Setup issues

[Markoman01027]

Hey all,

Just got done fixing my friends computer. He told me to install WIN98SE so I did. After setup, it asked me to put in CD because it was asking for a file off the cd(I think it was vetbios.vxd) so I point it to his cd rom drive, E:/ and the file cannot be found, so I have to cancel and then I see the desktop.

I wonder how come it couldn't find the file off the cd, if I pointed the location to the CD?

Also he says his HD is 40GB, but Windows only sees it at 30GB. So I checked FDISK, and there is only 1 partition, and that is using FAT 32 and 100% of it's usage space.

anybody got any ideas? TIA.

P.S- He wanted me to remove WIN2K and install WIN98SE. So when I entered WIN2K, I saw 2 things. 1 Was Windows 2000 NT, and the other was unallocated space. So I removed the WIn2K partition, but it did let me remove the unallocated space(duh). So I boot up into Windows 98SE and do the partitioning, and then I check under FDISK, and it is only showing C and the usage is 100%. So could it be a hardware issue?

[morriswindgate]

Win2K Partition was NTFS so FDISK cannot see it so it was not removed. You need to do a Zerofill on the disk to remove all previous partitions.
As to the required file, you need to point to the .cab files (which I believe are in the WIN98 folder) on the CD. Or you can download it here. http://www.network-drivers.com/drivers/23/23633.htm

[Markoman01027]

Thank you for the reply Morris.

When I booted up into Win2K setup. In the partition list for that particular Hard drive, I saw (Windows 2000 Professional) and unallocated space. So I removed that Win2K partition.
So then I formatted the HD and installed WIN98SE. So I checked FDISK, and it said C is using 100% of the hard drive space.

Do you think it could be a BIOS issue? I mean, I removed the WIn2K partition, therefore that space became unallocated with the other space. So I MADE C:\ use 100%.

if I made C:\ only use 85%, there would still be 15% left over space, and that could explain why I am not seeing 40GB(or lets say 37GB) but FDISK shows it that C:\ is the only partition(because I removed the win2k one in win2k setup) that it is using 100%.

When you boot up into Windows, it only has C and his CD-ROM drive.

[Cricket]

What are the system spec's for this computer?

It could be a BIOS limitation...how old is this computer?

Cricket

[Markoman01027]

All I know is that it is a P3 1.Ghz, and the computer is about 3 yrs old. He told me the system has never read 40GB's.

[flanzig1]

racerbrown has a good step by step " fdisk" in the xp/nt forum under thread "how to divide HD into two".
I just loaded 98SE onto a 40gig HD and it does show the 40gig in windows.

[GaryRouth]

Seems like a motherboard able to accept a p3 3ghz cpu ought to be able to handle a 40gb dirve.

Might the customer be wrong about the size of the drive? (What's the model number on the drive's sticker?). Or might he have a "size-limitation" jumper on wrong?

Can't hurt to zero-write to make sure that the NTFS partition is truly gone, like morris suggested. [assuming you have all the backups & such] But WinNT/2k/XP should have been able to read/use the whole drive from the beginning, which the customer says isn't the case. The zero-write will also take care of any hidden partitions, in case there's a proprietary one on there.

& happy new year
. . . Gary

[Markoman01027]

When I went into Win2K Setup to format 98SE(I like to do it that way). I noticed that there was C:\ and unallocated space. I am not sure how much there was. But I deleted the C:\, and went on to load up WIn2K.
Get all the drivers up and running. Check the size, 38GB. Sounds good to me. So I guess it was just a problem with left over space not being put into the main partition. Could be something else. But the BIOS reads it as 38GB. But the HD is labeled as 40GB.

[GaryRouth]

Which Windows did you end up with? And all is OK now?

[Markoman01027]

I ended up with Win2K and everything is OK now. Thank you for all the help.

Next time- I will USE Zerofill :-P