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Forums - Computer music & technology
Subject: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
Original Message Date: 28-Mar-00 @ 02:56 AM - How do I format and part my secondary HD?
Can someone tell me how to partition and format my extra hard drive. My Cmos is o.k. and the device manager sees it. I have Win/98-Pentium 11. I have C and D on my first drive. Step by step if you would. Thanks. Carl..
Message 11/21 30-Mar-00 @ 06:39 AM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
Jasper
Posts: 424
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Here,
Put your 2nd drive in, identify it in BIOS.
Now, you allready have a drive with 2 partitions right? so currently that is C and D and your new drive that has not been setup is currently drive E.
So type Fdisk E:
Now create a DOS partiton by pressing '1',
Now create a Primary dos partition by pressing 1, enter yor choice for size etc.
Now create an extended dos partition by pressing 2 and enter sizes (repeat for further partitions)
Now create a logical dos drive in the extended dos '3' partition or the thing won't work.
Put your 2nd drive in, identify it in BIOS.
Now, you allready have a drive with 2 partitions right? so currently that is C and D and your new drive that has not been setup is currently drive E.
So type Fdisk E:
Now create a DOS partiton by pressing '1',
Now create a Primary dos partition by pressing 1, enter yor choice for size etc.
Now create an extended dos partition by pressing 2 and enter sizes (repeat for further partitions)
Now create a logical dos drive in the extended dos '3' partition or the thing won't work.
Message 12/21 30-Mar-00 @ 06:39 AM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
Go back to the main menu and set an active partition (each drive has to have an active partition to contain info about other partitions).
Now press '4' to display partition information.
If it looks right then re-boot.
Now you need to format your new drives E and F (cd-rom will be G and original drive will be C & D)
But first CHECK to make sure you don't accidently format your existing drives C & D.
If for some reason the format fails with a message like 'invalid media unable to format' type error then go back to fdisk and check those setting again.. It may be that you haven't created a logical dos drive in the extended partition.
and whatever you do DONT!!!! do a low level format if you find info about one anywhere cos this is allready done at the factory.. Low-level formats map the drive's errors so that it can be formatted normaly.. screwing this up may leave the drive useless. Format C: is a high-level format so don't worry OK?
Now press '4' to display partition information.
If it looks right then re-boot.
Now you need to format your new drives E and F (cd-rom will be G and original drive will be C & D)
But first CHECK to make sure you don't accidently format your existing drives C & D.
If for some reason the format fails with a message like 'invalid media unable to format' type error then go back to fdisk and check those setting again.. It may be that you haven't created a logical dos drive in the extended partition.
and whatever you do DONT!!!! do a low level format if you find info about one anywhere cos this is allready done at the factory.. Low-level formats map the drive's errors so that it can be formatted normaly.. screwing this up may leave the drive useless. Format C: is a high-level format so don't worry OK?
Message 13/21 30-Mar-00 @ 07:25 AM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
yeah but jasper mate - if he makes a PRIMARY partition on the new drive.. then surely that partition will default to take over the D: drive letter, cos it will be the second PRIMARY visible to dos.. and the 1st extended/logical drive (that is currently D 
will get shunted further down the line to become E ?... on my box the 2nd & 3rd drives only have extended partition each devided into logical drives...
will get shunted further down the line to become E ?... on my box the 2nd & 3rd drives only have extended partition each devided into logical drives...
Message 14/21 31-Mar-00 @ 07:23 AM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
Jasper
Posts: 424
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File?: No file
Well it works on mine, which is strange now I come to think of it.
my old drive was partitioned with w98 installed, then I got the new one and took the old one out.. partitioned it (new one) and installed 98 again.
Then my girlfriend asked where all her files had gone I had to connect the old one up as a slave. And it works.
I can still boot up to my old drive by swapping the drives primary/slave status too.
But when you think about the active partition stuff it shouldn't work. Maybe w98 only sees the boot drives active partition and treats the rest as extended or summit.
my old drive was partitioned with w98 installed, then I got the new one and took the old one out.. partitioned it (new one) and installed 98 again.
Then my girlfriend asked where all her files had gone I had to connect the old one up as a slave. And it works.
I can still boot up to my old drive by swapping the drives primary/slave status too.
But when you think about the active partition stuff it shouldn't work. Maybe w98 only sees the boot drives active partition and treats the rest as extended or summit.
Message 15/21 31-Mar-00 @ 02:56 PM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
Hi: I was wondering about that active stuff. I was hoping to have the two drives where I could change the boot sequence in setup and use each drive separatly like having two computers in one. one drive for music and the other for everything else. My new drive is in and the MB see's it and also device manager see's it. It has no letter assigned until it gets formatted. Thanks. Carl...
Message 16/21 31-Mar-00 @ 04:01 PM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
Jasper
Posts: 424
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well like I said it works for me, the only problem is getting at the jumper switches.
it's ok at the moment cos my girlfriend only user her drive about once every 2 weeks, but if you intend to use both quite often then maybe a dual boot would be more appropriate
it's ok at the moment cos my girlfriend only user her drive about once every 2 weeks, but if you intend to use both quite often then maybe a dual boot would be more appropriate
Message 17/21 02-Apr-00 @ 04:30 PM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
yeah well dos only is written to see one 'active' partition... the first one on C:...
ok... CWa9150462 mate... i've managed to finally get some sleep now.. ok.. i think you should go for fat16 cos the clusters will be bigger and thus less reading for the heads to keep on finding the next file segment/cluster... and with audio files & the combination of a wacking 20gb drive, loosing some Mb's in the clusters is not going to be so bad as if you were storing tons of tiny files... BUt, if you have a drive dedicated to small sample loops.. set it asside, and in Windows you can reformat it to FAT32 if you like which'll create loads more clusters, but will loose less drive space - although frankly, again even sample loops are still going to be like 700k or so for stereo 44.1 etc.. it prolly aint worth it... it might be better to just wait till the drive fills up and get a removable drive sledge kit and another 20gb drive, then you can swap them out according to the material you're working on.. or get a zip or jaz etc...
so...
enter fdisk at the command prompt
say [NO] to the large drive support option....
menu appears - choose 5 to change the drive you are looking at...
select drive 2 your new one - hit enter
you are then presented with a new menu... above it it says you are looking at the fixed disk drive 2
choose menu item 1 - CREATE DOS PARTITION OR LOGICAL DOS DRIVE
choose 2 - CREATE EXTENDED DOS PARTITION
choose the whole drive space available 100%
after youve done that.. new menu comes back... choose 3 - CREATE LOGICAL DOS DRIVES
select the max size which will be just over 2gb
repeat that again and again until you have like 10 logical drives - the last drive will be perhaps a small one with a few hundred mb.. whatever, just keep on each time tou create and get the menu back, creating more logical drives.. until you run out of space...
finally, when all the drives are created .. format the drives...
At the command-prompt - FORMAT E: - FORMAT F: - etc etc
i'd do it that way..
Interestingly, ... there is an un-documented switch in win 95 OSR2 (dunno if it is 98 also).. where you can set the cluster size when using FAT32 !!!... here's the switch...
/Z:n
n * 512 bytes = cluster size - default minimum is 1024 bytes - but that is a bit small.... anyways this is noted for academic purposes :-).. with 20gb drives, sure you'll loose some drive space in total.. but with audio the files will all be large in terms if the percentage clusters contained therein...
for little files like loads of text files then this might waste alot of space, but with big Kb & Mb sized files it will be less.. and generally fat16 drives are faster apparently.... prolly due to less reference reads of the next cluster and smaller overall drive size/head-travel distance...
just defrag your drive/s regularly.. fat16 is also less liable to loose data in a crash... so they say...
ok... CWa9150462 mate... i've managed to finally get some sleep now.. ok.. i think you should go for fat16 cos the clusters will be bigger and thus less reading for the heads to keep on finding the next file segment/cluster... and with audio files & the combination of a wacking 20gb drive, loosing some Mb's in the clusters is not going to be so bad as if you were storing tons of tiny files... BUt, if you have a drive dedicated to small sample loops.. set it asside, and in Windows you can reformat it to FAT32 if you like which'll create loads more clusters, but will loose less drive space - although frankly, again even sample loops are still going to be like 700k or so for stereo 44.1 etc.. it prolly aint worth it... it might be better to just wait till the drive fills up and get a removable drive sledge kit and another 20gb drive, then you can swap them out according to the material you're working on.. or get a zip or jaz etc...
so...
enter fdisk at the command prompt
say [NO] to the large drive support option....
menu appears - choose 5 to change the drive you are looking at...
select drive 2 your new one - hit enter
you are then presented with a new menu... above it it says you are looking at the fixed disk drive 2
choose menu item 1 - CREATE DOS PARTITION OR LOGICAL DOS DRIVE
choose 2 - CREATE EXTENDED DOS PARTITION
choose the whole drive space available 100%
after youve done that.. new menu comes back... choose 3 - CREATE LOGICAL DOS DRIVES
select the max size which will be just over 2gb
repeat that again and again until you have like 10 logical drives - the last drive will be perhaps a small one with a few hundred mb.. whatever, just keep on each time tou create and get the menu back, creating more logical drives.. until you run out of space...
finally, when all the drives are created .. format the drives...
At the command-prompt - FORMAT E: - FORMAT F: - etc etc
i'd do it that way..
Interestingly, ... there is an un-documented switch in win 95 OSR2 (dunno if it is 98 also).. where you can set the cluster size when using FAT32 !!!... here's the switch...
/Z:n
n * 512 bytes = cluster size - default minimum is 1024 bytes - but that is a bit small.... anyways this is noted for academic purposes :-).. with 20gb drives, sure you'll loose some drive space in total.. but with audio the files will all be large in terms if the percentage clusters contained therein...
for little files like loads of text files then this might waste alot of space, but with big Kb & Mb sized files it will be less.. and generally fat16 drives are faster apparently.... prolly due to less reference reads of the next cluster and smaller overall drive size/head-travel distance...
just defrag your drive/s regularly.. fat16 is also less liable to loose data in a crash... so they say...
Message 18/21 03-Apr-00 @ 06:21 PM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
Thanks K: I think I have it. Wonderful site. One question- If I put my OS and programs on the first petition of the new drive, can I make that partition active at a later date, in case my C drive crashes. I will snatch the old one out and plug the new one in the primary slot? Thanks. Carl...
Message 19/21 03-Apr-00 @ 11:40 PM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
no.. not if you didnt create a PRIMARY partition... the OS has to be in a primary... best bet mate is to go to the pc fair, and buy a drivebay swap kit... then get a backup small cheap drive, but i dont see the point really, cos if you workj for months with your primary drive you have your OS on now, then you swap it if it crashes, none of your settings, programmes etc will be there that youve installed on the main drive... all you'll have is the raw OS and any programmes you loaded when you created it... none of your config will be there for the currect OS drive ... if you wanted to make a dual boot box, you should think about that when you add the main PRIMARY drive - I would NOT recommend fucking with your current C: drive now ... drive overlays etc are a nightmare - there are dua;l boot s/w's out there, i cant recommend any tho, and wether you can add that feature AFTER already setting up and working with your C: drive i also doubt... it'd have to fuck with the current MBR to do it, and i wouldnt recommend that at all... but, if anyone knows a way... speak up
Message 20/21 31-May-01 @ 04:56 AM - RE: How do I format and part my secondary HD?
the z switch thing resurrected - the forum search is excellent eh! - actualy i was chatting with someone today who reads Dt but never posts, and he was saying how much he sues the forum search and how usefulk it is to find pretty much anything he needs info about
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