Can't upgrade my hard disk to bigger capacity

[pcho]

My problem is I can't upgrade my existing HD to a bigger capacity. I have a second-hand 2.5GB HD which I want to install in my old ACER 486 DX2 machine to replace the original 250MB HD. I have tried several methods to install a
Win95 OS into the 2.5GB HD but failed (I have formatted the 2.5GB HD using fdisk and the works):-

i. I created a boot-up disk from the existing 250MB HD which currently has a win95 OS. I then removed the old HD and connected up the new HD. I tried loading the win95 from a folder in the new HD. It won't respond!

ii. I then tried to copy all the files (log stock & barrel) from the 250MB HD onto the new HD via a third party computer and then connected up the new HD onto the 486DX2 and then re-started the computer. It didn't work either.

iii. I then downloaded a win95 start-up disk from the internet and tried loading win95 again and it didn't work.

I followed all the instruction from Microsoft Support to load win95 into a HD with no operating system and it didn't work either.

I have sent the computer to a computer shop to install the new HD but they too face the same problem that I have and has return the computer to me. Will appreciate any suggestion?

[Paleo Pete]

First, to use the drive at all BIOS must recognize it. With a 486 you might or might not have an autodetect option, if not you'll have to set the drive parameters manually.

Second, the 486 may have a BIOS drive size limitation of 2GB, and depending on your version of win95 it may only use FAT16, which also can only recognize 2GB partitions.

If it uses an onboard IDE Controller chances are it will use a drive up to at least 2GB, possibly larger. If it has an IDE Controller card, it will never use larger than a 540MB drive, no matter what you do. Need to know that, check the ribbon cable on the drive, does it connect directly to the motherboard or to a card? If it's a card you can't use larger than 540MB, period. Unless it's an EIDE card...

The Acer might also recognize only certain drives. Some older computers did not recognize every drive made, it depends on the BIOS that was used.

Check Acer's website, see if they have any info on your computer, and try the drive manufacturer's website, they should have installation software that may help.

Sorry I can't be more encouraging, too many variables with the 486 for me to know exactly what to tell you...with those old things you can have any of several different hardware setups, and how you deal with hard drive issues depends largely on the hardware involved. From the way your post sounds, I think you might be dealing with a 540MB drive size limit nad probably won't be able to use anything larger. Check the controller, maybe I'll have a better idea what the problem is. Onboard or IDE card will make a big difference.

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[Montag]

I'm not sure if I can help, but I had a similar problem with an older Pentium computer. It came with a 1Gb HD and I wanted to add a 4GB drive. The bios would only recognize a drive of ~2GB or smaller. I was told by the tech support for the PC that I couldn't do anything about the bios, but I could add an EIDE card (Promise Technology, Inc.) that would recognize the larger drive.

[This message has been edited by Montag (edited 04-09-2001).]

[Paleo Pete]

Yep, Montag is correct, I forgot about that option. EIDE card should work, they were pretty popular at one time, I had one in my 486. Don't know if it was made by Promise, but it worked perfect, never had any trouble with the drive while I used it.

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[tk421]

where did you fdisk/format the drive? on the computer in question, or another computer? I ask because if you created a fat32 partition, and if you are using fat16 (which is more than likely), then you won't be able to see the partition. make sure the drive has a fat16 partition (which also means your partition can be no larger than 2GB).

tk

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[Paleo Pete]

Good point tk421, I mentioned FAT16 in my post, but didn't fully explain why it might be an issue.

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[pcho]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I would like to provide more info on the problem, yes my bios has been enabled to recognised HD capacity greater than 540MB. I realise there is a 2GB limitation and also the FAT16/FAT32 implications. I actually fdisk the 2.5GB HD using 2 methods, one is from a startup disk where I fdisk from the floppy A drive and the other method, I used a third party computer. On both occasions I ensured it was FAT16 system. To overcome the 2GB problem, I actually partitioned the disk into 2 drives each less than 2GB. By the way, the ACER has no problem recognizing the 2.5GB HD, it just won't allow me to load a win95 operating system onto it either via a start-up disk or through a win95 folder copied onto the 2.5GB HD from a third party computer. I will try to check up on the EIDE card.