Making HDD Active

lance411 · 04-25-2005, 02:40 AM

Have added a second HDD to my system. With a google search to this forum, have been able to set the jumpers and get auto detect as primary slave set up in CMOS. The drive auto detects at start up and displays in the device manager which also says it's working properly, but the drive does not display in 'My Computer' and can't be accessed. Saw a post, here, that tells an assumed Windows XP user to "go into Disk Management and make active" but find no such area in Windows '98. Am assuming making active is the case, but how can this be done in Windows '98?

Inactive · 04-25-2005, 03:01 AM

if you are using win98 then you'll have to use FDISK to setup and format a HD. use a win98 boot disk to start up in DOS. FDISK will be on the boot disk. you can create a book disk in the add/remove software icon in the control panel. use the startup disk tab and create disk button. i can't remember, it's been a while since i created one.

but i think it'd be better if you could put the HD into a pc with win2k or xp and use the disk manager to set it up. i tried to use FDISK on a 120GB drive and it couldn't set it up properly. by using the disk manager you can see graphically what you are doing and it'll work on bigger drives.

Volt-Schwibe · 04-25-2005, 03:06 AM

if you do decide to go the route of fdisk, you can go in there and make a partition active without needing to reformat it.

if your win 98 cd is bootable, it can do this, otherwise you will need a boot floppy.

**johnwill** · 04-25-2005, 06:07 PM

If you visit AllBootDisks and download a Windows 98 boot disk, you can simply boot it and run FDISK. Pick option 2, Make Partition Active, and you're done.

lance411 · 04-26-2005, 09:10 AM

Thanks everyone. Haven't partitioned or formatted a HDD in nearly 15 years. Thought adding it was going to be plug and play like everything else these days. So pointed in the right direction with your help, dug out an old DOS manual and went ahead.

Anyway, FDISK wouldn't allow setting an active partition on a slave drive. Had to remove a non-DOS partition on the drive to proceed. Going by the book, was going to create a pirmary DOS partition on it. Selected that, and then the system went on to check disk integrity before setting the partition. It just kept spinning at 0% so guess the drive isn't any good. It's a used HDD from another machine.

**johnwill** · 04-26-2005, 02:14 PM

Yep, Microsoft was saving you from yourself, so you can only set the primary disk active.

04-25-2005, 02:40 AM	#1 (permalink)
lance411 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2 OS: Win98	Making HDD Active Have added a second HDD to my system. With a google search to this forum, have been able to set the jumpers and get auto detect as primary slave set up in CMOS. The drive auto detects at start up and displays in the device manager which also says it's working properly, but the drive does not display in 'My Computer' and can't be accessed. Saw a post, here, that tells an assumed Windows XP user to "go into Disk Management and make active" but find no such area in Windows '98. Am assuming making active is the case, but how can this be done in Windows '98?

04-25-2005, 03:06 AM	#3 (permalink)
Volt-Schwibe Asst. Manager, Automotive Forums; HJT Trainee Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Behind you, watching you as you type. Posts: 7,372 OS: Click "My System" to view details My System	if you do decide to go the route of fdisk, you can go in there and make a partition active without needing to reformat it. if your win 98 cd is bootable, it can do this, otherwise you will need a boot floppy. __________________ <signature> TSF is funded by our Admin's pocket, care to help? Power Tip: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. New Members: Creating a single new thread in the correct section is the best way to assure your thread will receive a reply. </signature>

04-25-2005, 06:07 PM	#4 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,654 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	If you visit AllBootDisks and download a Windows 98 boot disk, you can simply boot it and run FDISK. Pick option 2, Make Partition Active, and you're done. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

04-26-2005, 02:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,654 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	Yep, Microsoft was saving you from yourself, so you can only set the primary disk active. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

04-25-2005, 03:01 AM	#2 (permalink)
Inactive Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,704 OS: ~	if you are using win98 then you'll have to use FDISK to setup and format a HD. use a win98 boot disk to start up in DOS. FDISK will be on the boot disk. you can create a book disk in the add/remove software icon in the control panel. use the startup disk tab and create disk button. i can't remember, it's been a while since i created one. but i think it'd be better if you could put the HD into a pc with win2k or xp and use the disk manager to set it up. i tried to use FDISK on a 120GB drive and it couldn't set it up properly. by using the disk manager you can see graphically what you are doing and it'll work on bigger drives.

04-26-2005, 09:10 AM	#5 (permalink)
lance411 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2 OS: Win98	Thanks everyone. Haven't partitioned or formatted a HDD in nearly 15 years. Thought adding it was going to be plug and play like everything else these days. So pointed in the right direction with your help, dug out an old DOS manual and went ahead. Anyway, FDISK wouldn't allow setting an active partition on a slave drive. Had to remove a non-DOS partition on the drive to proceed. Going by the book, was going to create a pirmary DOS partition on it. Selected that, and then the system went on to check disk integrity before setting the partition. It just kept spinning at 0% so guess the drive isn't any good. It's a used HDD from another machine.