Formatting a 200GB hard disk using FAT32

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tilman J Schultz
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Tilman J Schultz

Hi there,


I am trying to format an additional 200GB hard drive using the FAT32 file
system.
I have split the drive into four partitions, 2GB, 66GB, 66GB, 65.5GB.
I am using a WIN2K Pro computer to format the drive.


Every time I try to format the partitions, I get a message that: " Volume
Size is too big to format", or "Formatting of chosen volume failed".

I know that large partition sizes are no problem with NTFS, but the computer
that the hard drive will be running with is only running OS/2 and Win98, and
therefore I cannot use NTFS.

Is there a maximum partition size for FAT32 and is there a maximum hard disk
limit for WIN98?
And what can I do to circumvent it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Have a nice weekend,


Tilman
 
Tilman J Schultz said:
Hi there,


I am trying to format an additional 200GB hard drive using the FAT32 file
system.
I have split the drive into four partitions, 2GB, 66GB, 66GB, 65.5GB.
I am using a WIN2K Pro computer to format the drive.


Every time I try to format the partitions, I get a message that: " Volume
Size is too big to format", or "Formatting of chosen volume failed".

I know that large partition sizes are no problem with NTFS, but the computer
that the hard drive will be running with is only running OS/2 and Win98, and
therefore I cannot use NTFS.

Is there a maximum partition size for FAT32 and is there a maximum hard disk
limit for WIN98?
And what can I do to circumvent it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Have a nice weekend,

Tilman
Click to expand...

Have you applied SP3 or SP4 to your Win2K?

Win2K has (or at least had) an artificial limit (32GB) to the size
of FAT32 volumes it can format. This, presumably, to "encourage"
people to use NTFS. I read somewhere this limitation was removed
in SP4 (or was it SP3?), but I could be mistaken about that.

Rick
 
Rick said:
Have you applied SP3 or SP4 to your Win2K?

Win2K has (or at least had) an artificial limit (32GB) to the size
of FAT32 volumes it can format. This, presumably, to "encourage"
people to use NTFS. I read somewhere this limitation was removed
in SP4 (or was it SP3?), but I could be mistaken about that.

Rick
Click to expand...
Hi Rick,

yes, am running SP4 - despite Reservations about DRM invasion. Still, SP4
only lets me create 32GB Partitions. So I now created (8!) 32GB Partitions.
I guess this is the best I can do right now for my buddy.
I am running NTFS myself, which, of course, is easier. But my buddy needs
FAT32...
 
Tilman J Schultz said:
yes, am running SP4 - despite Reservations about DRM invasion. Still, SP4
only lets me create 32GB Partitions. So I now created (8!) 32GB Partitions.
I guess this is the best I can do right now for my buddy.
I am running NTFS myself, which, of course, is easier. But my buddy needs
FAT32...
Click to expand...

If you can get ahold of a Win98 boot disk, you can use the Win98
versions of FDISK and Format to create these huge FAT32 partitions.
Check at www.bootdisk.com, you may find something usable there.
 
Hi, Tilman.

The 32 GB partition size limit on formatting FAT32 is a permanent feature of
both Win2K and WinXP. Larger partitions (up to at least 127 GB) can be
formatted by other operating systems, such as Win9x/ME. After formatting by
the other OS, Win2K/XP can happily use the whole partition.

See these pages from the online versions of the Win2K Pro and WinXP Pro
Resource Kits:
File Systems
http://www.microsoft.com/windows200...techinfo/reskit/en-us/prork/prdf_fls_pxjh.asp

Size Limitations in NTFS and FAT File Systems
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp

RC
 
So I can get someone with XP or Me to make, say, 2 partitions and then I can
run it on Win98?
 
I am kind of confused by your question. Why don't you use the PC that has
(or will have) W98 to partition the drive? Maybe my instructions for
installing W98 (which includes fdisk and format) will help:
http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html Another option--since
the PC is going to be a dual boot, get this boot manager/partitioning
program (I think it will handle OS/2):

BootIt Next Generation is available from: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/
and it does partitioning, makes a compressed image, does many other
partitioning chores and is a boot manager. It is not quite as easy to use
as Partition Magic but it is half the cost and has more features. Unlike
the crippled PMagic demo, BING is a *full function* demo you can try for
free for 30 days. The web site has a lot of support articles.


--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo
 
George Hester said:
The largest FAT32 can be is around 30GB.
Click to expand...

NOT TRUE!!! Win2000 and WinXP will not create a FAT32 partition larger
than 32GB, since in those systems NTFS is available and is a *much*
better choice for large partitions. But Win95b, Win98, and WinME will
create FAT32 partitions as large as you like. Win2000 and WinXP will
happily use these huge FAT32 partitions.
 
Yes. I saw that after. Thought it was a Physical limitation of the File System. That was my understanding. I stand corrected. Why it is this way I don't agree with what you say but hey if it can be done then do it. I thought Partition Magic would barf at making a FAT32 partiton larger then 32GB. But hey learn something new everyday.
 
W95 systems have a problem with a partition of over 32 gb--maybe that is
what you were thinking about.

Windows 95 Does Not Support Hard Disks Larger Than 32 GB 246818
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=246818

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

Yes. I saw that after. Thought it was a Physical limitation of the File
System. That was my understanding. I stand corrected. Why it is this way
I don't agree with what you say but hey if it can be done then do it. I
thought Partition Magic would barf at making a FAT32 partiton larger then
32GB. But hey learn something new everyday.
 
Tim Slattery said:
NOT TRUE!!! Win2000 and WinXP will not create a FAT32 partition larger
than 32GB, since in those systems NTFS is available and is a *much*
better choice for large partitions. But Win95b, Win98, and WinME will
create FAT32 partitions as large as you like. Win2000 and WinXP will
happily use these huge FAT32 partitions.
Click to expand...

Not true for Win95B - 32 gb is the maximum. Win98, 98SE, and Me are
all okay for FAT32 partitions up to 128 binary gigabytes. Beyond that
Scandisk and Defrag will not work on the partitions.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
Ron Badour said:
Not quite right Tim--fat 32 is limited to partitions of 127.53 gb or
smaller.

Limitations of FAT32 File System
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=184006
Click to expand...

But that's not what it says.

<QUOTE>
The maximum possible number of clusters on a volume using the FAT32
file system is 268,435,445. With a maximum of 32 KB per cluster with
space for the file allocation table (FAT), this equates to a maximum
disk size of approximately 8 terabytes (TB).
</QUOTE>

It then says that the Scandisk tool that comes with Win95 and Win98
cannot scan a FAT32 partition larger than 127.53GB (I assume that's
binary GB, but the article doesn't explicitly say). That's a
limitation in the 16-bit implementation of Scandisk, NOT in FAT32.
 
Hi Tim,

Tim Slattery said:
<QUOTE>
The maximum possible number of clusters on a volume using the FAT32
file system is 268,435,445. With a maximum of 32 KB per cluster with
space for the file allocation table (FAT), this equates to a maximum
disk size of approximately 8 terabytes (TB).
</QUOTE>
Click to expand...

Apples and oranges--this is comment is about the hard drive size, not
partition size.
It then says that the Scandisk tool that comes with Win95 and Win98
cannot scan a FAT32 partition larger than 127.53GB (I assume that's
binary GB, but the article doesn't explicitly say). That's a
limitation in the 16-bit implementation of Scandisk, NOT in FAT32.
Click to expand...

I see what you are saying but you have to look at any "limiting factors"
because in reality, those factors dictate what can and cannot be done.
Examples:

W95 is limited to hard drives of 32 gb or less but people are quick to point
out that larger than 32 gb drives work. While this may be true, they also
face catostrophic failure and loss of data when certain conditions are met
so the W95 architecture becomes a limiting factor.

FDisk does not work correctly on hard drives greater than 64 gb so that is a
limiting factor. MS issued a hot fix which overcomes the 64 gb problem;
however, the hot fix is not supported on drives greater than 137 gb so that
is a limiting factor.

Scandisk is an essential disk maintenance tool and it will not work on a
partition that is larger than 127.53 gb. What sense is there in creating a
larger partition (if it is even possible--I don't have a drive big enough to
experiment on) if you cannot maintain it?
--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo
 
Ron Badour said:
Hi Tim,



Apples and oranges--this is comment is about the hard drive size, not
partition size.
Click to expand...

I don't think so, this paragraph is talking about maximum *partition*
size.
I see what you are saying but you have to look at any "limiting factors"
because in reality, those factors dictate what can and cannot be done.
Examples:

W95 is limited to hard drives of 32 gb or less but people are quick to point
out that larger than 32 gb drives work. While this may be true, they also
face catostrophic failure and loss of data when certain conditions are met
so the W95 architecture becomes a limiting factor.
Click to expand...

No argument.
FDisk does not work correctly on hard drives greater than 64 gb so that is a
limiting factor. MS issued a hot fix which overcomes the 64 gb problem;
however, the hot fix is not supported on drives greater than 137 gb so that
is a limiting factor.
Click to expand...

The Win98 Fdisk doesn't work on drives larger than 64GB, yes. And MS
made available a fixed Fdisk that does.
Scandisk is an essential disk maintenance tool and it will not work on a
partition that is larger than 127.53 gb. What sense is there in creating a
larger partition (if it is even possible--I don't have a drive big enough to
experiment on) if you cannot maintain it?
Click to expand...

I fully agree with that. Also, many machines running Win98 will have a
BIOS that won't handle a drive larger than - what is it, 138GB or
something? FAT32 can *in theory* handle a partition as large as 8TB.
In practice, it's not a good choice even when you get to the 100GB
range. You're much better off going with NTFS (if it's available) or
creating smaller partitions.
 
The real reason the limit is 127.5GB has to do with the ide interface.
It is not only partition size -it is also the drive size. Older system used
32 bit addressing (actually 28 in bios) thus they cannot read more than
127.5 GB (or 137GB depending on definitions).

To overcome this you either need a bios update if available or a separate
IDE card with bios that can handle it. The newer motherboards supports
extended interrupt 13 addressing (48 bits).

Now, the second issue would be the operating system itself.
Win95/win98/winME/WinNT does not support 48 bit addressing.

WinXP SP1 does. (as does win2000 with the proper service pack)
 
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