computer problem...help format?

[goin4wheelin]

i'm not a geek and non-computer skill.
i recently got a system, old, p2-266 free barebone and with no harddrive. i bought one used 10G.
when i try to format the harddrive, it only show 4.xG or something.
how can i format the harddrive so i can get my 10 G ?
i 'm using the win me startup disk and it no help.
i used fdisk and it only show 4.x G.

first i though i bought a lemon, the hd, so i put another hd into it, 6G and the samething happen. how can i format and get the FAT32 ?

i got no experiences with DOS too... pls help.

[RCP Phx]

You need to do that in the BIOS set-up!

[goin4wheelin]

how?? how to do bios setup?

[RCP Phx]

Youll need the instructions for that model.Usually you need to hit a specific function key(sometimes the ESC key) when you see a flashing bar as your unit boots up.If the unit is used it may be password protected from the previous user.If thats the case you will the the instructions to clear thepassword(thats usually removing the CMOS battery and posssibly shorting out some pins).

[Kejtar]

umm.... isn't there a limitation of 4GB under certain bios' and OS'? If you can boot to the drive that means that the drive is most likely set right into bios. Then your partitiona might be the wrong size. Since you're going to reformat and start over anyways, go either into fdisk (from dos under win 9x) or run partitiona magic (external utility)

Kejtar

[CheapXJ]

you may have to find out the manufacturer of the motherboard and download a bios update.

is this a brand name machine(well-known mass manufactured deal) or more of a custom built thing.

for a popular brand, pull the model number or serial number off the case and go to their respective website to find BIOS updates.

if custom, when you boot the machine, there will be a large string of numbers and letters, with a dash or two in between. write down that string of numbers and either run it through a search engine, or post it up here. that number is a unique motherboard/BIOS ID# (the only reliable way to tell what the fawk in inside that box ;) )

[goin4wheelin]

last time, well a few year back, i didnt need to do anything on the bios. it's been a while back.
normally how do u all format the hd? is this right way to do it?

on startup disk, "a:\format c:\ "??
i done that and it only show 4.X G on it.

[Kejtar]

well... as I said: the size of the HD is not an issue till you figure out how big the partition is!
Also which startup disk are you using? Are you formatting fat16 or fat32?

Kejtar

[goin4wheelin]

this's the thing, i want to have a full partition 100% as drive c:
how do i find out how big partition do i got?

i'm using the win me startup, not the full version, the upgrade for win 95/98 one.

[Kejtar]

what computers you have up and running? Use that computer to create a new boot disk. Then search your hard drive on that computer for fdisk.exe (if I remember correctly you have to use fdisk from the same OS and version that the command.com came from). IN any case, once you locate fdisk, copy it to the boot disk.

Then use that boot disk to go to the other machine and boot up with it. Then after you go to the dos prompt, run fdisk and browse through the menus and you should find all that you need as well as be able to recreate/delet/create partitons as needed. Beware: deletion of partition means loosing all data located on that partiton.

Kejtar

[goin4wheelin]

now i'm running on a laptop n using win me. i did create the startup disk and use it onthe system i try to format. on the boot disk, there's already a fdisk.exe on it and i did try to fdisk on the new hd ,and got the same thing, 4.XX G on it. i del the partiton and create it again, still got the 4.xx G on it.

[Kejtar]

does it tell you how big the drive is? as in how much space is the partition using???? Also did you verify on the manufacturer's site how big the drive is.... also someone mentioned bios updates: some bios' can't take bigger drives. Manufacturers have a way around it using the downloadable "preloader" of sorts (example would be EZDisk) that allows the "whole" drive being seen.... In any case, I would recommend visiting the drive manufacturer's site, look through their knowledgebase and see if they have any downloads or info that can help you.

Btw, the EZDisk and such will sometimes degrade the perfomance of the drive....

Kejtar

[goin4wheelin]

how do i do FAT32?

[Kejtar]

when you run fdisk it should ask you if you want to enable support for large drives. Make sure to say YES and then to recreate the partition if need be. FAT 16 IIRC did have the limitation of 4gb partitions while FAT32 allows for bigger partitions. Once the FAT32 partition is created when you format it, it will be formatted in FAT32

Kejtar

[5-90]

What version of "format" are you using? If you boot from your disk (I am going to assume you are booting from floppy,) type "ver" at the prompt and get back to me. If you are using an old format utility, you could be hitting the FAT16 cap - I THINK it's at 4gb.

If you have an email account that supports attachments up to 1Mb, bounce me the addy and I'll zip up my tech disk for you. PM or email, and give me just a little bit...

It might also be prudent to run a full scandisk on the drive, to make sure you've not gotten riddled with fouled sectors or anything like that...

[goin4wheelin]

i just type format using the startup disk form the win-me. yes, i'm booting from floppy. email me at sgilreath@multipro.com

[XJ_MAC]

When you said p2-266 did you mean 286? If so the bios on that old of a machine can't recognoze over a certain amount of HD. Also the chip set can't recognize over a certain number. It has to do with the size of the memory channels. 8byte channels = 8x8 = 64 byte numbers. 16 byte channels = 16x16 = 256 byte number and so on.

[5-90]

MAC - P2 = Pentium II. I don't think you can run much anything past Windows 3.x on a 286 - and it'll need a towrope at that...

G4W - Gimme a bit to dig up the disk, and I'll pass it along. It's got FORMAT and FDISK on it, and some pretty generic CD-ROM drivers that I've been using for years to do setups. I suggest when you unpack the file, make at least two of these disks and save one somewhere safe so you have a copy next time you need it...

5-90

[5-90]

G4W - I just despatched a missive to you with the attached file "OEMBOOT.zip" and instructions - it is virus-free (Norton 2003, updated yesterday) and good to go. There are CD-ROM drivers on there as well that will work with just about any CD-ROM drive on the market, and I can give some hints & helps for Win9x setup if you want. Let me know if you don't get the file...

5-90

[RichP]

Keep in mind guys this is a DEC/Digital OEM MB. This was right on the border of when IBM and others kept the bios on a section of the hard drive [remember PS2's :) ]. Besides, I wouldn't wish win98xx on anybody let alone that me abortion that MS more or less recalled, heck, we had to ship over 5,000 copies back to MS and you will notice you can't buy it anymore but you still see win98SE out there. 2000 at least