Have an Acer Pentium which had Windows 95. So-called 'computer expert' installed an after market 6G hard drive & upgraded to Windows 98 ---- partitioned 2G on C:drive and 4G on D:drive. I installed Windows 98 Upgrade and then Windows 98 2nd Edition Updates and now cannot go back to Windows 98 or Windows 95. In an attempt to increase the space on my C:drive, I performed the FAT 32. In doing that, something happened in my internet files & now I cannot log-on to e-mail or any internet locations -- I get an error message 691 saying my user name or password is incorrect. I have checked with my ISP (bellsouth.net) to verify all information is correct. My processor is not fast enough for Windows ME (and I've been told it's not good anyway). I have the original CD's for Windows 95, Windows 98 Upgrade & Windows 98 2nd Edition Updates but cannot find the initial Windows 98 CD. I tried to purchase one and am told Microsoft does not allow the sale of any 98 version. All other software used by our company was purchased by us originally so we do have the original installation CD's for reinstalling after the Departition & Reformat process is complete. All required Data files have been backed up onto Zip disks. Please send me detailed instructions on how to Departition and Reformat my 6G hard drive to make it one drive.

Yes, you can un-partition your drive. You can use the standard MS-DOS program Fdisk to delete any partitions, but this would obviously result in the loss of all your data. If you want to keep you data, you'll need a good partitioning tool like Powerquest's Partition Magic. Using this, you could easily delete the last two partitions, then enlarge the first one to take up tne entire 6GB. Their website is at http://www.powerquest.com/ HTH Caroline

It's not 'really the wisest thing to do...' configuring a drive with only one partition. I kow these days most sytems arrive partitioned that way (FAT32 under '98/OSR2b\c) but think about it for a moment. Everything is the one place... lose that partition; have a need to reformat (and then re-install) and you lose everything - DATA included - unless you can back it up somehow... Much the better/wiser to have at least two partitions - one for installed OS and applicactions, and one (at least) for data/critical files. Then if anything happens to the OS area (c: system - active Primary - partition) your data will probably be insulated from any reformats/re-installs, and emerge 'unscathed/intact.' It's a bit like having all one's toys in a box and then iside another (larger) box that also holds the key to the smaller box; lose the larger box and you lose all. Have the two boxes as separate items; the key in one box (the larger), and the rest in another. If you lose the larger one (the key/OS etc.) the other is still around; and one can get another key made (OS installed etc...). Naturally if one loses the 'other' box your 's.....d'.. One has to be careful with one's prize possesions/toys... http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q255/8/67.ASP takes you through (re-)partitioning a drive, and formatting etc.. Also read through the Fdisk section at: http://www.compguystechweb.com/index.html it gives similar info. in a user-friendly style. And there's similar info here in the How to Section - Advanced... I've seen '98 still on sale (upgrade and full versions); all you need is the upgrade - as long as you have a copy of earlier windows '95-CD/install-floppy #1 for 3x.

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