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All About Fdisk |
The FDISK program is used to configure your hard disk. For example,
if you
want to configure a new hard disk or re-configure an old one, you must
use FDISK.
Using FDISK
If you have already set up DOS, you can run the FDISK program from your
hard disk.
If you have not yet set up MS-DOS, you can run the FDISK program from
your startup disk.
If you want to repartition your hard disk the points below should be followed.
1. Delete any non-MS-DOS partitions.
2. Delete the logical drives in the extended MS-DOS partition, if there
are any.
3. Delete the extended MS-DOS partition, if there is one.
4. Delete the primary MS-DOS partition.
To configure a new drive or re-configure an old drive the points below should be followed.
1. Create a new primary MS-DOS partition.
2. Create an active partition.
3. Create an extended partition and logical drives, if you want any.
Caution: If you use FDISK to partition a hard disk, all the files on your original partitions will be deleted. Be sure to back up all data files on a partition before you use FDISK.
To start FDISK
1.Type fdisk at the command prompt.
The FDISK Options screen appears:
MS-DOS Version 6
Fixed Disk Setup Program
FDISK OPTIONS
Current fixed disk drive: 1
Choose one of the following:
1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partitions
3. Delete any partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
Enter choice: [1]
Press ESC to exit FDISK
Your machine should be restarted or will restart automatically itself to allow the HARD Disk partitions to be recognised.
NOTE: You will need a Startup or Boot diskette in drive A as your hard disk has not yet been formatted or had any operating system installed. When your machine has booted up to the prompt, formatting the hard drive can begin.
FORMATTING A HARD DISK.
Even after a hard disk has been configured with fdisk you cannot use the hard disk until you format it.
To format the drive(s) on your hard disk
1. Make sure your startup disk is in drive A.
2. At the command prompt, type the following:
3. format drive: eg. format c: /s /u
4. A warning message appears.
5. To proceed with formatting, press Y, and then press ENTER.
6. When formatting is complete, type a volume label if you want one,
and then press ENTER.
7. Remove floppy disks from all floppy disk drives, and then restart
your computer by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL.
How To Partition Your Hard Disk: EXAMPLE 2
1. Using a new floppy, create a Win98 Startup Boot Disk via add/remove programs. All of the files you need will be on this disk except two, Edit.com and EMM386.exe. You may need these in the event that you need to edit a file during the process or enable upper memory. Use Find, Files and Folders and them to your startup floppy.
2. Next, at the MSDos prompt A:\> type Fdisk<enter>.
The first question asked will be:
"Do you wish to enable large disk support?
Answer YES if you want Fat 32, and NO if you want Fat16. Fat 32 is more efficient and supports drive sizes up to two terrabytes, which Fat 16 has a 2G drive size limitation.
DESCRIPTIONS OF WHAT YOU WILL SEE:
===================================
Answering either "Y" or "N" will bring you to the dos fdisk menu. As
you can see, you have several choices, you can:
. Create a partition or logical drive.
. Set the active partition.
. Delete a partition of logical drive.
. Display partition information.
On systems with multiple hard drives, there will be another choice added to the list:
. Change current fixed disk drive.
. Create a partition or logical drive.
This option enables you to set a new partition (including size) on a hard drive that either is new and has never been partitioned or one that has had it's partition removed with the third option noted above.
. Set the active partition.
Once a drive has been partitioned, this option will enable you to make it active and therefore bootable. As an example, you could partition one hard drive into several partitions, let's say as Drive "C", "D" and "E", after which you would set "C" as the active bootable partition.
. Delete a partition of logical drive.
This option allows you to remove partition(s) as well as logical drives. In the example above, "C" would be the primary partition and drives "D" and "E" would be logical drives.
. Display partition information.
This option allows you to see what existing partitions are on a hard drive.
. Change current fixed disk drive.
In systems with multiple hard drives, this option allows you to choose which hard drive you want to work with.
As noted above, when you first start Fdisk, you will be given a choice whether or not you want enable large hard disk support. If you choose NO or (N), the system will default to Fat 16. If you choose YES (Y), the system will default to Fat 32.
Start Fdisk as noted above, and choose (Y) for LBA and review the partition information.
3. Now choose ". Delete a partition of logical drive" and follow the prompts to delete the partitions that exist.
4. Now go back to the original menu by touching the ESC key and then choose ". Create a partition or logical drive"
At this point, depending on your hard drive size, (since you want 3 partitions) choose an approximate third of the drive (or any size you wish) and then follow the procedures. This will default to drive "C" and make sure that you make this partition ACTIVE.
As an example, let's say I had an 8G hard drive and wanted 3 partitions, the small window or choice area will default to the entire drive size of 8G, just change the numbers to what you need. In this sample, I could make that partition 4G by typing 4000 and it will default to 4001.
Once this is made active, use the ESC key and create the next partition (logical drive) and make it the size you want, which will be a logical drive (drive "D"). Repeat the procedure for the final partition.
When you are done with the partitioning, reboot the system to the floppy.
5. Now you're ready to format the drive and transfer the basic system files.
At the MSDos prompt A:> type "FORMAT C:/S" without quotes and touch the enter key. It will look like this:
A:\>FORMAT C:/S
A message will come up alerting you to the fact that if you proceed, all existing data on the hard drive will be erased. Acknowledge the message and proceed with the format.
Once the format has completed, you can either format the other partitions or leave them as is.
Now reboot to the Win98 Startup disk again and choose "With CD Rom support" and your ready to install Win98.
Possible Data Loss with LBA and INT13 Extensions [FDISK /X] Get Update Patch at URL below;
If you suspect you have the problem in the below article, go to
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q148/8/21.asp
and download DSKSUPD.EXE.
This was posted at http://www.stiller.com/stiller.htm.
Home of "Integrity Master" Virus protection:
We've had reports from Integrity Master customers that their newly purchased (and partitioned with Windows 95 FDISK) disks are unreliable. (Note, these problems are not related to Win95 OSR2 (service release 2 which supports FAT32.) This was particularly troubling because these disks were brand new and shouldn't be having problems--yet Integrity Master was detecting file corruption on these disk.
Initially these problems looked exactly like hard disk failure or in some cases like memory or motherboard problems. The symptoms included system hangs and occasional inability to boot.
Some users found cross-linked clusters and used Scandisk, Norton Disk Doctor or other utilities to "fix" there disks. After doing this, the users were in a "fix"--there was now massive damage to the files on their disks.
The problem stems from a bug in the way the Windows 95 (actually MS-DOS 7) handles extended partitions created by the Windows 95 FDISK program for large disks (with more than 504 megabytes). Bugs in the Windows 95 (MS-DOS 7) hard disk drivers can cause data corruption in this situation. If you are running an integrity checker it will report corrupted files and possibly directories.
If you suspect this problem, please do NOT run Scandisk or one of the disk fixup utilities since this can make the situation much worse.
ARE YOU AT RISK?
You are vulnerable to this problem if you meet all the following criteria:
* You are running Windows 95 and * You have an IDE hard disk with more 504 million bytes using LBA. (LBA is the address translation support that allows the BIOS on these PCs to support more than 504mb.) * The hard disk has more than one logical partition created by the Windows 95 FDISK program.
Microsoft reports that data damage may result when you exit the Windows 95 graphic user interface to the MS-DOS command line without rebooting the PC.
If you suspect you have this problem be very careful since it can result in loss of all data in your extended partitions. An integrity checker such as Integrity Master should be able to spot any data corruption before it gets serious. (Microsoft documents this problem in their PSS ID Number: Q148821).
SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM
If you use the /X parameter on FDISK (i.e., "FDISK /X" )when you partition your hard disk under Windows 95 (or DOS 7), FDISK will user the older style extended partitions and you (according to Microsoft) will not be exposed to this problem. Reports from our customers seem to support the contention that this gets around the problem. Note, that if you already have partitions created with Windows 95's FDISK, you can recreate them with "FDISK /X" but you will need to reload all data into these partitions from a backup. Make absolutely sure you have a good backup (or preferably two!) before attempting this.
Microsoft is working on the problem and has posted "fixes" on their web site. (See technet document Q148821 and file ).
Another very good article about Fat32 and
large Hard Disk Drives can be found at:
http://www.stiller.com/win98n.htm
The following I found on Microsofts Site:
This covers Windows 95/98/98 Second Edition
Using Fdisk and Format
Important
Considerations Before Using Fdisk and Format
Partitioning
and Formatting a New Master Hard Disk
Repartitioning
and Formatting the Extended Partition and Logical Drives of a Hard Disk
Partitioning
and Formatting a Slave Hard Disk
Frequently Asked Questions
Before you install your operating system (Windows 95, Windows 98, and so on), you must first create a primary partition on the hard disk (disk 1) in your computer and then format a file system on that partition. The Fdisk tool is an MS-DOS-based disk tool that you can use to prepare (partition) a hard disk for use or reuse. You can use Fdisk to create, change, delete, or display current partitions on the hard disk, and then each allocated space on the hard disk (primary partition, extended partition or logical drive) is assigned a drive letter. Disk 1 may contain one extended partition, and a second hard disk may contain a primary and/or extended partition. An extended partition may contain one or more logical MS-DOS drives.
After you use Fdisk to partition your hard disk, run the Format tool to format those partitions with a file system. The file system File Allocation Table (FAT) gives the hard disk the ability to accept, store, and retrieve data. Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2), Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows 2000 support the FAT16 and FAT32 file systems. When you run the Fdisk tool on a hard disk larger than 512 MB, you are prompted to choose one of the following file systems:
FAT16: This file system has a maximum of 2 gigabytes (GB) for each allocated
space or drive letter. For example, if you use the FAT16 file system and
have a 6-GB hard disk, you can have three drive letters (C, D, and E),
each with 2 GB of allocated space. For additional information about the
FAT16 file system, click the article number below to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q118335
Maximum Partition Size Using FAT16 File System
FAT32: This file system supports drives up to 2 terabytes in size and
stores files on smaller sections of the hard disk than does the FAT16 file
system. This results in more free space on the hard disk. The FAT32 file
system does not support drives smaller than 512 MB. For additional information
about the FAT32 file system, click the article number below to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q154997
Description of the FAT32 File System
When you run the fdisk and format commands, the Master Boot Record (MBR)
FAT are created. The MBR and FAT store the necessary disk geometry that
gives the hard disk the ability to accept, store, and retrieve data. For
additional information about MS-DOS partitioning and a hard disk geometry
overview, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
Q69912
MS-DOS Partitioning Summary
Important
Considerations Before Using Fdisk and Format
Keep the following things in mind before you start:
Is the hard disk new? If not, go to question 2.
Is this going to be the only hard disk in your computer (master) or is this a second hard disk (slave)?
Have you prepared the hard disk following the manufacturer's instructions? It is important to set the jumpers and cabling according to the role of the hard disk (master or slave).
Have you checked your BIOS to ensure that it supports the hard disk or the second hard disk? If not, check the documentation that came with your motherboard, or contact the manufacturer. Most new BIOS' have an auto detect hard disk setting that configures the drive, but you should verify this before you continue.
What type of FAT do you want to use, FAT16 or FAT32 (if you are not sure, click the links to learn more about each file system).
Does the hard disk already contain data?
Have you backed up all of your important data? If not, back up your data before you proceed. When you run Fdisk to create, delete, or change a partition, all of the data on that partition is permanently destroyed. You can view current partition information without destroying your data.
For additional information about how to install MSBackup, click the
article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q152561
How to Install Microsoft Backup
Use the Help file in MSBackup for usability tips. If you want to use
MSBackup with a removable media device, please see the following article
in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q188575
How to Back Up to Removable Media Device Using Microsoft Backup
Does the hard disk have a drive overlay or a disk management program?
If your computer uses drive overlay software to enable large hard disk
support, do not use Fdisk until you have checked with the software manufacturer.
If you are not sure, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article
or contact the software manufacturer before proceeding:
Q186057
How to Tell If Drive Overlay Program Is Installed in Windows
Do you have the disks necessary to reinstall your software? Make sure you have your software so you can reinstall your programs after your drive is partitioned and formatted. If you purchased an upgrade to a program, make sure you have the full version of the original program. Many upgrade programs require a compliance check before you can install the upgraded product. If you cannot find the original disks, contact the software manufacturer before you proceed.
Do you have updated device drivers backed up or on a disk? If you have installed an updated device driver for your peripheral devices (for example, modems, printers and so on), make sure you have the new driver on a disk so that you can reinstall it after you install your operating system.
Do you want to combine multiple extended partitions into one? If so, refer to the "Repartitioning and Formatting the Extended Partition and Logical Drives of a Hard Disk " section of this article.
Do you have an Emergency Boot Disk (EBD) or startup disk? Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition prompt you to create an EBD during Setup. If you do not have an EBD, use the following steps:
Insert a blank disk in drive A.
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Software.
On the Startup Disk tab, click Create Disk.
After you create the disk, make sure you test it. Put the EBD in drive A, and then restart your computer. If you are using Windows 98, the Startup menu should be displayed. If you are using Windows 95, restart to the command prompt.
Do you need real-mode CD-ROM support?
Some CD-ROM drives require real-mode (MS-DOS) device drivers. If you
are planning to use Windows 98, the EBD or startup disk contains generic,
real-mode ATAPI CD-ROM and SCSI drivers that cause CD-ROM drives to be
available after you boot from the Windows 98 startup disk. These CD-ROM
drivers are not guaranteed to work with all CD-ROM drives. They may work
as a replacement if the real-mode CD-ROM drivers included with your CD-ROM
drive are not available.
NOTE: If you insert your Windows 98 EBD, restart your computer, change directories to the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive (usually one drive letter ahead of where it typically resides because of the RAM drive created by the EBD), and it does not work, these drivers do not work with your CD-ROM drive. You need to review the documentation included with your hardware, or contact your hardware manufacturer to obtain these CD-ROM device drivers.
Partitioning
and Formatting a New Master Hard Disk
NOTE: If you use the following steps on a hard disk that is not empty,
all of the data on that hard disk is erased.
To run Fdisk:
Place the EBD in the disk drive, restart your computer, and then use the appropriate method.
For a Windows 98 or Windows 98 Second Edition EBD:
When the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed, choose Start computer without CD-ROM support, and then press ENTER.
At a command prompt, type fdisk, and then press ENTER.
Go to step 2.
For a Windows 95 EBD:
At a command prompt, type fdisk, and then press ENTER.
Go to step 2.
If your hard disk is larger than 512 MB, the following message is displayed:
Your computer has a disk larger than 512 MB. This version of Windows
includes improved support for large disks, resulting in more efficient
use of disk space on large drives, and allowing disks over 2 GB to be formatted
as a single drive.
IMPORTANT: If you enable large disk support and create any new drives on this disk, you will not be able to access the new drive(s) using other operating systems, including some versions of Windows 95 and Windows NT, as well as earlier versions of Windows and MS-DOS. In addition, disk utilities that were not designated explicitly for the FAT32 file system will not be able to work with this disk. If you need to access this disk with other operating systems or older disk utilities, do not enable large drive support.
Do you wish to enable large disk support (Y/N).............? [Y]
If you want to use the FAT32 file system, press Y and then press ENTER. If you want to use the FAT16 file system, press N, and then press ENTER.
After you press ENTER, the following Fdisk Options menu is displayed:
1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed disk drive (this option is only available if
you have two physical hard disks in the computer)
Type 1 to choose Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive, and then press ENTER.
Type 1 to choose Create Primary DOS Partition, and then press ENTER.
After you press ENTER, the following message is displayed:
Do you wish to use the maximum available size for primary DOS partition?
After you receive the message, use the appropriate method.
For a FAT32 File System
If you pressed Y (for the FAT32 file system) in step 2 and you want all of the space on the hard disk to be assigned to drive C, press Y, and then press ENTER.
Press ESC twice to quit Fdisk and return to a command prompt.
Go to step 7.
For a FAT16 File System
If you pressed N (for the FAT16 file system) in step 2, you can accept the default size (2 GB for the partition size), or you can customize the size of the partition.
To accept the default partition size, use the following steps:
If you want the first 2 GB on the hard disk to be assigned to drive C, press Y, and then press ENTER.
Press ESC to return to the Options menu, and then go to step d in the "custom partition size" section below.
To customize the partition size, use the following steps:
If you want to customize the size of the partitions (drive letters) on the hard disk, press N, and then press ENTER.
A dialog box is displayed for you to type the size that you want for the primary partition in MB or percent of disk space. Note that for a Windows 98-based computer, Microsoft recommends making the primary partition at least 500 MB. Type the size of the partition that you want to create, and then press ENTER.
Press ESC to return to the Options menu.
To assign drive letters to the additional space on the hard disk, type 1, and then press ENTER.
Type 2 to choose Create Extended DOS Partition, and then press ENTER.
The dialog box that is displayed shows the maximum space available for the extended partition. You can adjust the size of the partition or leave it at the default size. Note that the default maximum space is recommended, but the space can be divided between multiple drive letters. Type the amount of space you want, press ENTER, and then press ESC.
The Create Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition menu is displayed. This is the menu you use to assign the remaining hard disk space to the additional drive letters. Type the amount of space you want to assign to the next drive letter in the Enter logical drive size in Mbytes or percent of disk space (%) box, and then press ENTER.
A table that lists the drive letter you created and the amount of space in that drive is displayed. If there is still free space on the hard disk, it is displayed near the bottom of the table. Repeat steps e-g until you receive the following message:
All available space in the Extended DOS Partition is assigned to local drives.
After you receive this message, press ESC to return to the Options menu.
To activate the partition that you plan to boot from (usually drive C) type 2 to choose Set active partition, and then press ENTER.
The following message is displayed:
Enter the number of the partition you want to make active.
Type 1, and then press ENTER.
Press ESC twice to quit Fdisk and return to a command prompt, and then proceed to step 7.
After you create the partitions, you must format the partitions. Restart your computer with the EBD in the disk drive.
NOTE: If you are using a Windows 95 EBD, the command prompt is displayed and you can skip to step 8. If you are using a Windows 98 or Windows 98 Second Edition EBD, choose Start computer without CD-ROM support when the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed.
When the command prompt is displayed, type format c: /s, and then press ENTER. This command transfers the system files and should only be used when formatting drive C (or your "active" drive). Or you can type format drive: (where drive is the letter of the partition you want to format) for all other partitions.
NOTE: If you receive a "Bad command" or "Bad file name" error message,
you may need to extract the Format.com tool to your boot disk. Type the
following command at the command prompt, and then press ENTER:
extract ebd.cab format.com
After Format.com is extracted to your boot disk and the MS-DOS command prompt is displayed, type format c: /s or type format drive: for partition(s) not marked as your active partition.
When you run Format.com successfully, the following message is displayed:
WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)?
Press Y, and then press ENTER to format drive C.
After the format is finished, the following message is displayed:
Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?
NOTE: This is an optional feature that you can use to type a name for the hard disk. You can either type an 11-character name for the drive, or leave it blank by pressing ENTER.
Repartitioning and Formatting the Extended Partition and Logical
Drives of a Hard Disk
Use the steps in this section to resize or combine your extended partition and logical drives. Make sure you have a reliable backup of any important data that you have on your extended partition and logical drives before you proceed. If you want to combine your entire hard disk into one partition, use the steps in the "Partitioning and Formatting a New Master Hard Disk" section of this article.
NOTE: Using this method leaves two or more partitions on your hard disk,
your primary partition (usually drive C) and your extended partition. Even
if you use FAT32, there is an 8-GB partition limitation unless you obtain
a BIOS upgrade that fully supports interrupt 13 extensions. For additional
information about why there is an 8-GB limit, click the article number
below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q153550
Hard Disk Limited to 8-GB Partition
If you have a hard disk that is larger than 8 GB and you are not using a disk overlay program or disk management software, you need to partition and format space over each 8-GB partition.
Place the EBD in the disk drive, restart your computer, and then use the appropriate method.
For a Windows 98 or Windows 98 Second Edition EBD:
When the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed, choose Start computer without CD-ROM support, and then press ENTER.
At a command prompt, type fdisk, and then press ENTER.
Go to step 2.
For a Windows 95 EBD:
At a command prompt, type fdisk, and then press ENTER.
Go to step 2.
If your hard disk is larger than 512 MB, the following message is displayed:
Your computer has a disk larger than 512 MB. This version of Windows
includes improved support for large disks, resulting in more efficient
use of disk space on large drives, and allowing disks over 2 GB to be formatted
as a single drive.
IMPORTANT: If you enable large disk support and create any new drives on this disk, you will not be able to access the new drive(s) using other operating systems, including some versions of Windows 95 and Windows NT, as well as earlier versions of Windows and MS-DOS. In addition, disk utilities that were not designated explicitly for the FAT32 file system will not be able to work with this disk. If you need to access this disk with other operating systems or older disk utilities, do not enable large drive support.
Do you wish to enable large disk support (Y/N).............? [Y]
If you want to use the FAT32 file system, press Y and then press ENTER. If you want to use the FAT16 file system, press N, and then press ENTER.
After you press ENTER, the following Fdisk Options menu is displayed:
1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed disk drive (this option is only available if
you have two physical hard disks in the computer)
Type 3, and then press ENTER. The following menu is displayed:
1. Delete Primary DOS Partition
2. Delete Extended DOS Partition
3. Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition
4. Delete Non-DOS Partition
Type 3, and then press ENTER.
The Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition screen is displayed with a chart that describes the attributes of your hard disk, as shown in the following example.
Drv Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
D: (User Defined) 2047 FAT16 100%
E: (User Defined) 2047 FAT16 100%
F: (User Defined) 2047 FAT16 100%
G: (User Defined) 2047 FAT16 100%
H: (User Defined) 2047 FAT32 17%
I: (User Defined) 1498 UNKNOWN 13%
Total Extended DOS Partition size is XXX Mbytes (1 MByte = 1048576 bytes).
WARNING! Data in a deleted Logical DOS Drive will be lost.
What drive do you want to delete..............................? [ ]
You must type the drive letter you want to delete in this space [ ]. Type the letter of the drive you want to delete, and then press ENTER.
You are then prompted to type the volume label of the drive if it has one.
NOTE: You must type the exact label shown (if any) or press ENTER if
none exists. If you type an incorrect label name, the following message
is displayed:
Volume label does not match. Enter Volume Label.................................?
[ ]
If you type the correct label, the following message is displayed:
Are you sure (Y/N)..........................? [ N ]
The default is N. You must type Y (yes) and press ENTER to delete the drive. The words "Drive deleted" are displayed in the chart beside the drive letter you deleted.
Continue with steps 3-6 until you have deleted all of the drives you want to delete. When you are finished, press ESC. If you remove all logical drives, a "No logical drives defined" message is displayed, along with a chart of drive letters that are changed or deleted. Press ESC to continue.
NOTE: If you want to resize the logical drive(s) by making them larger or smaller, this is the time to do it. If you want to remove the extended partition, go to step 11.
From the Fdisk Options menu, type 1 (Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive). From the Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive menu, type 3 (Create Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition), and then press ENTER. A "Verifying drive integrity" message is displayed with a percentage complete counter.
NOTE: You did not delete the extended partition, just the logical drive(s) within the extended partition. There is no need to remove the extended partition just to resize the logical drives. For example, if you have one logical drive in the extended partition and you want to make two logical drives, you first delete the logical drive and create two logical drives within the extended partition. You are still limited to the total space in the extended partition.
After the drive verification is complete, the following message is displayed:
Total Extended DOS Partition size is XXX Mbytes (1 MByte = 1048576
bytes)
Maximum space available for logical drive is XXX Mbytes (X%)
Enter logical drive size in Mbytes or percent of disk space (%)...[ ]
The maximum Mbytes available is the default, however, you can change this by typing the number for the partition size you want to create, and then pressing ENTER. Press ESC twice to quit Fdisk and return to a command prompt, and then go to step 11.
If you want to remove the extended MS-DOS partition, press ESC to return to the Fdisk Options dialog box. Type 3 (Delete DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive), and then press ENTER. Type 2 (Delete Extended DOS Partition), and then press ENTER.
The screen shows the current fixed disk drive and information regarding it. The extended partition is shown under the Type column.
Partition Status Type Volume Label
Mbytes System Usage
C: 1 A
PRI DOS (your label) 1200
FAT16 50%
2
EXT DOS (your label) 1200
UNKNOWN 50%
Total disk space is 2400 Mbytes (1 Mbyte = 1048576 bytes)
The following warning message is also displayed:
WARNING! Data in the deleted Extended DOS Partition will be lost.
Do you wish to continue (Y/N).....................? [ N ]
Press Y, and then press ENTER to delete the partition. The following
message is displayed:
Extended DOS Partition deleted
Press ESC to continue
NOTE: If you try to delete your extended MS-DOS partition before you
remove all of the logical drives, the following message is displayed:
Cannot delete Extended DOS Partition while logical drives exist.
You need to go back through steps 3-6, and then follow steps 9 and 10 to delete the extended MS-DOS partition.
You are now back at the Fdisk Options main screen. If you leave disk space unpartitioned on your hard disk, Windows may not display the full size of your hard disk, only the amount of space available for use.
IMPORTANT: After you change the Fdisk options or delete partitions, the data that was on the partition(s) is gone and cannot be retrieved. Be very sure you know what you are doing before attempting this procedure. If your plans are to start fresh or redo your current configuration, you should back up everything important to you before you use Fdisk.
If you choose to use the unpartitioned space on your hard disk, you need to format the drives. When you run Format.com successfully, the following message is displayed:
WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE X: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)?
Press Y, and then press ENTER to format the drive.
After the format is finished, the following message is displayed:
Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?
NOTE: This is an optional feature that you can use to type a name for the hard disk. You can either type an 11-character name for the drive, or leave it blank by pressing ENTER.
Repartitioning
and Formatting a Slave Hard Disk
If you want to add a second hard disk (slave drive) to your computer, you need to first make sure that the jumpers on both the master (original) and slave (new drive) are set according to the manufacturer's instructions so they can "talk" to the computer. Assuming that your hardware is installed correctly, use the following steps from your operating system (Windows 95, Windows 98, and so on):
Click Start, point to Programs, and then click MS-DOS.
At a command prompt, type fdisk, and then press ENTER. The following menu is displayed:
1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed disk drive (this option is only available if
you have two physical hard disks in the computer)
Enter choice: [ ]
Type 5, and then press ENTER. This moves from physical disk 1 (master) to physical disk 2 (slave).
From the Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive menu, type 2 (Create Extended DOS Partition), and then press ENTER. By making your slave drive an extended MS-DOS partition, your drive letters stay in order.
For example: If drive C also contains partition D, your new hard disk becomes D unless you set it up as an extended partition. If you skip step 4 and just create another primary MS-DOS partition for the slave drive, the new drive becomes drive D and what used to be drive D, changes to drive E.
You can partition the new drive to make other logical drives just as you did with the original master drive. If you have problems not "seeing" the new drive, you may need to add the following line to your Config.sys file:
lastdrive=?
NOTE: Where the question mark (?) should be greater than the last drive on the computer (including the CD-ROM drive).
After you finish using Fdisk, you need to format the new partitions to be able to use them. After you press ESC to quit Fdisk, restart your computer in Windows. To format your new partition(s), use the appropriate method.
For a FAT16 file system:
Double-click My Computer, right-click the newly created partition, click Format, click Full, and then click Start.
After the format is complete, click OK to close the dialog box.
For a FAT32 file system:
Click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, click Drive Converter (FAT32), and then click Next.
In the Drives box, click the drive you want to convert to the FAT32 file system.
Click Next, and then click OK.
Click Next, click Next, and then click Next again.
When the conversion is complete, click Finish.
NOTE: Do not use the /s switch as was done when drive C is set up. All you need to do is to format the drive(s) for use (for example, if you created two new drive letters, you need to format both drives).
Question: Why does Fdisk only partition 2 GB of space at a time?
Answer: If you are only able to partition 2 GB of space at a time, you may have pressed N when you were prompted to enable large disk support, or you may be running a version of Windows that does not have FAT32. If you are using Windows 95 or earlier, you must create multiple partitions to use the full drive size.
NOTE: If you have Windows 95 retail version, you cannot upgrade to Windows
95 OSR2. For additional information about Windows 95/98 versions, click
the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:
Q158238
How to Determine the Version of Windows 95/98 in Use
Question: I have software to break the 504-MB barrier. Should I use it?
Answer: Check with the software manufacturer before using any disk management software to ensure compatibility. Just remember that as long as you have a good back up of your hard disk, recovery is possible.
Question: I have a 1.6-GB hard disk and I want to install a new 6-GB hard disk. Can I copy the files from my 1.6-GB hard disk to the 6-GB hard disk or do I have to reinstall?
Answer: Yes, you can copy the Windows 95/98 installation from your old
hard disk to a new hard disk. For additional information about how to duplicate
your Windows 95/98 installation on a new hard disk, click the article number
below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q166172
Duplicating Windows 95/98 Installation to a New Hard Disk
Note that the method described in this article cannot be used to copy
Windows 95/98 installations to multiple computers. Microsoft only supports
the use of the standard Setup procedure as described in the Windows 95/98
product documentation for each computer on which Windows 95/98 is installed.