Partitioning 80gb WIN98

ssentity · #1 03-19-2003, 02:35 AM

Hi i have a 80 gb harddrive i want to put 98 on but have problems with partition magic doing this... for example i have a 20gb c: with windows on it then i try to partition the rest of my hardrive 58gb.... and it just stops.. is there a reason for this, Was 98 a bit too early so it can't handle partitions of this size, any help would be much appreciated.
thx for your time

test user · #2 03-19-2003, 09:32 AM

Windows 98 only uses the FAT or FAT32 file system, I'm not sure which you're using. In any case, FAT file system's largest partition is 2 GB, whereas the FAT32 file system's largest partition is 32 GB.
Switch to an NTFS compatible OS such as 2000 Pro or XP and you can create your 58 GB partition without any trouble, as long as you are using NTFS. Hope this helps!

ssentity · #3 03-19-2003, 01:39 PM

Cheers man that helped alot..... i also formmatted a m8s machine..and put on 98,.. and it said he had a 78 gb drive in fat32!!! and it wouldn't go into dos or partition magic.. how would i do this one

test user · #4 03-20-2003, 07:46 AM

ummm i'm no expert but i'm guessing that the 78 GB partition is just saying it's there...you know like there is no reference to it in the master boot record past 32 GB. I would still partition that disk into like 25-30 GB partitions just to be on the safe side.

test user · #5 03-20-2003, 07:47 AM

what do you mean by it won't go into dos?

ssentity · #6 03-20-2003, 03:51 PM

exit code error 2 it says... back to the other problem.. i tried making 2 x 30 gb partitions in 98 and it didn'y work... any thoughts??

test user · #7 03-20-2003, 06:50 PM

this one might be a different story. that exit code 2 might be signs of a bad hard drive. try running this program on it:

http://dban.sourceforge.net/

test user · #8 03-20-2003, 10:15 PM

the last step if that does not work is to flash your bios, with the latest edition from the mobo manufacturer. flashing your bios allows the motherboard in many cases to see more of a large hard drive then it could from the factory.

After this i'm fresh out of ideas dude!!!

mikeh420 · #9 04-16-2003, 01:31 AM

FAT32 only has the 32GB limitation in 2000/XP, so as to minimally support FAT32 in these OS's(as NT4 didn't support FAT32). In Win9x, it doesn't have the 32GB limitation, proof is I have another PC running Win98SE with a WD 40GB drive and it sees all 40GB. I think FAT32 has a 80GB or 120GB limitation in Win9x.