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Hi All,
I am trying to install a fresh copy of windows 98. I'm getting this message everytime... 'Windows files can not be installed on your hard drive because the format of drive C is incompatible with windows 98' Re-format or Exit set-up. Re-formatting gives the same result...
I have gone into FDisk and partitioned the drive, I have formatted a 80Gbx2 40Gbx1 and a 20Gb drive all with the same results! I have tested all hard drive and are all error free. The Motherboard is about 8 years old. I have tried swopping the IDE Cables from old to a more up-to date one (more cables on upto date one), changed the CD-ROM drive to a new one, gone into BIOS and set it to default settings... I'm puzzled. I've been building pc's for ages and this, can't understand it..??? Would be grateful if anyone could help me please?
256Mb Ram (SD-RAM) 500Mhz Pentium III (Win98 when it decides to go on)
Shot in the dark.
Are you using an 80 wire cable?
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If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.M2
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When you Install Windows, it runs Scan Disk before it will continue with the installation. Could the following MS KBArticle KB243450 be the cause of your problem?
Windows 98 Large IDE Update
This update addresses an issue on Windows® 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition computers that have an integrated device electronics (IDE) hard disk that is larger than 32 gigabytes (GB) in size.If you use the protected-mode (graphical) version of ScanDisk to perform a thorough scan (which includes a surface scan) on an IDE hard disk that is larger than 32 GB, ScanDisk may report errors on every cluster after approximately cluster number 967,393.This problem only occurs on computers that use a Phoenix BIOS and use the Phoenix BitShift translation algorithm to report the geometry of large IDE hard disks (larger than 32 GB). Your computer is not vulnerable if the BIOS uses logical block addressing (LBA) Assist translation instead of the Phoenix BitShift translation.NOTE: If you have upgraded from another version of Windows and selected to save your previous version of Windows during the upgrade, you will not be able to uninstall back to your previous version of Windows with this update installed. Disabling the option to uninstall Windows ensures that your system will continue to support your large IDE drive. More information regarding this update can be found in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB), Article Q243450.If that is your BIOS you may try the following Setup switch to by pass the scanDisk running.
D:\setup.exe /is
D = your CD-ROM Drive letter.
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Check the following:
Message "The Format of Drive C is Incompatible with Windows 98" During Windows Install
If you are getting this message, and the option to reformat is chosen, it may say that it has detected an error and it can't format the drive, or it may report an error after the drive is formatted. This problem can occur if:You are using the Next BIOS device option and/or booting from the CD-ROM to begin the installation;
Your BIOS boot sequence is set to boot the CD-ROM before the hard drive; and
You're using an OEM version of Windows.
To solve this problem:Either set the BIOS boot sequence to boot the CD-ROM after the hard drive, or use the one time option of "BIOS Sequence" (available in BootIt NG 1.22+) instead of "Next BIOS Device".
After booting the CD, instead of choosing the option to run setup from the CD, choose the option to boot with CD support. Then when you're at the DOS prompt, change to the CD drive and type in "setup" then press Enter. Starting setup in this way will prevent the problem message mentioned above.
Do yourself a favor BACKUP!
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Hi All, Ok,
reply to OtheHill, I'm using Fdisk (MS-DOS) to partition drives+then using Win98 to format the drives. It just rejected another 20Gb drive which DID format (5hrs) but came up with the error message stated above!
Hi, mechanix, At the Min, using the small IDE 40 Cable? Instead of the larger one. As the cable worked before the hard drive was removed from the tower. I have tried a higher cable capcity (80 wires?) same result.
Hi, DaveinCaps, When I go into Fdisk, I enable 'Y' (Yes) for enabling Large disk support and set the partition in the usual way and make that drive active before restarting the PC. And when restarting PC I select option 1 for CD-Rom support then shoots straight onto the Format screen, then halts on the error (mentioned in first post) It managed to format a 20Gb drive (5hrs) above post, then showed that message again!
Hi, JPW, Win98 won't go on and doesn't run the Scan Disk. Not sure if it an issue with IDE Large Update as a 20Gb drive was removed from the tower before this problem arose. However I will certainly look into that so what can be done. If you want me do a scan disk through DOS how do i do that? I have checked all 5 drives (I am trying to put on 1 copy on 1 of them) with Maxtor hard drive tester and no errors found on any of them. Not sure if the Motherboard has a Phoenix BIOS. However will look when I get the chance. Motherboard No. Is GA-6BXC. Its a fresh copy of windows 98SE I am trying to put onto a new drive.
Hi, Ham30, Thanks for the info, I will change the option to choose 'to boot with CD Support' will type setup and enter when prompted.
Will like to thank you all for the help you are providing so far! very impressive+fast!!!
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The most promising help may be the info supplied by ham, assuming the parameters spelled out apply here.
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Try a different boot floppy. Use this link to download the file to create a WinME boot disk:
http://filebox.vt.edu/r/rywilson/RCC/bootmec.exe
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I was wondering about what fdisk, option 4, says rather than how you ran fdisk.
Make sure the drive is identified properly in cmos/bios setup and you're using a good cable.
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Hi All, Ok, Tried a different Win98 boot disc and also used a WinMe Book disc again no joy, I have formatted the 40gb, 80gb and the 20gb in my spare computer in FAT32 and all have cleared the error check. i have also formatted them again in FAT32 before removing them to try on my custom built one. I tried partioning the drive so only 10% (4Gb) on the 40Gb would be used to install win98. It worked until i got this message now... Win98 cannot continue. Win98 cannot install onto this drive as it requires additional hardware upgrade before win98 can continue. Press f3 to exit set up. This is becoming a headache! Never seen anything like it. i have tried selecting N for large drive support and also partioning drives in different sizes to no avail. If i change the option to no.2 Select hard drive with cd rom support when i restart, it gets stuck on.. Verifying DMI Pool Data... Any ideas anyone?
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It sounds like Win98 is having problems with one or more pieces of hardware in the system.
Did you look at the KB article pointed to by ham?
Try disabling all onboard hardware in the BIOS and removing any non essential PCI cards and then try installing again.
How is the Optical drive connected to the system?
You might try copying all the CAB files to the harddrive and installing from there.
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Those are some odd error messages you're getting. I've never run across them before. Also, as already mentioned, try a different bootdisk. Apparently the fdisk command on your current bootdisk doesn't have an option 4.
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Hi All, I have spent a few hours/days scouring through public forums online and found that apprantly the later versions of Win98 (before XP was released)has the patch applied to recognise the larger drives. If this is true, How do I apply the patch so that the PC recognises the larger drive. Also I can't get scan disc to work as its coming up with bad command line when I'm in MS-DOS prompt. Its showing the following when I try to install Win98... Scandisk encountered a data error whilst reading FAT entry for cluster 483328. Preventing Scandisk from fixing the Error. When you press F3 it show 'You still have errors on your drive' Any ideas? I have tested the drive with Maxtor hard drive tester software and also shows error free on all three drives. Remembering of course that i have connected these three drives to my new PC and formatted all three in FAT32. I have looked at the the article stated above. But doesn't give clear instructions on how to apply the patch to make the Hard drive recognised. Any help would be a bonus.
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I'm not sure which patch you're talking about. The only one I can think of is the updated fdisk so it'll properly see a drive larger than 64 gig. That update is available here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=...
Other than that, 98 works OK with drives up to about 120 gig.
The scandisk error may indicate a physical problem with the drive. It'd probably be best to wipe the drive with a zero-fill utility and then repartition and format.
Partitioning these drives on another computer and then transferring them to this one may be causing a problem. Partition and format them on the computer on which you plan to use them. Also, have we verified the bios is seeing them correctly?
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