Maxtor OneTouchII (external hd) problem

vermin

My old P3 (windows '98se) doesn't recognize the Maxtor (OneTouchII/ 300GB) external hd...

I know what the problem is but I'm a neanderthal in pc-problem solving!

Everything worked fine untill I formatted the Maxtor with my girlfriends laptop (windows XP)...but my desktop doesn't support NTFS(!), but FAT32(!).

:oops:

wargand · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2005 7:45 pm **Post subject:**

Too bad. NTFS on a Windoze 98 machine.....nope. If you are lucky the Windoze fdisk 98 can delete the partition. If not....use Linux :-P

PC_Arcade · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:02 pm **Post subject:**

This might help

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freew ... in98.shtml

I've use this to read NTFS on win9x machines before, works fine

vermin · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:10 pm **Post subject:**

PC_Arcade wrote:

This might help

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freew ... in98.shtml

I've use this to read NTFS on win9x machines before, works fine

Thanx PCA! I'll try this...

but first I'm going to get totally pissed :drunk:

...it's "Queens-day" over here in Holland!

:beerchug:

wargand · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:17 pm **Post subject:**

PC_Arcade wrote:

This might help

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freew ... in98.shtml

I've use this to read NTFS on win9x machines before, works fine

Yep, might work for reading. Very few hard drives make sense read only.

Union.Simon.616 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2005 9:20 pm **Post subject:**

Basically I wouldn't use NTFS under Win98 - it should in general be FAT32 for 98, NTFS for XP. I also think that 98 has some general problems with larger HDDs (>120GB). Maybe you should also check Maxtor's homepage for known problems under Win98... But first you better convert the NTFS to FAT32 and leave it at that; if the HDD isn't ~95% full, Partition Magic 8 should convert it easily without any data loss.

PC_Arcade · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2005 9:26 pm **Post subject:**

That prog will read and write NTFS and it's probably the easiest way to convert back to FAT32. It's a wrapper for the M$ NTFS win2k libraries and in my experience is totally reliable.

Windows 98 has no problem with bigger drives, NTFS or otherwies, although if I were you I'd use Partition Magic to convert back to FAT32 though as Union Simon says

Union.Simon.616 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:58 pm **Post subject:**

I wouldn't agree, PCA, 98 does have problems with large drives... As for this particular drive, some are even mentioned on page 40 (Using Large Capacity Drives with Windows) of this manual:
http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_ ... _guide.pdf

In theory, though, FAT32 under Win98 should support "drives up to 2 terabytes", so sayeth the Microsoft...

Vermin, I presume you did read the entire manual before installing and then followed all the steps? In case that you didn't, you best go to
http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxto ... %20Support
find your model's manual and then follow it to install the drive... And of course convert it to FAT32

PC_Arcade · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 12:04 am **Post subject:**

That pdf doesn't work for me

I should have said that I have never had any problems with large drives on win 98

Union.Simon.616 · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 12:27 am **Post subject:**

PC_Arcade wrote:

That pdf doesn't work for me

Strange, I just checked it and it reads for me without any fuss

Anyway, the page I mentioned is basically a table pointing out main issues with different Windows versions. Under 98SE it says:

- FAT32 operates properly with partition < 127 GB.

- FDISK and FORMAT:
Note 1: On disks larger than 64 GB running Windows 98SE, both FDISK and FORMAT function properly, but will display an incorrect disk size on the screen. A similar problem can occur with Windows Me at larger disk sizes (starting above 80 GB). Further information is available on Microsoft?s Web site at http://support.microsoft.com. Search their Support Knowledge Base for articles 263044 and 263045.
Note 2: FDISK may not run properly after an external drive has been disconnected and reconnected. Rebooting the computer before running FDISK is recommended.

- Defrag, ScanDisk and Check Disk: Limited to partitions < 127 GB;
Note 3: Neither ScanDisk nor Defrag will operate on drive partitions larger than 127 GB. Further information is available on Microsoft?s Web site at http://support.microsoft.com. Search their Support Knowledge Base for article 184006. Third party utilities can be used to replace the functionality of the ScanDisk and Defrag utilities.

PC_Arcade wrote:

I should have said that I have never had any problems with large drives on win 98

To be honest, neither did I, but that might simply be because the biggest drive I had under 98 was Barracuda 60GB partitioned into 8/32/the rest GB, and even then I changed to XP pretty quick :lol:

I did, however, read and witness quite a bit of all kind of unexpected Windows-related problems, including those large HDD/Win98 related :cry:

Anyway, since it's Microsoft Windows, whatever you're doing with it/on it, you can expect anything and be surprised anyway

vermin · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 5:17 am **Post subject:**

Thanx for the input! Time to start using XP...better yet a new pc!
I did the math...so I can't convert back to FAT32 because the volume size of the Maxtor (300GB) is to big.
I'll go for the easy way and return the Maxtor to the store in exchange for another one with the default (FAT32) factory settings, but on the other hand my pc is 6 years old...it's starting to fall apart after getting kicked by the Mule 24/7

Union.Simon.616 · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 6:15 am **Post subject:**

Vermin, maybe it's not necessary to return it to the factory right away. I'm pretty sure that Partition Magic can covert your drive to FAT32 without any trouble (it's a much, much better tool for HDDs than anything implemented in Windows), and even if not, it won't cost anything to try - at worse it'll just give you a "sorry, can't do this" message or smt :wink:

Just make sure you use Powerquest's Partition Magic, NOT Symantec's. PM 8 worked great for me for several years now and did any needed job on any drive so far, while I heard many bad things about the Symantec versions (Partition Magic became Symantec's property after 8.01 or something I think) and of course earlier versions 7.x are just too old for this kind of drive...

And you're right about upgrade'ing from 98 to XP - it's a quantum improvement, specially if you're using eMule 24/7 - much more stable, better network implementations and all... And it also doesn't need a super high-end CPU to run - I had XP for over a year on a PIII 600 PC with 128MB RAM and it worked like a charm, even with eMule running all day... :wink:

But you might want to partition the drive (maybe into 120/120/80 or something) anyway, if you're planning to use it on 98 for now... Anyway, I prefer to partition all of my drives, I only run my eMule on an unpartitioned 120GB drive. But it definately is a real pain to get it defragmented :cry:

vermin · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 6:32 am **Post subject:**

I'll go for the Powerquest then... :wink:

Union.Simon.616 thanx again for the input!
And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

Union.Simon.616 · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 7:26 am **Post subject:**

Anytime, Vermin! :beerchug:

If you don't have Powerquest's PM8, I think you can find it fairly easily even with an eMule search, but in case you get many conflicting versions or whatever, let me know and I'll find the one I'm using and which I'm certain is a full retail version (not any demo/beta/whatever) and is working.

btw for all I know, those Symantec's versions might work just as well, I just never tried them - I don't touch any Symantec stuff :mrgreen:

vermin · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 8:22 am **Post subject:**

Union.Simon.616 wrote:

If you don't have Powerquest's PM8, I think you can find it fairly easily even with an eMule search, but in case you get many conflicting versions or whatever, let me know and I'll find the one I'm using and which I'm certain is a full retail version (not any demo/beta/whatever) and is working.

yes please! (I've dl the demo version)

:mrgreen:

Union.Simon.616 · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 10:12 am **Post subject:**

OK, this is what I'm using:
ed2k: x-pm8.rar [57.85 Mb] [Stats]
It's bin, cue and nfo packed in one with WinRar 3.41. It's tested and working, but I'm the only source since, well, I just packed it and threw it into 'shared' :lol:

I'll put it on PS and give you a slot if I see you in my queue.

This:
ed2k: powerquest.partitionmagic.8.0.final-exit.rar [58.41 Mb] [Stats]
appears to be the exact same thing, but I can't be 100% certain. But of course it has a lot of sources.

So it's your call :mrgreen:

[ Add all 2 links to your ed2k client ]

vermin · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2005 9:02 pm **Post subject:**

hell yeah! Partition Magic works perfect...converted (& partitioned) the Maxtor back to FAT32.

thanx Union.Simon.616 :beerchug:

Union.Simon.616 · **Posted:** Mon May 02, 2005 12:12 am **Post subject:**

Glad to hear that!

But the most important thing is - is the drive working properly now, because if it doesn't, all the converting and so on was for naught :lol:

btw so I take it I can safely delete the pm8 rar from my shares now?

vermin · **Posted:** Mon May 02, 2005 4:37 am **Post subject:**

:cheerleader:

Maxtor OneTouchII (external hd) problem

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