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Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : Motherboard won't recognise h/drive

penybontboy
08-15-2003, 04:50 PM
Hi.
I've just built my first pc using used parts bought off ebay.
Was I a happy bunny when I fired it up and everything worked!
The hard drive is a Fujitsu 17gb MODEL MPE3170AT , the motherboard an abit IT7 - MAX2 and a P3 800mhz processor.

My problem is that when I view (C:) it is telling me that the h/drive is only 2 gb which I assume was what was installed originally on the board - also although the dos message says pentium 3 on initial boot, in other places it says pentium2 (!?)

Please can anyone help!?

Regards.
Penybontboy.
chubtub
08-15-2003, 05:08 PM
it is telling me that the h/drive is only 2 gb which I assume was what was installed originally on the board

I will assume that you reformatted/repartitioned the disk? A format is almost always needed when moving a HD to a different MB.

Looks as if it needs to be parititioned if the OS is on 2gigs. Would be better if the OS had more space.
penybontboy
08-15-2003, 06:41 PM
Hi Chubtub,
Yeah reformatted & partitioned though it was the 1st time I'd tried it on any machine so might have screwed it up!
Do you reckon it's worth doing again?
comp_nut
08-15-2003, 10:16 PM
yes

:t
penybontboy
08-16-2003, 09:49 AM
I was hoping there'd be an EASY option!
Ok thanks guys I'll let you know what happens........
BipolarBill
08-16-2003, 01:54 PM
Use a Win98 startup disk to format:

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

It sounds like you used a Win95 floppy. It can't format anything but FAT16, which is limited to 2GB partitions.

Also - Win98 can't always recognize a P3 because it needs to be updated at Windows Update.
penybontboy
08-17-2003, 05:32 PM
B P Bill - I'm using all the '98 gear, though haven't updated windows in a while so I'll do that first. Thanks - great logo!
BipolarBill
08-17-2003, 05:51 PM
An H drive indicates that someone used Drivespace to compress the hard drive. If you have more room now, go to Accessories > System Tools > DriveSpace3. From the left menu, choose Decompress (or Uncompress) a drive. It will take some time, so see a good movie.
penybontboy
08-17-2003, 08:49 PM
Excellent!
Thanks again.
penybontboy
09-04-2003, 11:00 PM
Okay! Reformatted, partitioned and updated, Drivespace not being used and still its telling me the HD is 2 gig. And get this -
I've got hold of another drive (17gig), installed it and guess what?
It's telling me it's only 2 gig again. Weird!
BipolarBill
09-04-2003, 11:02 PM
That's because you're using an older Win95 disk to format. It only uses FAT16, which is limited to 2GB/partition.

www.bootdisk.com

Get a Win98 disk there.
penybontboy
09-08-2003, 11:16 AM
IT WORKED!!!!

The new startup disk did the trick! Reformatted and partitioned again, got the CMOS to auto detect and I have a 20Gig hard drive at last! Wonder how long it'll take the kids to fill this one up........

Many thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge with me -

Best wishes,

PBB