need 98 Guy's help

98 Guy, some time ago (maybe 2 years or so) you posted extensive
information on partition sizes, cluster sizes, and whether Win 98 tools
(scandskw, defrag) worked properly. Wish I'd saved them!

Did you happen to save your posts or still have that information
available?

Specifically what I'd like to do is increase the size of a current 126GB
(fat32) partition. The tools here (scandskw and defrag) have been
updated to the last used for Win ME. Would like to make the partition at
least 50% (190GB) larger but am concerned as to whether the house
keeping tools will poop-out and screw-up the partition!

If you (or anyone else) have (has) the extensive information you posted
on partition/cluster sizes and the effectiveness of scandskw and defrag
on partitions over 127GB, I'd REALLY appreciate it !!

Thanks

someone watching wrote:

98 Guy, some time ago (maybe 2 years or so) you posted extensive
information on partition sizes, cluster sizes, and whether Win 98
tools (scandskw, defrag) worked properly. Wish I'd saved them!

Did you happen to save your posts or still have that information
available?

Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com) should also
still have them.

Specifically what I'd like to do is increase the size of a
current 126GB (fat32) partition. The tools here (scandskw
and defrag) have been updated to the last used for Win ME.

Would like to make the partition at least 50% (190GB) larger
but am concerned as to whether the house keeping tools will
poop-out and screw-up the partition!

Your main concern should not be about scandisk and defrag.

Your first concern should be the issue regarding win-98's protected mode
hard disk driver (esdi_506.pdr).

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with it if
it's larger than 128 gb.

It doesn't matter *how* you partition or format the drive. It doesn't
matter if you create several partitions or logical drives and they're
all less than 128 gb. If the drive itself is larger than 128 gb then it
will become screwed up if Win98 tries to access it (write to it) past
the 128 gb point on the drive.

Again, if the drive is an IDE type, connected to the system's
motherboard using the typical (wide) ribbon cable, and you are using the
original Win-98 driver file (esdi_506.pdr) then you really can't use a
hard drive larger than 128 gb.

If your system has a certain Intel chipset, then you can replace the
esdi_506.pdr with an alternative that is found inside a package called
the "Intel Application Accelerator". If that is not the case for you,
then there are two alternative sources for modified versions of the esdi
driver. One you have to pay for, and one is free. Information about
both of those can be found on the msfn.org website in windows 9x/me
forum.

If you have an external USB drive, or an internal or external SATA
drive, then this issue of the 128 gb limitation can be somewhat easily
ignored or dealt with.

someone watching wrote:

98 Guy, some time ago (maybe 2 years or so) you posted extensive
information on partition sizes, cluster sizes, and whether Win 98
tools (scandskw, defrag) worked properly. Wish I'd saved them!

Did you happen to save your posts or still have that information
available?

Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com) should also
still have them.

Specifically what I'd like to do is increase the size of a
current 126GB (fat32) partition. The tools here (scandskw
and defrag) have been updated to the last used for Win ME.

Would like to make the partition at least 50% (190GB) larger
but am concerned as to whether the house keeping tools will
poop-out and screw-up the partition!

Your main concern should not be about scandisk and defrag.

Your first concern should be the issue regarding win-98's protected mode
hard disk driver (esdi_506.pdr).

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with it if
it's larger than 128 gb.

It doesn't matter *how* you partition or format the drive. It doesn't
matter if you create several partitions or logical drives and they're
all less than 128 gb. If the drive itself is larger than 128 gb then it
will become screwed up if Win98 tries to access it (write to it) past
the 128 gb point on the drive.

Again, if the drive is an IDE type, connected to the system's
motherboard using the typical (wide) ribbon cable, and you are using the
original Win-98 driver file (esdi_506.pdr) then you really can't use a
hard drive larger than 128 gb.

If your system has a certain Intel chipset, then you can replace the
esdi_506.pdr with an alternative that is found inside a package called
the "Intel Application Accelerator". If that is not the case for you,
then there are two alternative sources for modified versions of the esdi
driver. One you have to pay for, and one is free. Information about
both of those can be found on the msfn.org website in windows 9x/me
forum.

If you have an external USB drive, or an internal or external SATA
drive, then this issue of the 128 gb limitation can be somewhat easily
ignored or dealt with.

Glad to see your response (wiping my brow) !
Answered within:

"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
someone watching wrote:

98 Guy, some time ago (maybe 2 years or so) you posted extensive
information on partition sizes, cluster sizes, and whether Win 98
tools (scandskw, defrag) worked properly. Wish I'd saved them!

Did you happen to save your posts or still have that information
available?

Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com) should also
still have them.



If you have a SUBJECT line I can search for (on Deja) that would be
appreciated (and would save a lot of time!)


Specifically what I'd like to do is increase the size of a
current 126GB (fat32) partition. The tools here (scandskw
and defrag) have been updated to the last used for Win ME.

Would like to make the partition at least 50% (190GB) larger
but am concerned as to whether the house keeping tools will
poop-out and screw-up the partition!

Your main concern should not be about scandisk and defrag.

Your first concern should be the issue regarding win-98's protected
mode
hard disk driver (esdi_506.pdr).

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with it if
it's larger than 128 gb.



All HDD's here are over 128GB. I use 160's, 250's, 320's, 400's, 500's
and all work well. I've retrived all sorts of information from these
drives which are well over the 128GB size, but all have partition sizes
less than 128GB (I thought partition size was the critical factor, not
HDD size)


It doesn't matter *how* you partition or format the drive. It doesn't
matter if you create several partitions or logical drives and they're
all less than 128 gb. If the drive itself is larger than 128 gb then
it
will become screwed up if Win98 tries to access it (write to it) past
the 128 gb point on the drive.

Again, if the drive is an IDE type, connected to the system's
motherboard using the typical (wide) ribbon cable, and you are using
the
original Win-98 driver file (esdi_506.pdr) then you really can't use a
hard drive larger than 128 gb.



OK, I think I get it now. Some time ago I purchased some patches from
Rudolph Loew (High Capacity Disk Patch and RAM Limitation Patch for 98,
also had custom BIOS work done). So I have HIS patched esdi_506.pdr.
Does that mean I CAN make partitions over 128GB and successfully use
Win98SE and the WinME scandskw and defrag?


If your system has a certain Intel chipset, then you can replace the
esdi_506.pdr with an alternative that is found inside a package called
the "Intel Application Accelerator". If that is not the case for you,
then there are two alternative sources for modified versions of the
esdi
driver. One you have to pay for, and one is free. Information about
both of those can be found on the msfn.org website in windows 9x/me
forum.

If you have an external USB drive, or an internal or external SATA
drive, then this issue of the 128 gb limitation can be somewhat easily
ignored or dealt with.

We also have 500GB SATA drives in USB enclosures but again, have kept
all partitions to less than 128GB. Are you saying a 500GB USB drive can
be successfully used with Win98SE and scandskw and defrag even if there
is ONE 500GB extended partition? (boy, that'd be something)

Lastly, you wrote extensively on cluster size and how these tools
(scandskw and defrag) worked with various cluster sizes. For example, a
slightly 32GB partition uses a cluster size of 16,384 bytes. But didn't
you try using 4K clusters and report on the effectiveness of Win's disk
tools? (again, this is all from memory from some time back)

The plan here is to keep 98 as long as possible, but with multimedia
file sizes ever growing I need to take advantage of whatever 98 can do.
Thus, the larger the partition it can handle (even with mods) the
better, but also in some cases the smaller the cluster size the better
(I have MANY TENS of THOUSANDS of small sized files which make much
better use of disk space with small clusters). But you did the work to
know what was what when it come to partition/cluster size, access times
(?) etc. on 98 so I appreciate your input!

Thanks

Glad to see your response (wiping my brow) !
Answered within:

"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
someone watching wrote:

98 Guy, some time ago (maybe 2 years or so) you posted extensive
information on partition sizes, cluster sizes, and whether Win 98
tools (scandskw, defrag) worked properly. Wish I'd saved them!

Did you happen to save your posts or still have that information
available?

Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com) should also
still have them.



If you have a SUBJECT line I can search for (on Deja) that would be
appreciated (and would save a lot of time!)


Specifically what I'd like to do is increase the size of a
current 126GB (fat32) partition. The tools here (scandskw
and defrag) have been updated to the last used for Win ME.

Would like to make the partition at least 50% (190GB) larger
but am concerned as to whether the house keeping tools will
poop-out and screw-up the partition!

Your main concern should not be about scandisk and defrag.

Your first concern should be the issue regarding win-98's protected
mode
hard disk driver (esdi_506.pdr).

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with it if
it's larger than 128 gb.



All HDD's here are over 128GB. I use 160's, 250's, 320's, 400's, 500's
and all work well. I've retrived all sorts of information from these
drives which are well over the 128GB size, but all have partition sizes
less than 128GB (I thought partition size was the critical factor, not
HDD size)


It doesn't matter *how* you partition or format the drive. It doesn't
matter if you create several partitions or logical drives and they're
all less than 128 gb. If the drive itself is larger than 128 gb then
it
will become screwed up if Win98 tries to access it (write to it) past
the 128 gb point on the drive.

Again, if the drive is an IDE type, connected to the system's
motherboard using the typical (wide) ribbon cable, and you are using
the
original Win-98 driver file (esdi_506.pdr) then you really can't use a
hard drive larger than 128 gb.



OK, I think I get it now. Some time ago I purchased some patches from
Rudolph Loew (High Capacity Disk Patch and RAM Limitation Patch for 98,
also had custom BIOS work done). So I have HIS patched esdi_506.pdr.
Does that mean I CAN make partitions over 128GB and successfully use
Win98SE and the WinME scandskw and defrag?


If your system has a certain Intel chipset, then you can replace the
esdi_506.pdr with an alternative that is found inside a package called
the "Intel Application Accelerator". If that is not the case for you,
then there are two alternative sources for modified versions of the
esdi
driver. One you have to pay for, and one is free. Information about
both of those can be found on the msfn.org website in windows 9x/me
forum.

If you have an external USB drive, or an internal or external SATA
drive, then this issue of the 128 gb limitation can be somewhat easily
ignored or dealt with.

We also have 500GB SATA drives in USB enclosures but again, have kept
all partitions to less than 128GB. Are you saying a 500GB USB drive can
be successfully used with Win98SE and scandskw and defrag even if there
is ONE 500GB extended partition? (boy, that'd be something)

Lastly, you wrote extensively on cluster size and how these tools
(scandskw and defrag) worked with various cluster sizes. For example, a
slightly 32GB partition uses a cluster size of 16,384 bytes. But didn't
you try using 4K clusters and report on the effectiveness of Win's disk
tools? (again, this is all from memory from some time back)

The plan here is to keep 98 as long as possible, but with multimedia
file sizes ever growing I need to take advantage of whatever 98 can do.
Thus, the larger the partition it can handle (even with mods) the
better, but also in some cases the smaller the cluster size the better
(I have MANY TENS of THOUSANDS of small sized files which make much
better use of disk space with small clusters). But you did the work to
know what was what when it come to partition/cluster size, access times
(?) etc. on 98 so I appreciate your input!

Thanks

Before you accept further info regarding this activity, read this heading
and related via Google and other archived materials from this group pursuant
this purported knowledge this entity proposes:

"The fraud who is 98 Guy - Ninety8 Guy -- was Using Defrag from Win2000"

--
~
--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.org/ref/windows-main.htm
Windows Diagnostics, Security, Networking
http://peoplescounsel.org
The *REAL WORLD* of Law, Justice, and Government
_______



"someone watching" wrote in message
...
Glad to see your response (wiping my brow) !
Answered within:

"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
someone watching wrote:

98 Guy, some time ago (maybe 2 years or so) you posted extensive
information on partition sizes, cluster sizes, and whether Win 98
tools (scandskw, defrag) worked properly. Wish I'd saved them!

Did you happen to save your posts or still have that information
available?

Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com) should also
still have them.



If you have a SUBJECT line I can search for (on Deja) that would be
appreciated (and would save a lot of time!)


Specifically what I'd like to do is increase the size of a
current 126GB (fat32) partition. The tools here (scandskw
and defrag) have been updated to the last used for Win ME.

Would like to make the partition at least 50% (190GB) larger
but am concerned as to whether the house keeping tools will
poop-out and screw-up the partition!

Your main concern should not be about scandisk and defrag.

Your first concern should be the issue regarding win-98's protected
mode
hard disk driver (esdi_506.pdr).

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with it if
it's larger than 128 gb.



All HDD's here are over 128GB. I use 160's, 250's, 320's, 400's, 500's
and all work well. I've retrived all sorts of information from these
drives which are well over the 128GB size, but all have partition sizes
less than 128GB (I thought partition size was the critical factor, not
HDD size)


It doesn't matter *how* you partition or format the drive. It doesn't
matter if you create several partitions or logical drives and they're
all less than 128 gb. If the drive itself is larger than 128 gb then
it
will become screwed up if Win98 tries to access it (write to it) past
the 128 gb point on the drive.

Again, if the drive is an IDE type, connected to the system's
motherboard using the typical (wide) ribbon cable, and you are using
the
original Win-98 driver file (esdi_506.pdr) then you really can't use a
hard drive larger than 128 gb.



OK, I think I get it now. Some time ago I purchased some patches from
Rudolph Loew (High Capacity Disk Patch and RAM Limitation Patch for 98,
also had custom BIOS work done). So I have HIS patched esdi_506.pdr.
Does that mean I CAN make partitions over 128GB and successfully use
Win98SE and the WinME scandskw and defrag?


If your system has a certain Intel chipset, then you can replace the
esdi_506.pdr with an alternative that is found inside a package called
the "Intel Application Accelerator". If that is not the case for you,
then there are two alternative sources for modified versions of the
esdi
driver. One you have to pay for, and one is free. Information about
both of those can be found on the msfn.org website in windows 9x/me
forum.

If you have an external USB drive, or an internal or external SATA
drive, then this issue of the 128 gb limitation can be somewhat easily
ignored or dealt with.

We also have 500GB SATA drives in USB enclosures but again, have kept
all partitions to less than 128GB. Are you saying a 500GB USB drive can
be successfully used with Win98SE and scandskw and defrag even if there
is ONE 500GB extended partition? (boy, that'd be something)

Lastly, you wrote extensively on cluster size and how these tools
(scandskw and defrag) worked with various cluster sizes. For example, a
slightly 32GB partition uses a cluster size of 16,384 bytes. But didn't
you try using 4K clusters and report on the effectiveness of Win's disk
tools? (again, this is all from memory from some time back)

The plan here is to keep 98 as long as possible, but with multimedia
file sizes ever growing I need to take advantage of whatever 98 can do.
Thus, the larger the partition it can handle (even with mods) the
better, but also in some cases the smaller the cluster size the better
(I have MANY TENS of THOUSANDS of small sized files which make much
better use of disk space with small clusters). But you did the work to
know what was what when it come to partition/cluster size, access times
(?) etc. on 98 so I appreciate your input!

Thanks

Before you accept further info regarding this activity, read this heading
and related via Google and other archived materials from this group pursuant
this purported knowledge this entity proposes:

"The fraud who is 98 Guy - Ninety8 Guy -- was Using Defrag from Win2000"

--
~
--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.org/ref/windows-main.htm
Windows Diagnostics, Security, Networking
http://peoplescounsel.org
The *REAL WORLD* of Law, Justice, and Government
_______



"someone watching" wrote in message
...
Glad to see your response (wiping my brow) !
Answered within:

"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
someone watching wrote:

98 Guy, some time ago (maybe 2 years or so) you posted extensive
information on partition sizes, cluster sizes, and whether Win 98
tools (scandskw, defrag) worked properly. Wish I'd saved them!

Did you happen to save your posts or still have that information
available?

Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com) should also
still have them.



If you have a SUBJECT line I can search for (on Deja) that would be
appreciated (and would save a lot of time!)


Specifically what I'd like to do is increase the size of a
current 126GB (fat32) partition. The tools here (scandskw
and defrag) have been updated to the last used for Win ME.

Would like to make the partition at least 50% (190GB) larger
but am concerned as to whether the house keeping tools will
poop-out and screw-up the partition!

Your main concern should not be about scandisk and defrag.

Your first concern should be the issue regarding win-98's protected
mode
hard disk driver (esdi_506.pdr).

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with it if
it's larger than 128 gb.



All HDD's here are over 128GB. I use 160's, 250's, 320's, 400's, 500's
and all work well. I've retrived all sorts of information from these
drives which are well over the 128GB size, but all have partition sizes
less than 128GB (I thought partition size was the critical factor, not
HDD size)


It doesn't matter *how* you partition or format the drive. It doesn't
matter if you create several partitions or logical drives and they're
all less than 128 gb. If the drive itself is larger than 128 gb then
it
will become screwed up if Win98 tries to access it (write to it) past
the 128 gb point on the drive.

Again, if the drive is an IDE type, connected to the system's
motherboard using the typical (wide) ribbon cable, and you are using
the
original Win-98 driver file (esdi_506.pdr) then you really can't use a
hard drive larger than 128 gb.



OK, I think I get it now. Some time ago I purchased some patches from
Rudolph Loew (High Capacity Disk Patch and RAM Limitation Patch for 98,
also had custom BIOS work done). So I have HIS patched esdi_506.pdr.
Does that mean I CAN make partitions over 128GB and successfully use
Win98SE and the WinME scandskw and defrag?


If your system has a certain Intel chipset, then you can replace the
esdi_506.pdr with an alternative that is found inside a package called
the "Intel Application Accelerator". If that is not the case for you,
then there are two alternative sources for modified versions of the
esdi
driver. One you have to pay for, and one is free. Information about
both of those can be found on the msfn.org website in windows 9x/me
forum.

If you have an external USB drive, or an internal or external SATA
drive, then this issue of the 128 gb limitation can be somewhat easily
ignored or dealt with.

We also have 500GB SATA drives in USB enclosures but again, have kept
all partitions to less than 128GB. Are you saying a 500GB USB drive can
be successfully used with Win98SE and scandskw and defrag even if there
is ONE 500GB extended partition? (boy, that'd be something)

Lastly, you wrote extensively on cluster size and how these tools
(scandskw and defrag) worked with various cluster sizes. For example, a
slightly 32GB partition uses a cluster size of 16,384 bytes. But didn't
you try using 4K clusters and report on the effectiveness of Win's disk
tools? (again, this is all from memory from some time back)

The plan here is to keep 98 as long as possible, but with multimedia
file sizes ever growing I need to take advantage of whatever 98 can do.
Thus, the larger the partition it can handle (even with mods) the
better, but also in some cases the smaller the cluster size the better
(I have MANY TENS of THOUSANDS of small sized files which make much
better use of disk space with small clusters). But you did the work to
know what was what when it come to partition/cluster size, access times
(?) etc. on 98 so I appreciate your input!

Thanks

someone watching wrote:

Glad to see your response (wiping my brow) !
Answered within:



Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com)
should also still have them.

If you have a SUBJECT line I can search for (on Deja) that would
be appreciated (and would save a lot of time!)

Subject: Cluster size and exploring the limits of FAT-32
Date: Feb 22, 2007 to Feb 26, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/ch8935

See also:

Subject:
Win-98 and large hard drives, custom cluster size (new information)
Date: July 21, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/cn2yur

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with
it if it's larger than 128 gb.

All HDD's here are over 128GB. I use 160's, 250's, 320's, 400's,
500's and all work well. I've retrived all sorts of information
from these drives which are well over the 128GB size, but all have
partition sizes less than 128GB (I thought partition size was the
critical factor, not HDD size)

OK, I think I get it now. Some time ago I purchased some patches
from Rudolph Loew (High Capacity Disk Patch and RAM Limitation
Patch for 98, also had custom BIOS work done). So I have HIS
patched esdi_506.pdr.

Does that mean I CAN make partitions over 128GB and successfully
use Win98SE and the WinME scandskw and defrag?

You can read and write to the hard drives you mention above because you
have the RLoew version of esdi_506.pdr. If you did not have it, you
wouldn't be able to do it. This is assuming the drives are IDE and not
SATA.

Microsoft released a 4.10.2225 and 4.10.2226 version of esdi_506.pdr in
March 2000. The .2226 version was for certain models of IBM laptops. I
think the reason for these updates was only to correct a problem with
certain phoenix bios's in conjunction with hard drives larger than 32
gb.

The .2225 file is named 243450USA8.EXE and can be downloaded from:

http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...243450usa8.exe

There is no limitation that I'm aware of regarding the max size of a
volume that win-98 can recognize, other than perhaps the max limit of
the FAT32 file system, which is either 2 tb or 8 tb (terra-byte).

The main issue with regard to win-98 (and specifically it's hard-drive
maintainence tools) is the number of clusters that a volume has.

We also have 500GB SATA drives in USB enclosures but again, have
kept all partitions to less than 128GB. Are you saying a 500GB
USB drive can be successfully used with Win98SE and scandskw and
defrag even if there is ONE 500GB extended partition? (boy,
that'd be something)

I'd have to go back and read my old posts. First thing is to replace
the win-98 versions of scandisk and defrag with the files from Windows
Me. Second thing is to not create a volume that exceeds a certain
number of clusters (I forget what the limit is for windows-me scandisk
and defrag).

Lastly, you wrote extensively on cluster size and how these tools
(scandskw and defrag) worked with various cluster sizes. For
example, a slightly 32GB partition uses a cluster size of
16,384 bytes. But didn't you try using 4K clusters and report
on the effectiveness of Win's disk tools? (again, this is all
from memory from some time back)

Yes. If you read those posts, you'll get a better idea of where the
limitations are.

Thanks

Your welcome.

someone watching wrote:

Glad to see your response (wiping my brow) !
Answered within:



Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com)
should also still have them.

If you have a SUBJECT line I can search for (on Deja) that would
be appreciated (and would save a lot of time!)

Subject: Cluster size and exploring the limits of FAT-32
Date: Feb 22, 2007 to Feb 26, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/ch8935

See also:

Subject:
Win-98 and large hard drives, custom cluster size (new information)
Date: July 21, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/cn2yur

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with
it if it's larger than 128 gb.

All HDD's here are over 128GB. I use 160's, 250's, 320's, 400's,
500's and all work well. I've retrived all sorts of information
from these drives which are well over the 128GB size, but all have
partition sizes less than 128GB (I thought partition size was the
critical factor, not HDD size)

OK, I think I get it now. Some time ago I purchased some patches
from Rudolph Loew (High Capacity Disk Patch and RAM Limitation
Patch for 98, also had custom BIOS work done). So I have HIS
patched esdi_506.pdr.

Does that mean I CAN make partitions over 128GB and successfully
use Win98SE and the WinME scandskw and defrag?

You can read and write to the hard drives you mention above because you
have the RLoew version of esdi_506.pdr. If you did not have it, you
wouldn't be able to do it. This is assuming the drives are IDE and not
SATA.

Microsoft released a 4.10.2225 and 4.10.2226 version of esdi_506.pdr in
March 2000. The .2226 version was for certain models of IBM laptops. I
think the reason for these updates was only to correct a problem with
certain phoenix bios's in conjunction with hard drives larger than 32
gb.

The .2225 file is named 243450USA8.EXE and can be downloaded from:

http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...243450usa8.exe

There is no limitation that I'm aware of regarding the max size of a
volume that win-98 can recognize, other than perhaps the max limit of
the FAT32 file system, which is either 2 tb or 8 tb (terra-byte).

The main issue with regard to win-98 (and specifically it's hard-drive
maintainence tools) is the number of clusters that a volume has.

We also have 500GB SATA drives in USB enclosures but again, have
kept all partitions to less than 128GB. Are you saying a 500GB
USB drive can be successfully used with Win98SE and scandskw and
defrag even if there is ONE 500GB extended partition? (boy,
that'd be something)

I'd have to go back and read my old posts. First thing is to replace
the win-98 versions of scandisk and defrag with the files from Windows
Me. Second thing is to not create a volume that exceeds a certain
number of clusters (I forget what the limit is for windows-me scandisk
and defrag).

Lastly, you wrote extensively on cluster size and how these tools
(scandskw and defrag) worked with various cluster sizes. For
example, a slightly 32GB partition uses a cluster size of
16,384 bytes. But didn't you try using 4K clusters and report
on the effectiveness of Win's disk tools? (again, this is all
from memory from some time back)

Yes. If you read those posts, you'll get a better idea of where the
limitations are.

Thanks

Your welcome.

Thanks a lot for your efforts. I'm going to try the 128GB partition
with default cluster sizes (hopefully will have time soon). Would also
like to experiment with smaller cluster sizes on some partitions, again
when time permits.

Will save your posts, they are a valuable resource.
Thanks very much!
___
"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
someone watching wrote:

Glad to see your response (wiping my brow) !
Answered within:



Yes, I still have all that info. Google groups (deja.com)
should also still have them.

If you have a SUBJECT line I can search for (on Deja) that would
be appreciated (and would save a lot of time!)

Subject: Cluster size and exploring the limits of FAT-32
Date: Feb 22, 2007 to Feb 26, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/ch8935

See also:

Subject:
Win-98 and large hard drives, custom cluster size (new information)
Date: July 21, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/cn2yur

If your hard drive an IDE type, then you will have problems with
it if it's larger than 128 gb.

All HDD's here are over 128GB. I use 160's, 250's, 320's, 400's,
500's and all work well. I've retrived all sorts of information
from these drives which are well over the 128GB size, but all have
partition sizes less than 128GB (I thought partition size was the
critical factor, not HDD size)

OK, I think I get it now. Some time ago I purchased some patches
from Rudolph Loew (High Capacity Disk Patch and RAM Limitation
Patch for 98, also had custom BIOS work done). So I have HIS
patched esdi_506.pdr.

Does that mean I CAN make partitions over 128GB and successfully
use Win98SE and the WinME scandskw and defrag?

You can read and write to the hard drives you mention above because
you
have the RLoew version of esdi_506.pdr. If you did not have it, you
wouldn't be able to do it. This is assuming the drives are IDE and
not
SATA.

Microsoft released a 4.10.2225 and 4.10.2226 version of esdi_506.pdr
in
March 2000. The .2226 version was for certain models of IBM laptops.
I
think the reason for these updates was only to correct a problem with
certain phoenix bios's in conjunction with hard drives larger than 32
gb.

The .2225 file is named 243450USA8.EXE and can be downloaded from:


http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...-6151/w98/en-u
s/243450usa8.exe

There is no limitation that I'm aware of regarding the max size of a
volume that win-98 can recognize, other than perhaps the max limit of
the FAT32 file system, which is either 2 tb or 8 tb (terra-byte).

The main issue with regard to win-98 (and specifically it's hard-drive
maintainence tools) is the number of clusters that a volume has.

We also have 500GB SATA drives in USB enclosures but again, have
kept all partitions to less than 128GB. Are you saying a 500GB
USB drive can be successfully used with Win98SE and scandskw and
defrag even if there is ONE 500GB extended partition? (boy,
that'd be something)

I'd have to go back and read my old posts. First thing is to replace
the win-98 versions of scandisk and defrag with the files from Windows
Me. Second thing is to not create a volume that exceeds a certain
number of clusters (I forget what the limit is for windows-me scandisk
and defrag).

Lastly, you wrote extensively on cluster size and how these tools
(scandskw and defrag) worked with various cluster sizes. For
example, a slightly 32GB partition uses a cluster size of
16,384 bytes. But didn't you try using 4K clusters and report
on the effectiveness of Win's disk tools? (again, this is all
from memory from some time back)

Yes. If you read those posts, you'll get a better idea of where the
limitations are.

Thanks

Your welcome.