install problem NEED HELP ASAP!!!

[martinm]

i recently bought a WD 120Gb 8mb SE and i was trying to install win98 SE in my computer and ever since i bought it i was having problems installing the OS. in installing the OS, it went thru the tedious process of collecting data and after copying the installation files in my HDD it restarted (w/c is normal) then upon rebooting it says boot system failure. this is the first time i encountered this kind of problem. i know when installing win98 it should continue where it left off during the installation process but it didn't. i went thru the formatting and partitioning procedures using fdisk & format to clean my
HDD and the software included in the HDD (data lifeguard)and i chose the fat32 format. when i used the data lifeguard software and it went thru then all of a sudden when i tried installing the OS the prompt of win98 said about an NTFS partition and now i can't use fdisk 'coz fdisk says an error on the disk. what am i doing wrong? i have done the jumper settings WD have specified (master, cable select). one more thing when i use my old HDD from my previous computer, it runs great no problems just this new HDD i purchased. about the cables i have installed on IDE1 just the HDD and IDE2 both dvd-rom & cdrw. i need your help! thanks!

 

[eViktor]

Could be a bad drive. You could try this...

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Drive fitness test (used to be IBM, now Hitachi). It should work for WD drives too, or check the WD web site.

-evik

 

[martinm]

i don't think my new HDD is defective coz i tried using my old HDD to be master and my new HDD as slave and i tried installing winXP and it worked but the thing is i don't want my old HDD there so i reformatted my HDD again and then this happened... ok here's the exact error that occured when i tried installing win98 se in my new HDD - NO VALID FAT OR FAT32 PARTITION. IF YOU HAVE HPFS OR NTFS INSTALLED ON YOUR HARD DRIVE, YOU WILL NEED TO CREATE AN MS-DOS PARTITION TO SET UP WINDOWS.

BUT when i tried using fdisk to create an ms-dos partition fdisk gives out an error in disk...

 

[Toejam31]

When you encountered the boot system failure error, did you check in the BIOS to be sure that hard drive was the first bootable device? Did you remove the boot disk from the floppy drive? Is the Windows CD in good condition, and not scratched or damaged?

There's a conflict between the Data Lifeguard Tools and FDISK. The software installs EZ-BIOS. This portion of the utility will not allow proper partitioning with FDISK once it is in place ... even if it appears to work, Windows can't assign a drive letter to the partitions. Sometimes you also have to select which device is bootable with the WD Tools, as it overrides the normal BIOS settings.

Personally, I'd use the Tools to check the status of the hard drive. If you get an error message, make arrangements to RMA the drive at the WD <A HREF="http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/rmainfo.asp?custtype=end&lang=en" target="_new">website</A>, where you'll have a choice to have the drive immediately replaced (which requires a credit card for collateral) or to wait for the company to receive the old drive before shipping the replacement.

If the drive checks out as error-free, and if you have the S.M.A.R.T feature in the BIOS enabled (if this exists in your mainboard), which also reports no errors during the initial boot, then first I'd suggest using the tools to low level format (zero-out) the drive. Then I'd remove EZ-BIOS, (<A HREF="http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=X*N*5BEg&p_lva=&p_faqid=824&p_created=1037384345&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTgmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD1SZW1vdmUgRVpCaW9zJnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9NCZwX3Byb2RfbHZsMT04JnBfcHJvZF9sdmwyPTY1JnBfY2F0X2x2bDE9fmFueX4mcF9zb3J0X2J5PWRmbHQmcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li=" target="_new">instructions</A>) and use FDISK to create new partitions, with the primary being set as active. Be sure to transfer the system files with the /s switch during the format with the boot disk. You also might want to make sure that your <A HREF="http://www.mirrors.org/archived_software/www.bootdisk.com/original.htm" target="_new">boot disk</A> is up-to-date with the most recent copy of FDISK, or just download a newer <A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q263044" target="_new">version</A>, as older copies can have problems recognizing drives in excess of 64GB.

If you continue to have problems with disk, be sure that it is correctly identified in the BIOS. If not, you might need a BIOS flash before the drive can be properly identified and installed without errors. And it's also wise to use brand-new IDE cables when installing a new disk, as these cables (especially the connectors) are fairly delicate, and it doesn't take much to damage them.

Note: If you decide to keep EZ-BIOS, be advised that certain programs won't work correctly, due to the way the utility writes the partition tables, which might include Partition Magic, Drive Image, and third-party defragmenting programs like Diskeeper. The stuff is nasty, and should only be used for disk testing and low level formatting. If you don't absolutely need it, don't use it.

Toey

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[martinm]

thanks for the help. for your questions - yes the HDD is the first bootable disk. i removed the floppy and my win98 SE cd is in good condition. the only thing the bothers me is that in my old PC i could easily install win98 in my new system i can't (athlon xp 2500+ 333, msi delta-l mobo, 2x512 hyper x mems) i've read from the mobo's manual that win98 won't recognize mems more than 512Mb BUT would this cause a problem coz, correct me if i'm wrong, if the mems are higher than 512 windows will only recognize that not the 1Gb right? anyways i'll try your suggestions and hopefully it works... do you think there's a problem with my HDD? how come i was able to install XP in my new HDD the only thing is that i wanted my new HDD to run in my system not putting my old HDD and make a dual boot system... you know what i mean? i have used the ide cable that came with my HDD... how do i do a bios flash? with zeroing out the drive, i've seen that option in the data lifeguard disk - is that what you're saying a low level format to zero it out? what does zeroing out mean exactly? is it the same as formatting it? how do i get the most recent version of fdisk? should i just follow the link you provided?

thanks for all the help....

 

[Toejam31]

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.html?i=27" target="_new">What is the maximum amount of RAM for Windows?</A>

Normally, having this much RAM in a system won't cause a problem during the OS installation, but it's possible. And Windows can be very picky about memory timings, so temporarily setting the memory timing and Front Side Bus speeds in the BIOS to the default (or the safest settings) might be a good idea. The type and quality of the memory might also affect the installation, so you might want to use a decent utility to check for errors, like <A HREF="http://www.memtest86.com/" target="_new">Memtest86</A>.

Yes, there could be a problem with your hard drive, but you won't know for sure until it's tested. I've sent a few back that were damaged in shipping.

BIOS flash: You'll need to check out the mainboard manufacturer's <A HREF="http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_list.php" target="_new">website</A> for the necessary information.

For a good explanation of what it means to low level format a disk, check out the following link:

<A HREF="http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/ata_llfmt_what.html" target="_new">Low Level Format</A>

The links I provided in the previous post point toward current boot disks and the latest version of FDISK, which is pretty much why I included them. Why make you search, when I already knew where to go? :lol:

By the way, installing the second hard drive doesn't mean you <i>must</i> have a dual-boot system. Two hard drives doesn't make a dual-boot ... that requires two operating systems.

You could always temporarily install the new drive as a slave, image the primary partition on the older drive that contains the OS, and then transfer the image to the new drive, after making a partition of the proper size. Images can only be installed in partitions that are as large or larger than the original partition that contained the files. Once this was done, you could either swap the hard drive positions on the cable (or use cable select, which forces the BIOS to look for a boot record regardless of the drive position on the cable). Then you could format the older drive, and use it for whatever purpose you prefer. You don't <i>have</i> to leave Win98 on it.

My preferred imaging program: <A HREF="http://www.powerquest.com/driveimage/" target="_new">Drive Image</A>, and my <A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=39&t=184&s=1fbb45a655ff3355c2e643e9c1908e2a" target="_new">FAQ</A> on how to use it.

Something to seriously consider .... dumping Win98. It's simply a huge waste of memory and resources to run a system with a gigabyte of RAM and still use Win9x. If that was my computer, there's absolutely no way that I'd be using Win98 as my primary OS. At the very least, I'd be running Windows 2000. The <i>only</i> way that I'd be using Win98 is in a dual-boot scenario, simply to run older games that have compatibility issues with a modern OS.

Toey

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