where's my hard-drive space gone??

[cavey]

Hi
After re-installing Windows 98SE, my 10Gb hard-drive appeared as only a 1.99Gb drive.
Think this was due to it using FAT16, so converted to FAT32 but there's been no change to the drive size.
I'm not having any luck with fdisk.
So, how do I now restore my drive to full capacity? I think it's still seeing a partition, this is driving me mad!

[Sylvander]

Hello cavey and welcome to the PC Guide. :)

Fear not, for this should be a routine matter to fix [famous last words] and...
1. You could have some fun and learn a few things.
2. Unless you'd rather just get the thing back up and running A.S.A.P.

Which approach do you prefer?
You need to asses what you are capable of to decide which.

Regardless of which, you should download your HDD manufacturers' utility floppy [we will probably use that later (perhaps not yet) to partition & format rather than (fdisk.exe & format.com) a Win98 Startup floppy].

Next question
3. Would you prefer to run the "Setup.exe" program from the Windows CD, or would you be prepared to do as I suggest, which is...
a) To make at least 2 partitions on the HDD with C: about 2 to 3 GB in size.
b) To copy the Windows installation files to a partition other than C: and run the installation from there, then leave the files in place [can you afford to use the space?]

[Paul Komski]

If you just want to non-destructively resize an existing partition use BootIt-NG from http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html

The same utility can do all the partitioning tasks you require as well as any imaging should your require it. Read the pdf file in the download or post back if you want instructions on how to use it.

How did you convert FAT16 to FAT32 because if you used Partition Magic it should be able to do any repartitoning/conversions/resizing.

[cavey]

Hi
Thanks for the posts, much appreciated.
time is definitely pressing but I'll try anything and always willing to learn.
never dealt with partitions before, I get the feeling they're great once they've been set up!
so, yes I'm happy to split up the HDD - It's mainly for music and pictures, I've just got myself a digi camera.
I'll be thankful for any (completely necessary) help/hints.
will check that website out too.
cheers.

[Sylvander]

I have been hanging back since last night hoping that Paul would show you how to use BootIt-NG, since that seems like the best of all ideas, but I have no experience of using that.
I'll just proceed anyway.
Making a backup before you do anything else seems like a good idea, but do you have any medium on which to store backups? Like another HDD [internal or external], or do you have an optical rewriter [CD-RW or DVD-RW]?
Since your HDD is only 10 GB, might this be a good time to buy a larger [80 GB or 100 GB] HDD, and use your older HDD for holding backups?
Or would you rather not upgrade?
Prefer to use Bootit-NG to rearrange the partitions and continue with the present hardware?
How old is the PC?
Any idea how much HDD capacity can be seen by the BIOS?
If you decided to go for a bigger HDD and the BIOS cannot see its full capacity, then you'd need to decide whether the use of a "Dynamic Drive Overlay" is ok by you, or whether you'd rather buy and fit an IDE Controller Card to run your new larger HDD.
I'm running Win98SE from a new 80 GB ATA/133 HDD connected to a new ATA/133 IDE Controller Card.
Notice a worthwhile improvement in speed wherever the HDD is used.
Fitted the old 8 GB HDD into a USB connected external HDD enclosure and use that to hold copies of my backup image files, and family photo's that need to be kept safe [I copy those from there onto a CD-RW disk also].
You could do that, or just use it internally on one of your IDE slots.

[Paul Komski]

You didn't explain how you converted FAT16 to FAT32?

Backup any important data onto floppies/pendrives/CD/etc.
To use BiNG - Unzip the Download and use it to make a bootable floppy or CD.
Boot to that boot disk and Cancel the first Screen to enter Maintenance Mode.
Enter Partition Work and highlight your partition.
Choose Resize to Resize it.

Alternatively highlight any free space and create another partition or partitions in that area. Choose FAT32 for the format.

There is good manual downloaded with BiNG.

Addendum
[If you were starting over and wanted partitions larger than 2GB you would need to ensure that when fdisking you chose to have large drive support; then the partitions would be fomatted FAT32 and could be larger than 2GB].

[cavey]

I have seen the light.
I'll get a bigger HDD and this one will be a back-up, maybe even before Christmas. All my files are currently backed-up to CD.
I used the FAT32 convertor in System Tools for the conversion, it didn't like my Norton Antivirus but once I disabled that it was okay.
The PC is 5 years old (I'm struggling on!), formatted and reinstalled Win98SE earlier this year, Gateway Athlon650.
The BIOS can see the whole drive and large disk support is enabled I think.
If I don't hear a wah-waaahing in the background in the next 10 mins I'll see if I can do something with that download.
Thanks again.

[Sylvander]

"The PC is 5 years old (I'm struggling on!)"
Same here. :)

Probably wise to keep the new HDD below the magic size [137 GB] or 48-bit LBA is needed in the BIOS and the OS.

[Paul Komski]

large disk support is enabled I think
This choice only needs to be made when partitioning with fdisk; it allows fdisk to make partitions larger than 2Gig.