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Additional Harddrive Problem

2K views 23 replies 3 participants last post by  dustyjay 
#1 ·
Hi,

I have a Dell L800r PC - Intel PIII 833 Mhz, Windows 98 DE, 128 MB SDRAm and 20 GB HDD.

I tried ti upgrade my PC with another 128 MB SDRAm and 160 GB HDD. although my BIOS recognizes the new drive, I am unable to format it. When I run fdisk the integrity check does not move beyond 1%. This is with my original 128 MB Ram

Also my PC does not boot when I add the additional 128 MB SDRAM.

Does anyone know what could be wrong. Do you think my motherboard is not compatible to support the 256 MB SDRam and 160 GB Drive. Any clues ??

I thought I would ask you guys before I take back to the store to return.
 
#15 ·
bonk said:
I would check the position on the IDE cable and also try it on the secondary IDE cable as Master...

what is the main HDD jumper set at??
thanks Bonk. I just checked with DELL which confirmed that my system cannot handle more than 137 GB. Looks like I may have to return the HDD. Also there are no BIOS uprgdes for my model.

Thanks for your help.
 
#16 ·
Hi,

I am back. DELL further clarified that there are no updates for BIOS to handle a HDD of over 137 GB. But there are updates for memory upgrade and I have downloaded an updated version of my BIOS.

My question is - Is there any danger in upgrading the BIOS ? I have saved the file in a bootable floopy. How do I update my BIOS......Just run the exe file ??

Please advice.
 
#20 ·
THe thng to remember is that with Win 98 you are never going to recognize a 160Gb drive at the full capacity unless you have the drive connected to an IDE controller card that supporst large drives. Most modern ones do. There is also going to be a partition size limit of I think about 32Gb with Win98.
 
#22 ·
I would guess this is the first time for a Bios update for you.........Bios updates are released to make the bios able to work with other upgrades and make it compatible with new hardware etc. I updates my Bios when there is one available and my chip-sets and video drivers....I have no worries myself....in the olden days you had to sent of your Bios and then they would send you a replacement.......I wouldn't say that Bios is a regular update...I have had my PC for 4 years and only had to update once......

Still unsure?
 
#24 ·
If you do run into problems you may very possibly run the risk of ending up with a door stop rather than a computer. On earlier boards when Bios upgrades go bad it renders the motherboard useless. Just a word to the wary.
 
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