Adding a Second HD in W98SE

[1966]

I currently have an 8.4 gig harddrive with Win98SE. I want to do a fresh install on this drive and then add a second hd.What's the best way to set this thing up and make it work? What will 98SE do
with the drive letters especially on drive D, my CD-ROM? All info
appreciated. Thanks, 1966

 

[brianF]

cd rom is always last letter so one drive will be C, the other will be D, cdrom wil be E

Why not install the new drive as the master and do the fresh install to it, that way you could copy any data and personal files from the old drive you want then reformat it.

 

[slipe]

The drive letters always start sequentially from C for the drives and partitions. So if you had a C drive and a second HD with four partitions it would take D, E, F and G. There is no way to leave your CD-ROM as D and have the new HD select another letter.

Win98Se is not going to be a problem, but your motherboard might. 8.4 might be the largest drive your board can support without a BIOS update or overlay software for the HD. If the computer came with an 8.4 drive then there is likely a BIOS update that will accommodate a larger drive. The overlay software that will come with the HD will also allow your MB to use the drive in all likelihood. The overlay is safer than a BIOS flash but gets in the way sometimes.

If you go to your MB maker’s site and browse through the BIOS updates you will get a pretty good idea of whether you need to flash the BIOS to get the HD recognized without the overlay.

I would consider installing the new drive as the boot drive as it will likely be faster. You want your fastest drive as your boot drive.

Get back with what HD you get and how you want to set them up and someone will give you exact instructions. Some reading: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q255867
http://www3.sympatico.ca/rhwatson/dos7/u-fdisk-1.html
http://freepctech.com/pc/001/004.shtml (click “Installing Win98”)

 

[1966]

Thanks for all the good info. I want to really think this out before its done. My thought process is as follows and I certainly can be wrong on this but I'm going to add another 8.4 gig drive. Period.
I'm thinking at this point that I will not have to upgrade my bio's
because it accepts the current 8.4 gig harddrive and as a slave the OS should not have a problem with it. If I used it as an extended partion then the bio's and 98SE might have a problem
because it sees a larger partion than it can handle. Comment's?
Also I need to FDISk/mbr the second drive because it's a used drive and want it clean so I can start again. Comment's? I have
Partion Magic 7.0 that I have yet to load but figure it could make for fast work of this issue.Comments? 1966