a
contributor to msfn.org.
The above 3 choices assume that you have (or intend to buy) a
conventional IDE (aka P-ATA) hard drive that's larger than 128 gb. If
this is not your situation, then keep reading.
Your next option (d) in terms of expense assumes that you have (or want
to buy) a large SATA hard drive. Assuming that your existing PC does
not have an integrated SATA controller, then you can buy a PCI-based
SATA controller card for about $15 to $30. Look for a card that can
only do SATA-1 (not SATA-II or SATA-III or SATA-2, Sata-3). Cards that
conform to the SATA-1 spec will most likely come with Win-98 drivers (or
win-98 drivers can be found for them on the net). SATA hard drives
that are compatible with SATA-2 or SATA-3 specs will operate just fine
on a SATA-1 controller.
If your current motherboard does have a SATA controller, then you might
be able to find win-98 drivers for it. And even if you can't, option
(d) above is still possible.
Your final option (or really, just an alternative to D above) is to
build a new PC based on a motherboard that has on-board SATA controller
and for which win-98 drivers can be obtained for as many on-board
components as possible. Such a motherboard would be the Asrock Dual or
4-Core VSTA. Win-98 drivers exist for all components on that board
except for the on-board hi-def audio sub-system.
Once you have a SATA hard drive connected to your PC, you will need to
set the SATA boot options in SATA controller BIOS so that it will
operate in normal SATA mode, not in what is termed a compatibility or
IDE mode. SATA controllers that operate in IDE compatibility mode will
simply appear to windows as just another IDE type drive and windows will
resort to using it's deficient driver (ESDI_506.pdr) which is what
you're trying to avoid.
> The next version of Windows after 98SE was Windows Me which offers
> a few advantages over 98. However as Me still uses FAT 32 I have
> no idea if it´s possible under Me to use Harddisks larger than
> 128 GB or not.
What-ever you do, you DO NOT want to start using ME as a substitute for
Win-98. ME has the same problem that win-98 has with drives larger than
128 gb, so that won't help you, and ME still uses FAT-32.
I should point out that the problem with drives larger than 128 gb is
NOT a problem or limitation of FAT-32. The FAT32 specification can
handle drives up to 2.2 tb (terra-bytes) in size. The problem is how
Microsoft wrote the 32-bit protected mode driver (esdi_506.pdr). Even
the first edition of Windows XP (back in 2002) had the exact same
problem with drives larger than 128 gb even though it uses NTFS by
default (that problem was fixed with XP-sp1).
What you can use from Windows ME (and which are available for download
on various places on the net) are certain drive maintenance programs
that have been updated for ME that run just fine on Win-98. Programs
like scandisk and defrag. There is also an updated fdisk.exe program
that better handles large drives.
> I know that even under Me I can�t format *partitions* larger
> than 32 MB - but I don�t care about that.
XP has the intentional limitation or handicap of not being able to
format FAT32 partitions larger than 32 gb (Microsoft intentionally gave
XP this handicap). I don't know if ME has that same handicap or not
(not many people run ME as compared to 98 these days).
In any case, most people usually run fdisk and format to prepare a hard
drive for use with win-98.
> Currently I have partitioned my 80 GB HD into 12 GB partitions.
That's far too many. I realize that many people that started to use
PC's in the late 80's and early 90's were in the habbit of creating many
partitions on their drives, especially as drives got larger.
But that was mainly because they were still using DOS and it was easier
to navigate the file system by having more drives. But when win-3 and
then win-9x came along, it was much easier to navigate your files using
the graphical user interface, so the utility or usefulness of having
many logical drives became redundant, if not cumbersome.
Hot-text
I run ME on 40 GB too!
partitions 80 Gb make two partitions C: 30 Gb D: 50 Gb it will work
you not doing a WIN95
Need to Know First Copy all of your INF, SYS, DLL files form your win98
PC you will need to make the PC work right
For the PC Drive are not on the Win 98, Me, 2000, Xp CDs
That why just Start your win98 and put the CD in and it will UpDate to ME so
it can keep your Drive>>>
GoTo
microsoft.public.win98.internet.browser
Read
Internet Browser and Update
Too!
"Michael Romes" <netterN...@lycos.de> wrote in message
news:hfgklq$aus$03$1...@news.t-online.com...
Rick
might be better to buy a whole new computer because Win98 computers are
about 4 generations behind Windows 7 computers. ME was a very poor OS,
Win 2000 was better and XP was even better, Vista falls about where ME
did IMO.
Hot-text
for I Buy 7 new win98 CD for $0.50
but I need a New Windows 7
you make me Cry Cry Cry
Rick we love are Old win98, and ME.
I have a XP and Windows 98 up and running . My Vista is off that Vista F**k
peace of S**t Hmm in just like that 2000 Buggy.. S**t
For my 98 in my WebServer it's a good Server to and I love my WebTV for
Windows too.....
And WebTV for Windows is on win-Me CD too!
"Rick" <Pawa...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:eaCqtNsd...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
98 Guy
> > I currently still use Windows98SE and have now reached the point
> > where I want to upgrade my operating system to a newer version
> if you are going to up grade then Windows 7 would be appropriate
Um, no, not really.
Speaking strictly in terms of the operating system, Windows XP is a far
more logical choice compared to Seven. XP has the benefit of 5 years of
upgrades, fixes and patches. That painful process is just about to
being for Seven.
The learning curve for using XP is also much shorter compared to Seven,
if you consider that the OP is currently using Win-98.
It may be a fact that anyone considering the acquisition of new
computing hardware may have no choice but to buy that hardware with
Seven already installed, but it doesn't mean that Seven is the best
choice for the end user. If the OP has access to an XP license key, he
should consider installing XP way before Seven.
> but, might be better to buy a whole new computer because Win98
> computers are about 4 generations behind Windows 7 computers.
You are assuming that the OP's current computer dates from the 1998 -
2002 time frame. Many people running Win-98 today are doing so on
hardware made in the 2003 - 2006 time frame.
Hot-text
I saving up for Windows 999
"98 Guy" <9...@Guy.com> wrote in message news:4B1C5493...@Guy.com...
Michael Romes
...
> if you are going to up grade then Windows 7 would be appropriate but, it
> might be better to buy a whole new computer because Win98 computers are
> about 4 generations behind Windows 7 computers. ME was a very poor OS,
> Win 2000 was better and XP was even better, Vista falls about where ME
> did IMO.
My computer is somewhat dated but it runs all that it should run at a
speed that is sufficient for me. Most of the time I use that PC to run
old games (e.g. Alpha Centauri Alien Crossfire or Hearts of Iron) for
that even my old AMD Duron 1600 is more than fast enough.
I´m not interested in the newest operating system. In the years that I
use computers and play games I learned never to buy something that is
freshly released and untested. e.g. I changed from MS DOS 5 to 6.22
(not 6.0 like my over-eager little brother) then to Windows 95 C
(ignoring the bad first A and mediocre B release) and then to Windows
98SE (skipping Windows 98´s first version).
Hot-text
128 GB <Hmm and the name of the Hard Drive is ?
Give me the name of that Hard Drive I give you tools to a partitions a
new drive call D:\
and can keep that old Win98 up and Running you would like that......
I have WD Hard Drive and it have diskette Tools for adding partitions
& So do Seagate .and Maxtor have diskette Tools for adding partitions
So why format we you can have it all
"Michael Romes" <netterN...@lycos.de> wrote in message
news:hfgklq$aus$03$1...@news.t-online.com...