Windows 98 will not recognize my 80GB hard drive????

when i purchased the computer, i did not get any recover discs, when i called hp the wanted to charge me $50 for them... i'm a huge fan of windows 98 and made a rash decision to install it instead of putting out $50... i've never formatted a hard drive or had to install a new operating system so i seeked help... is there any fix to recover my original capacity?

The HP Recovery CDs are made by the owner. If they don't they lose. Big time.

Or pay... big time.

If it is that new, why not just returned as "it crashed" and get another to try again?

Bob

i was new to computers at the time, this is a 2001 model computer.... i did download fdisk... can you give me any suggestions on how to use fdisk; things to expect,things i need to make sure i do, etc... thanks for the info

I read you were a fan of 98 so I left it for granted you knew how to install 98.

There are long passages in these forums on how to install 98 plus typing FDISK into google.com tells more than you need to know.

Why not use google.com?

Bob

thanks toni, no that's the kind of help i was looking for..... your the ****!... thanks

Also, for W98, if you create the bootdisk from within windows, you will need to go here to download the newest version of FDISK.EXE then copy it to the bootdisk, allowing it to overwrite the older version. This way you will have support for larger harddrives.

FDISK LIMITATION WITH 64GB DRIVES:
Why does FDISK not recognize my disk (or RAID array) which is larger than 64GB?

There is a bug in Microsoft's FDISK under Windows 95B, 98 and 98SE that can be corrected by downloading a newer version. See Knowledge Base Article Q263044 for more information.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q263044

When you use Fdisk.exe to partition a hard disk that is larger than 64 GB (64 gigabytes, or 68,719,476,736 bytes) in size, Fdisk does not report the correct size of the hard disk.

The size that Fdisk reports is the full size of the hard disk minus 64 GB. For example, if the physical drive is 70.3 GB (75,484,122,112 bytes) in size, Fdisk reports the drive as being 6.3 GB (6,764,579,840 bytes) in size.

NOTE: This hotfix is not designed for 48-bit logical block addressing (LBA) hard disks, and it is not supported on hard disks larger than 137 GB. However, even if the drive is physically larger than 137 GB, if you create partitions smaller than 137 GB, this FDISK.EXE version will work correctly. (THE FORMAT COMMAND WILL SHOW THE DRIVE AMOUNT IN DOS TO BE OFF THE MARK, BUT WILL BE CORRECT WHEN YOU GET INTO WINDOWS ITSELF)

Direct English Version download:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/Win98/Update/8266R/W98/EN-US/263044USA8.EXE

This package installs the updated Fdisk.exe to the Windows\Command and Windows\Options\Cabs folders, on a computer running Windows 98 or Windows 98 Second Edition. If you are starting a computer from a Windows 98 Startup Disk in order to partition and format the hard disk, you should copy the updated Fdisk.exe from the Windows\Command folder to the Startup Disk, replacing the original Windows 98 or Windows 98 Second Edition version of Fdisk.exe on the Startup Disk.

You can also get around the 64GB limitation of the Windows9x FDISK utility by specifying the desired partition size as a percentage of the total disk size rather than as an absolute size. Alternatively use a freeware FDISK replacement such as FreeDOS FDISK that supports up to 128GB.

http://www.23cc.com/free-fdisk/

One person wrote in a forum: ... as an update on disks greater than 64gb, the FreeDOS FDISK utility does work. First of all, the operating system must be specified in FDISK.INI for it to recognize FAT32. Secondly, reporting of partition size is somewhat peculiar. For a partition between 64 and 90 GB, I have one listed as 39,184GB under Option #4 (Display Partition Info) and -26,402GB under Option #5 (Change Current Drive). I have a 3rd IDE drive connected to IDE1 which is set up as an extended partition. Its letter is changed while in Windows than it is with the FreeDOS FDISK. Finally, the FDISK only works if it is on a bootable floppy. Trying to run it in a DOS window under WIN98 causes the system to freeze. This is a suitable workaround for the 64gb limit, but does take some experimenting. The IBM utility doesn't allow repartitioning from the same physical drive from which the system boots (although not the same partition). A workaround would be to temporarily install a drive on IDE1 or 2 and boot with it, then partition the RAID setup as drive D and beyond...

TONI

Nowhere have I mentioned using FDISK. I'm partitioning the HDD externally to within the FAT 32 limit of 40 GB. The HDD in question is larger than 64 GB, it's 80. Even with the new version of FDISK it will not be possible to take the full 80 GB into use.

Win 98 is still a 32 bit OS, and can it read partitions greater than 40 GB?

I stand by my earlier post.

Yes,Bob, I believe you.

Could you please tell me (and others) how did you make a partition of 120GB with FDISK? And format it FAT32?

It would great if I could reduce the number of partitions in my HDD without causing Win 98 to protest.

Thanks.

There is also a printer friendly page that takes out the background graphics (link at the bottom of the page)

http://www.pcwarfare.com/hdds/fdisk-format.new.hdd.htm

TONI