I am upgrading my old(1998) PC by installing larger hard drives.
A 20GB Slave drive for my files which partitioned and formatted OK and is installed and working.
However a 15mb master drive has a problem. It partitioned and formatted OK (1 primary dos partition using all the 15mb.
Because the PC was purchased second hand, I didn’t get a valid windows system disc, but I have always survived because I have a number of upgrade discs and an original MS-Dos 6.22 which is my start point( and may be the problem)
I start off with MS-Dos 6.22, then Win 3.1,then Win95 upgrade, then win98 upgrade, then win98 SE ugrade. Surprisingly, they all install OK and my PC boots up.
The problem is when I go into “My Computer” it shows C drive , not as 15 GB but only 1.99 gb with 411 mb used !! Can anyone suggest what has happened to the 15mb? Even when I run FDISK it only shows a drive size of 2045 mb.
The drive is listed as MS-Dos 6 (C) with extra folders “DOS” “,Windows” and “System”.
I think the problem is caused by installing MS-DOS 6 because it reconfigures the disc, but if I install win 3.1 first,, when it boots up it comes up with the message that it is not compatible with the dos, but if I install MS-DOS 6 first, then win 3.1
it boots up OK.
Thank Goodness I kept my old disc!
ANY IDEAS?

It's because the drive was partitioned as FAT16. (Under DOS 6.x?) 2GB is the max partition size for FAT16. The disk should be partitioned under FAT32, or, choosing Large Disk Support when entering FDISK, the tool used to partition disks. This means using the fdisk.exe which came with 98, (or 95C (OSR2)).

If there is any data on the disk that you want, remove/save it elsewhere BEFORE you run any destructive aspects of fdisk. Once run to repartition, all data is gone.

Thanks Dan, It seems we are on the right track, but somewhere it is not working out.
I formatted the slave drive using FDISK from Win98 setup disk OK in FAT32.
I did the same with the new C drive, and that formatted OK in FAT32. But when I started to install MS-DOS 6.22 it came up with the message "configuring disc to suit MS-DOS".
I assume that it destroys my previous format and this is why it configures in FAT16 and it restricts the size of disk.
Is it possible to correct this now or do I have to go back to square one and use a different method?
I really appreciate your help.

Formatting in FAT32 was correct in order to read more than 2Gb on the drive. However, I don't think that DOS will be able to use a FAT32 partition as it has no idea what FAT32 is - that file system hadn't been invented when DOS 6.2 was written.

I think your best solution would be to get hold of a Windows 98SE CD/licence and start off of that. They're very cheap second-hand - let me know if you want some help finding one.

However, I was a pretty young novice when I was setting up DOS and Windows 3.x - Dan may be able to suggest another solution

Thanks DJ,
If Dan has a better idea I would prefer to try it, but as a last solution I guess a valid disc/licence would solve the problem! I don't know what you call cheap, but the last one I saw on offer at a computer fair was around £70. So if you know where I can get one a bit cheaper, your help would be welcome
Regards

£70? For a new copy, maybe, but you can get a second-hand one for much less than that. If there are no other suggestions, post a reply to this thread and I'll put up a second-hand copy on the D-A-L Trader auction site for you

~If~ you really have to go by this long route, use a 98SE boot floppy * (see below) to boot the machine. Use fdisk to clear all partitions from the disk. (Save any data from it beforehand.) Exit thereby saving the changes, and reboot. Open fdisk again and say NO to large disk support. Make one primary partition. (2GB) Leave the rest of the disk alone. Exit/save, switch to the DOS 6.x install/setup floppy and reboot. Type in fdisk/status and you should see the C: partition listed. Format the new C: partition and install 6.x, then 3.1, then 95, ............ up to 98SE. Reboot as necessary.

When you get 98SE running, reboot into DOS and run fdisk (which should be upgraded with all the upgrade installs) choose Large Disk Support, and create an EXTENDED partition. Then create logical drives within this extended partition. When you ESC out of fdisk, type EXIT at the C:\> command prompt. Windows should restart. When done, shut down normally. When you next start/reboot into windows normally, open Explorer (or My Computer) and the drives should be listed. Right click on a drive and format it. This will ready it for use.

* The above bootdisk image file is a self extracting file and needs to be executed (run) from Windows in order to create the actual startup diskette. This is the same as the bootdisk which 98SE creates. This file will format the floppy, write the files to the floppy, then verify the file write, so it'll take a minute to create the bootdisk.

This bootdisk creates a RAMDRIVE in memory to contain DOS system tools, thus it will move your "normal" CDROM device/drive letter "up" one level. Watch for the assigned CDROM device letter near the end of the boot process. (If your CDROM is normally E:, it will be F: when booting with this bootdisk.)

Thanks again Dan.
I'm going to give it a try, just for the heck of it! But you may not hear from me again for a couple of weeks! Unless it's successful of course!

Message for Dan!
I have had some success and have installed Win98SE
I now have listed on "My Computer" MS-DOS6(C); User Files(D)(Slave Drive); System(E)(new logical partition formatted); CD(F)
In Windows explorer listed the same except System (E) is listed twice!
I don't really understand what you mean in the notes on the boot disc and when I created the partitions I booted up with the Boot disc in A:/ drive.
I think I may have gone wrong here because you are talking about running disc from windows to create actual startup disc. And you have lost me in the last paragraph.
I think I may need a bit of tweaking at this point!
By the way I have installed my old drive to get back on line!
Sorry to be a pain
Regards

".... have installed Win98SE
I now have listed on "My Computer" MS-DOS6(C); User Files(D)(Slave Drive); System(E)(new logical partition formatted); CD(F)"

First of all, do you now have all of your hard disk accounted for if you add up all the partitions on it? (The total won't be the exact size of the hard disk, but it should be close.)

"... Windows explorer listed the same except System (E) is listed twice!"

If E is listed twice, it could be a hiccup in Explorer, I've seen it happen a number of times. Rebooting/restarting usually clears it up. If it doesn't, open an MSDOS Prompt window and type in fdisk/status and hit Enter. Post this information back here.

"By the way I have installed my old drive to get back on line!"

Isn't internet access working under the "new" drive/98SE O/S (Operating System)?

What O/S is on this "old" drive? 98SE?