Maximum HD size for Win98SE

Question

Hello. I have a 30Gb HD in a machine running Win98SE. I am considering a 120gb drive, possibly internal, possibly external. This machine cannot be upgraded to XP. Question: How large of a partition will win98SE support? Followup question: If I install a USB2.0 card for a 120GB exterma; hard drive, will I have a problem? (Partitioning an external drive will not be an option, as I will primarily use the drive on a XP computer). Followup question #2: I am aware that there may be a bios limit in addition to the software limit. How can I find out what the bios limit is? Thank you.

volcano11 · Answer

In order to answer your questions we would need to know which model computer you have. Steve

Majestic · Answer

As far as the operating system you won't have any problems installing a drive under 137 gigs.  Anything over that size and you will have to consider partitioning the drive into smaller chunks as Windows 98 disk utilities like ScanDisk and Defrag may not work on a large partition of that size.  As for the BIOS limitations, as Steve mentioned, please post your Dell model number.

zerosnark · Answer

Thanks for the replies. Getting the computer model number will be require some research on my part. . .it was not my machine originally and the service tag sticker is damaged.

volcano11 · Answer

What does it say on the front of the case? Steve

Majestic · Answer

Or when booting it up go into the BIOS Setup.  The model number is listed on top of the BIOS page.

joat77 · Answer

Maxtor lists 128 Gig max for Win98SE and ME. Western Digital 137 Gigs.  Both say larger drives (128 or 137) may require an additional controller card.  These cards will plug into an available PCI slot and then the serial cable plugs into that for the HDD.  The card should run about 20 to 25 bucks.  Also that large a drive recommends partitioning as the OS may not be able to 'see' or work with the whole volume.  FDISK may not be the best tool for the partitioning in this case.  The new drive should come with software that allows splitting the drive up and transferring your existing OS and data from old drive to new.  If you get an OEM drive you will have to download this software from the drive mfg's website.

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