Serious help needed here...

[hardcodder]

Hello there,

I really hope someone can help me out with my problem. I don't know if this is the correct forum, so please forgive me if i posted in the wrong one.

I have a gigabyte kt266A mobo. 3 partitions were made on the 40gb HD (C, D, and E) with Windows 98SE installed on C: (yes, it's an old setup). Later i wanted to add another, bigger HD (160gb) and install XP on it (make it a dual boot system). The second HD was installed on the 2nd IDE channel as a master ( i work with audio so i wanted as quick transfers as possible). I also wanted 8 partitions on that 2nd HD. Programs would only be installed on the first partition of each disc, all the rest of the partitions would only contain audio files to be streamed from disk.
The technician that did the installation did not use Fdisk to create the partitions before he begun the XP installation but instead he created them while installing XP. As a result, when i boot from XP i see things the way i would expect them:

C - 1st partition of HD #1
D - 2nd partition of HD #1
E - 3rd partition of HD #1
F - dvd drive
G - dvd drive
H - 1st partition of HD #2
.
.
.
O - 8th partition of HD #2

But when i boot from win98se i got:

C - 1st partition of HD #1
D - 1st partition of HD #2
E - 2nd partition of HD #1
F - 3rd partition of HD #1
G - 2nd partition of HD #2
H - 3rd partition of HD #2
.
.
.
L - 7th partition of HD #2
M - dvd drive
N - dvd drive

First observation, win98se do not see the 8th partition of the 2nd HD (norton ghost won't, either) maybe because DOS and 98SE reach the size-limit they can read? Can anyone explain that?

Second, everything works fine. Both drives are fat32. Everything works flawlessly... Until now, that i need more space. I can either add a third HD or replace one. Do i need a PCI board to add another HD? In that case, it worries me that it might create a bottleneck since both that HD and the audio card will share the same bus.
I could be wrong, please let me know what you think.

I think it is better if i choose to replace one HD. I have ghost-image backups for the OS partitions, so i would have thought that all i need is replace the 98SE a disk and then restore image. The problem is that (as am told) if i replace the first HD with another one then it will not be a dual boot system anymore, they (technicians) told me that the new first disc will not contain any information about another OS (XP) being on the second HD.

Is that true?

If so, then would the only thing left to do be that i will need to reinstall XP on the 2nd HD?

I wouldn't want to reinstall the XP partition - i've spend too much time tweaking it to get it where it is now
But...
what if, say, I replace the 1st HD, make the same number of partitions on it, then just install win98se on it, then re-install XP (on the first partition of the 2nd disk) and when the istallation is over, i choose to RESTORE BOTH the 98se ghost-image to the 1st (new) HD and the XP ghost image to the 1st partition of the 2nd HD (where it originally was)...????
What then?
Would i end up with everything the way they are now, but with a new HD?
Should't all my programs work the way they work now?
Am i correct in my assumptions or am i simply... wrong?

If i am wrong, then the only other way to avoid re-installations would be to replace the 2nd disk with an even bigger one, make the same number of partitions (do i have to?) and then just load the XP Ghost image. THAT should work, right?
Right?!?!

Please let me know what you think. Any (and i mean ANY) kind of advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read all this.
Kind Regards.

 

[Zoron]

If it's at all possible, I'd ditch 98 and convert all my partitions to NTFS. Ask yourself if you really need 98.

I'd replace the 40GB drive with something larger rather than buy another hard drive... ghost the drive over if there's anything valuable on it.

As for the "disappearing" partition, I'd check to make sure it was formatted FAT32 and not NTFS... if it's NTFS, Win98 will not see it. That would be the only explanation I could offer at the moment.

But, if you're happy with the way XP runs on your rig, I'd really consider ditching 98SE and going with XP exclusively... you'll really be much happier with NTFS... FAT32 corrupts so much more easily.

 

[hardcodder]

If it's at all possible, I'd ditch 98 and convert all my partitions to NTFS. Ask yourself if you really need 98..

All partitions (even XP) is FAT32. The point is to be able to access the sound files on the 2 HD's, from anywhere, without having to have to recover first if something bad happens.

I'd replace the 40GB drive with something larger rather than buy another hard drive... ghost the drive over if there's anything valuable on it.

Even if i wanted to do that, i would still have the same questions as my original post. What you propose is not different from what i mentioned. The question still remains unanswered.

As for the "disappearing" partition, I'd check to make sure it was formatted FAT32 and not NTFS... if it's NTFS, Win98 will not see it. That would be the only explanation I could offer at the moment..

No, like i said, everything is FAT32. The problem probably lies in win98's innability to handle large space.

But, if you're happy with the way XP runs on your rig, I'd really consider ditching 98SE and going with XP exclusively... you'll really be much happier with NTFS... FAT32 corrupts so much more easily.

Yes, i'm happy with the way XP runs, but i can't do that, for reasons i already mentioned.

Thank you for your reply, anyway. Any further advice (from anyone) on the issues is greatly appreciated.

 

[hardcodder]

Anyone?

 

[Zoron]

No, like i said, everything is FAT32. The problem probably lies in win98's innability to handle large space.

How large is this partition? Win98 should be able to access partitions up to at least 137GB in size with FAT32... I don't believe it was upgraded like XP was to see partitions larger than that. Seeing that you have 8 partitions on that drive, I doubt you've reached Win98's partition size limit. Perhaps when you get beyond 137GB, the partitions are no longer readable... I don't know... I just don't bother with 98 anymore.

You didn't provide a good reason why you couldn't ditch 98 altogether and convert your partitions to NTFS. Back up the data you need, and go for it. What software are you running that won't work on XP? Unless you have absolute need for 98, let it go... you'll be happier in the long run.

 

[hardcodder]

Perhaps when you get beyond 137GB, the partitions are no longer readable... I don't know...

That's what i think the issue is.

[quote="Zoron]

You didn't provide a good reason why you couldn't ditch 98 altogether and convert your partitions to NTFS. Back up the data you need, and go for it. What software are you running that won't work on XP? Unless you have absolute need for 98, let it go... you'll be happier in the long run.

It's not a matter of software. The reason i want it there is because it gives me instant access to my soundfiles regardless of whether xp works or not.
I was once showing my work to a client when there was a power problem and caused some glitch to xp. I only had to restart and boot from 98 to continue - instead of waiting 15 minutes to restore an image, if you know what i mean.


Anyway, i would appreciate it if you (or anyone else, for that matter) would offer some advice as to how to proceed regarding my first message.
Thanks.

 

[hardcodder]

Any help, anyone?

 

[Zoron]

I was once showing my work to a client when there was a power problem and caused some glitch to xp. I only had to restart and boot from 98 to continue - instead of waiting 15 minutes to restore an image, if you know what i mean.

I understand, and this is precisely why I suggested ditching 98 and converting to NTFS. The only reason this power glitch didn't affect 98 was because you weren't using it at the time. With FAT32, the least little "glitch" as you described can cause all sorts of file system errors... but if you had only XP with NTFS, you most likely would have been able to reboot with no issue at all. FAT32 is a big improvement over FAT16... but it is still far too prone to errors and glitches compared to NTFS.

I was able to find an article describing exactly why NFTS is far superior to FAT32... but I can't remember where it is at the moment. One thing I do know is that you will rarely get file system errors unless there is something wrong with your hardware.

 

[hardcodder]

Thank you for your input, i really appreciate it, but i think it is besides the point: what really troubles me is how to carry out what i describe in my first message.

Any advice or comment i can get on that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[hardcodder]

Any advice?