primary DOS partition or an extended DOS partition?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DJW
  • Start date Start date
D

DJW

I want to put a slave hard drive into a computer that's master drive
has windows 98SE on it. Should I create it as a primary DOS partition
or an extended DOS partition?
Also as long as I am asking about it what is a logical DOS drive
within an extended DOS partition?????
 
I want to put a slave hard drive into a computer that's master drive
has windows 98SE on it. Should I create it as a primary DOS partition
or an extended DOS partition?
Click to expand...

I think and extended partition only comes *after* you create a primary
partition. ie, if you already have a primary, the next partition you
create becomes the extended partition. This is based primarily what I
remember seeing when using Partition Magic.
Also as long as I am asking about it what is a logical DOS drive
within an extended DOS partition?????
Click to expand...

Sorry, have no clue here.
 
I want to put a slave hard drive into a computer that's master drive
has windows 98SE on it. Should I create it as a primary DOS partition
or an extended DOS partition?
Also as long as I am asking about it what is a logical DOS drive
within an extended DOS partition?????
Click to expand...

Master / Slave, (the original way), may be more or less easier via
jumpering / routing for Cable Select, (more of recent). Depends on
how different HD manuf names coexist, their age, and to some extent,
the BIOS config;- SATA forgoes any such necessity.

BIOS then usually will assign the drive ordering for a sequential
chain to boot. I prefer a software boot arbitrator, RANISH, but would
have to look more closely for BIOS interaction/restrictions if any.

The DOS thingy is basically three staged -- 1) DOS allows up to 4
primary drives, 2) in an extended partition that contains 3) logical
drives you then create. (When all else fails FDISK /MBR may be a
quick fix, or the manufacturer's drive maintenance utilities, which
can be exhaustive).

3rd-party partitioning software is the only way to go, considering
when obfuscated-challenged people actually had to do those sort of
things, before "radio dial" GUI thingies took care of having to
carefully read technical specifications. That's back then and now.
Now being the age of monstrously magnificent drive sizes, which as-
originally written "DOS software" cannot handle. To work in
FAT16/20/32 bit increments (98-speak) on some mega-terabyte drives is
doable, if you know drive specs and how to get around with curveballs,
the emphasis being not with just any old software.
 
In message <[email protected]> Charlie
Hoffpauir said:
I think and extended partition only comes *after* you create a primary
partition. ie, if you already have a primary, the next partition you
create becomes the extended partition. This is based primarily what I
remember seeing when using Partition Magic.
Click to expand...

While this is often how it was done, there's no particular reason to do
it this way beyond convention.

If you want to dual boot OSes without a bootloader, you'll need multiple
primary partitions, each one containing it's own OS.

As originally designed, you can have up to 4 partitions per drive, or up
to 3 primary partitions and one extended partition which can contain one
or more logical partitions.
 
Back
Top