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General discussion

Can I install a second HD from a W98 Computer

Feb 29, 2004 4:05PM PST

I have a gateway select 800MHz AMD Athlon w/PECM,
320 MB, 15GB Western Digital ATA Caviar HD,
Fat32 for win95/98/2000/ME(Download only),
I am running WinMe currently, which came with my Gateway. The HD I want to add is the same as mine, but had Win98SE installed on it. I did install it Physically, but nothing happened and no recognition of 2nd HD took place; So I unplugged it, but left it in the tower.
Is there a way to reformat the HD that I want to add from Win98SE to OS WinMe with my Gateway restoration CDs so it will work? If so, how would I go about it?
I do not have the computer that the HD came out of, just my Gateway; therefore, I'm limited to few options!
Please help if possible
Thanks, SGS

Discussion is locked

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Re:Can I install a second HD from a W98 Computer
Feb 29, 2004 5:27PM PST

Reformating won't do you much good either. You need a "boot manager" of some kind. There use to be some free one but I don't see that anymore. To pay for one for this purpose is just doesn't seem worth it to me. But you can go to znet and download some shareware boot manager and try it out. What's your reason/s for doing this anyway?

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Re:Can I install a second HD from a W98 Computer
Feb 29, 2004 7:28PM PST

You can format the second drive once it is recognized by the ME drive. Recognition is the keyword.

Enter the Bios and see if the drive is properly seen. If not you either:

1) Have the drive improperly jumpered(master/slave/cable select).
2) The drives IDE cable is improperly mounted.
3) The IDE cable is damaged.
4) The drive is dead.

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Re:Can I install a second HD from a W98 Computer
Feb 29, 2004 9:47PM PST

There is no reason you can't just add a second drive to that system. If you jumpered it as Slave and plugged it in then running FDISK should have showed a 5th option to select the drive. You don't mention what happened when you ran FDISK.

Plug the drive back in, boot into Windows, run FDISK at a MSDOS prompt and see what it shows, can you select option 5 and then select the 2nd drive and partition it.

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Re:Can I install a second HD from a W98 Computer
Mar 1, 2004 11:08AM PST

My info is the same as other postings except worded slightly different.

Your posting is not totalling clear as to your intended usage such as extra storage or attempting to use the existing 98 install.

If you are attaching the 98 drive to the same cable as the ME drive, then do steps 1-3 below.
1. You must change the jumper settings on the existing drive (ME). It is probably jumpered as a single drive. Change the jumpers to master. Use end connector.
2. On the 98 drive, change the jumpers to slave. Use middle connector.
3. Open the bios setup and change the primary/slave settings to auto select.

If you are attaching the 98 drive on a different ribbon cable, then do steps below:

If attached to end connector, jumper the 98 drive as master. Open bios and change the secondary/master to auto select.

If attached to middle connector (end connector already occupied), then jumper the 98 drive as slave. Open bios setup and change the secondary/slave to auto select.
Note: if you ar attaching the 98 drive to the same cable as an existing CD cable, you may have to update your ribbon cable to a newer version--available from radio shack.
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If you can get the drive recognized, then you only need to format the 98 drive to remove the old contents.

If the 98 drive is larger than your 15GB, it may not be compatible with your bios.

You can get lots of help and info by visiting the Western Digital home page.