Partitioning Question
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If your primary partition is smaller then the drive's total usable space you would delete the existing partition to create and format the new larger one. One example would be if you only let's say 30gb on an 80gb for a primary while leaving the rest of the drive untouched. You could then create one that was only slightly larger like 40gb or go for one even larger like 60gb with some empty space left for perhaps trying a second OS if not for storage in case the primary is wiped. Generally fdisk intended for FAT type partitions will see any size up to a certain point where a bios bypass program would then be needed due to the limitations there. The original 98 and 98SE fdisk would make a 19gb max in some cases where you could get upto 55gb.
With a bypass program you could climb into the hudreds of gigs with MS claiming 98 could run upto 2 terrabytes. NTFS far outperforms FAT however even though XP can easily go on a FAT32 part without too many problems. Most like a partitioning software though for creating custom sized partitions over using anything by MS. Partition Magic is a common name there.
With a bypass program you could climb into the hudreds of gigs with MS claiming 98 could run upto 2 terrabytes. NTFS far outperforms FAT however even though XP can easily go on a FAT32 part without too many problems. Most like a partitioning software though for creating custom sized partitions over using anything by MS. Partition Magic is a common name there.
Thanks for the response, PC eye.
I have read that using "Partition Magic" is best for partitioning, but I'm wondering if 'FDISK' alone will do the job. The thing is (I think), whenever I delete all the partitions I have (primary, extended, logical), the size of the primary partition C: seems to always be set, like I can't change the size of it (hence I'm wondering if I really do need something like "Partition Magic," or if I can just use 'FDISK'). Also, the size of the primary partition seems to be in the MegaByte range, not in the GB (or maybe there's some conversion thing I should be doing?).
I have read that using "Partition Magic" is best for partitioning, but I'm wondering if 'FDISK' alone will do the job. The thing is (I think), whenever I delete all the partitions I have (primary, extended, logical), the size of the primary partition C: seems to always be set, like I can't change the size of it (hence I'm wondering if I really do need something like "Partition Magic," or if I can just use 'FDISK'). Also, the size of the primary partition seems to be in the MegaByte range, not in the GB (or maybe there's some conversion thing I should be doing?).
This will depend on the OS you plan to run on the primary. With drive manufacturer's like Western Digital you can download DRFAT32.exe and extend a 98SE install right out to a 250gb drive's full capacity for a single partition due to going right around the limits that fdisk and FAT have in common. In other words the system bios is fooled by DRFAT into thinking that you are running a new OS in some sense. The design of fdisk was for the smaller sized drives available at that time along with what the system bioses were geared for. At one time a Maxtor 16gb hd was the big drive where a common mid size was about 4-8gb. I paid about $200- US for a WD 13gb locally some years back when going from a prebuilt AST desktop to a custom with an AMD K5 500mhz cpu. The AST was a I486 that ran at 66mhz! That believe it or not was proceeded by an IBM I386 at 33mhz. I was able to stuff an a WD 1.4gb drive into the AST later to replace a 500mb stock drive. OUCH!
(and that is still running now in a Packard Bell 166mhz case where the Seagate 1.2gb drive crapped out.)
For 9x-ME Microsoft did however release an updated fdisk that allowed over the 64gb limit roughly. That was used on a WD 120gb when going to dual OS it with a Linux distro in fact in 2005. But it does depend on the OS or OSes you plan to run. Are you planning just a single OS with a larger primary or multibooting?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044 offers a special fix for limitations seen with the fdisk utility used for 98 and 98SE machines. When you scroll down the bottom portion of the page offers this in different languages. I keep a copy stored for use when dual OSing a second drive having a 98SE primary for old MSDos stuff and a few Linux distros. In fact the drive that was the primary is now being reformatted for both backups stored on an extended 170gb partition at the back of the drive with 98SE or XP(undecided yet) running along side with Mandrake, SUSE, Ubuntu, or something besides a Red Hat Linux distro like Fedora. Knoppix is another one being considered. That is where fdisk may play a role for the MS part of it again. Another place for the updated fdisk for drives over 64gb(like my old WD 120gb that ran 98SE on a single partition) is at http://www.bootdisk.com/dostools.htm Look under partitioning for the MS fdisk to get the updated version at the top. There are also other dos type utilities to look at as well. That should give you start.
(and that is still running now in a Packard Bell 166mhz case where the Seagate 1.2gb drive crapped out.)
For 9x-ME Microsoft did however release an updated fdisk that allowed over the 64gb limit roughly. That was used on a WD 120gb when going to dual OS it with a Linux distro in fact in 2005. But it does depend on the OS or OSes you plan to run. Are you planning just a single OS with a larger primary or multibooting?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044 offers a special fix for limitations seen with the fdisk utility used for 98 and 98SE machines. When you scroll down the bottom portion of the page offers this in different languages. I keep a copy stored for use when dual OSing a second drive having a 98SE primary for old MSDos stuff and a few Linux distros. In fact the drive that was the primary is now being reformatted for both backups stored on an extended 170gb partition at the back of the drive with 98SE or XP(undecided yet) running along side with Mandrake, SUSE, Ubuntu, or something besides a Red Hat Linux distro like Fedora. Knoppix is another one being considered. That is where fdisk may play a role for the MS part of it again. Another place for the updated fdisk for drives over 64gb(like my old WD 120gb that ran 98SE on a single partition) is at http://www.bootdisk.com/dostools.htm Look under partitioning for the MS fdisk to get the updated version at the top. There are also other dos type utilities to look at as well. That should give you start.
thanks for your reply again, pc eye.
i downloaded a demo version of magic partition and i still cannot increase the size of my primary c: partition. for my computer, i have a C: and a D: drive. C: is "disk 1" while D: is "disk 2." when i delete all other partitions of my C:, i have "unallocated" space. how can i allocate that space to the c:? also, i notice a have more than one partitions that say they are primary. oh and c: is currently a FAT file. is this why i cannot increase the size of c:? should it be NTFS?
i downloaded a demo version of magic partition and i still cannot increase the size of my primary c: partition. for my computer, i have a C: and a D: drive. C: is "disk 1" while D: is "disk 2." when i delete all other partitions of my C:, i have "unallocated" space. how can i allocate that space to the c:? also, i notice a have more than one partitions that say they are primary. oh and c: is currently a FAT file. is this why i cannot increase the size of c:? should it be NTFS?
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Are you using 2 physical drives? The format utility that the windows install uses should be able to format to 137GB pre-SP2/non-48bit LBA or much bigger with SP2 & 48bit LBA.
FAT32 supports up to 2TB (in theory) so that should not be your problem. If you had 2 40GB paritions you have to delete all partitions to create 1 80B partition.
FAT32 supports up to 2TB (in theory) so that should not be your problem. If you had 2 40GB paritions you have to delete all partitions to create 1 80B partition.
The problem here is that you don't increase the size of any formatted partition but delete it in favor of creating a new larger one. The 2 terabyte idea is based on a concept that doesn't involve system bioses where that get's cut short fast with the 19gb limit of 98's fdisk #1 later boosted by MS to 64gb with the updated fdisk #2 where a bios bypass utility was then needed for anything larger. 98SE ran here for a good period of time on a single 250gb drive's primary and only partition thanks to WD's DRFAT32.exe drive utility which gets you past the bios limitations. Generally the only way to resize the actual size would be to use a program like Partition Magic. But for more detailed info on fdisk itself, http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/
Similar Problem.......i think,
Anybody able to offer some newbie SIMPLE instructions for the following problem:-
Got an old computer form my work, ive never really been into them before now but im now startibg to find an interest! Its a MSI Hermes Socket 478 Celeron 2.0ghz with 760DDRRAM and 80GB harddrive (a typical office machine of 5 years ago!!!)
Im not to fussed about playing games in super graphics but i will probably stick a Pentium 2.8Ghz in just to give it a bit more umph! Anyway the problem is the old computer hard drive is split into four drives (i assume this is what you call partitions?) There are C,D,E and F drives. The first 3 with approx 4Gb on and the 4th with around 65Gb using the entire hardrive. I run XP which is on one of the small parts of the hard drive, therefore its a pain downloading and installing new programs. How can I move around 40Gb from the F to the D? There is around 5Gb of programs and data on the F which I want to keep and leave seperate to the D. Cheers guys and dolls...........
Anybody able to offer some newbie SIMPLE instructions for the following problem:-
Got an old computer form my work, ive never really been into them before now but im now startibg to find an interest! Its a MSI Hermes Socket 478 Celeron 2.0ghz with 760DDRRAM and 80GB harddrive (a typical office machine of 5 years ago!!!)
Im not to fussed about playing games in super graphics but i will probably stick a Pentium 2.8Ghz in just to give it a bit more umph! Anyway the problem is the old computer hard drive is split into four drives (i assume this is what you call partitions?) There are C,D,E and F drives. The first 3 with approx 4Gb on and the 4th with around 65Gb using the entire hardrive. I run XP which is on one of the small parts of the hard drive, therefore its a pain downloading and installing new programs. How can I move around 40Gb from the F to the D? There is around 5Gb of programs and data on the F which I want to keep and leave seperate to the D. Cheers guys and dolls...........
You will first have to decide just how large of primary partition you will want. By the description there the drive is at least 80gb total if not a larger drive where you can save data temporarily on two partitions while removing the other two to create a new larger primary. Without a cloning software Windows along with all programs running now would have to be reinstalled onto the new primary where you can now save data from the other remaining partitions. Once these things are done and work you can delete the other two partitions to create a new secondary extended partition for storage if you
are not planning to run more then one operating system.
Partition Magic or another full version utility for creating custom sized partitions make it easier for those with little or no experience in this area. With a Linux distro the use of a utility called "Presizer" will layout new partitions since Linux uses multiple partitions by design over Windows generally using only one while XP's installer as well as the old fdisk utility can still create new parts with XP's being able to format as well. XP's installer just did a great job creating a 178gb storage partition set as primary on one of two 250gb drives here. The remaining space will probably see a Linux distro again? Maybe Vista to try out?
are not planning to run more then one operating system.
Partition Magic or another full version utility for creating custom sized partitions make it easier for those with little or no experience in this area. With a Linux distro the use of a utility called "Presizer" will layout new partitions since Linux uses multiple partitions by design over Windows generally using only one while XP's installer as well as the old fdisk utility can still create new parts with XP's being able to format as well. XP's installer just did a great job creating a 178gb storage partition set as primary on one of two 250gb drives here. The remaining space will probably see a Linux distro again? Maybe Vista to try out?