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External Hard Drive Driver


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Posted

I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis

image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000

system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it looks

for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is

there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a

Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just a

standard USB 2.0 cable.

 

Thanks!

Scott

  • Replies 14
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Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

> I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis

> image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000

> system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

looks

> for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is

> there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a

> Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just

a

> standard USB 2.0 cable.

>

> Thanks!

> Scott

 

If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98

drivers were avail for the device

Guest Gary S. Terhune
Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be recognized and

drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device Manager,

whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.

 

--

Gary S. Terhune

MS-MVP Shell/User

http://www.grystmill.com

 

"philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message

news:%23TJtGMZSIHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>

> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

>> I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis

>> image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows

>> 2000

>> system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

> looks

>> for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is

>> there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a

>> Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just

> a

>> standard USB 2.0 cable.

>>

>> Thanks!

>> Scott

>

> If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98

> drivers were avail for the device

>

>

Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message

news:u$dDadZSIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be recognized

and

> drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device Manager,

> whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.

>

 

Nope, not at all.

If the drive is NTFS...it would be *totally* senseless to try to install it

on a Win98 machine

as no data could be read.

Guest AlmostBob
Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

Google is your friend:

there are utilities to let win 98 read ntfs drives

and as many more mass storage drivers

 

--

-- -- -- -- --

Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de

spybot http://www.safer-networking.org

AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/

Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/

Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com

Panda online AntiSpyware Scan

http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/

Catalog of removal tools (1)

http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/

Catalog of removal tools (2)

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387

Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/

Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before

use

Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters

_

"philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message

news:%23hj6FjZSIHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>

> "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message

> news:u$dDadZSIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> > You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be recognized

> and

> > drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device Manager,

> > whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.

> >

>

> Nope, not at all.

> If the drive is NTFS...it would be *totally* senseless to try to install

it

> on a Win98 machine

> as no data could be read.

>

>

Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

 

philo wrote:

>

> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

> > I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis

> > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000

> > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

> looks

> > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is

> > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a

> > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just

> a

> > standard USB 2.0 cable.

> >

> > Thanks!

> > Scott

>

> If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98

> drivers were avail for the device

 

philo,

 

Oops, I should have explained that I partitioned the external drive into two

sections...one is NTFS for my Win XP machines. The second partition is FAT 32,

specifically for my Win 98 machines. If there's a driver that will let my

Win98 system see the FAT32 portion of the drive, then I'm in business. Any

ideas?

 

Thanks!

Scott

Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

 

AlmostBob wrote:

>

> Google is your friend:

> there are utilities to let win 98 read ntfs drives

> and as many more mass storage drivers

>

> --

> -- -- -- -- --

> Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de

> spybot http://www.safer-networking.org

> AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/

> Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan

> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

> Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/

> Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com

> Panda online AntiSpyware Scan

> http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/

> Catalog of removal tools (1)

> http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/

> Catalog of removal tools (2)

> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387

> Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/

> Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file

> http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

> links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before

> use

> Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters

> _

> "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message

> news:%23hj6FjZSIHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> >

> > "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message

> > news:u$dDadZSIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> > > You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be recognized

> > and

> > > drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device Manager,

> > > whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.

> > >

> >

> > Nope, not at all.

> > If the drive is NTFS...it would be *totally* senseless to try to install

> it

> > on a Win98 machine

> > as no data could be read.

> >

> >

 

Any idea which mass storage driver to look for?

 

Scott

Guest Bob Harris
Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

The win98 drivers usually come from the device manufacturer, in this case

Western Digital.

 

However, you might have another option: Acronis True Image can be run from

a bootable CD, which it will create for you. This CD is useful when you are

attempting to restore the parition containing the operating system, or in

case you need to replace the internal hard drive. But, it can also be used

to get around any win98 limitations for creating a image. The CD runs a

flavor of LINUX, and has both read and write capability for NTFS file

systems. (I have personally tested this for verison 8 of True Image; I

assume that any newer version also has this ability.) Just plug the USB

drive into the PC, insert the Acronis CD, then reboot. (If it boots

directly into win98, reboot and change the BIOS setup to boot from CD before

hard drive.) True Image is very good about showing all hard drives, and all

recognizeable partitions. Just be aware that some of the higher drive

letter designations (D:, E:, F:, etc) may be slightly different than you see

within windows, although "C:\" always seems to be C:\. Look at the size of

the partitions and their format to help determine which is which.

 

 

"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

>I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis

> image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000

> system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

> looks

> for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is

> there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a

> Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just

> a

> standard USB 2.0 cable.

>

> Thanks!

> Scott

Guest AlmostBob
Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

wd have drivers for external drives in win98 at the support downloads tab

--

-- -- -- -- --

Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de

spybot http://www.safer-networking.org

AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/

Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/

Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com

Panda online AntiSpyware Scan

http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/

Catalog of removal tools (1)

http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/

Catalog of removal tools (2)

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387

Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/

Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file

http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before

use

Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters

_

"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

news:477591CB.FFDA5ACC@uslink.net...

>

>

> AlmostBob wrote:

> >

> > Google is your friend:

> > there are utilities to let win 98 read ntfs drives

> > and as many more mass storage drivers

> >

> > --

> > -- -- -- -- --

> > Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de

> > spybot http://www.safer-networking.org

> > AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/

> > Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan

> > http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

> > Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/

> > Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com

> > Panda online AntiSpyware Scan

> > http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/

> > Catalog of removal tools (1)

> > http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/

> > Catalog of removal tools (2)

> > http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387

> > Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/

> > Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file

> > http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

> > links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages

before

> > use

> > Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters

> > _

> > "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message

> > news:%23hj6FjZSIHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> > >

> > > "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message

> > > news:u$dDadZSIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> > > > You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be

recognized

> > > and

> > > > drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device

Manager,

> > > > whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.

> > > >

> > >

> > > Nope, not at all.

> > > If the drive is NTFS...it would be *totally* senseless to try to

install

> > it

> > > on a Win98 machine

> > > as no data could be read.

> > >

> > >

>

> Any idea which mass storage driver to look for?

>

> Scott

Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

news:4775919A.CA707F5A@uslink.net...

>

>

> philo wrote:

> >

> > "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

> > news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

> > > I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for

Acronis

> > > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows

2000

> > > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

> > looks

> > > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive).

Is

> > > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on

a

> > > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive,

just

> > a

> > > standard USB 2.0 cable.

> > >

> > > Thanks!

> > > Scott

> >

> > If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98

> > drivers were avail for the device

>

> philo,

>

> Oops, I should have explained that I partitioned the external drive into

two

> sections...one is NTFS for my Win XP machines. The second partition is FAT

32,

> specifically for my Win 98 machines. If there's a driver that will let my

> Win98 system see the FAT32 portion of the drive, then I'm in business.

Any

> ideas?

>

> Thanks!

> Scott

 

 

Ok, now that it's been established the drive has fat32 on it...it's worth

proceeding.

Did you check the device mfg's website to see if they have a driver for

win98???

 

If they do...you're in luck.

Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

 

Bob Harris wrote:

>

> The win98 drivers usually come from the device manufacturer, in this case

> Western Digital.

>

> However, you might have another option: Acronis True Image can be run from

> a bootable CD, which it will create for you. This CD is useful when you are

> attempting to restore the parition containing the operating system, or in

> case you need to replace the internal hard drive. But, it can also be used

> to get around any win98 limitations for creating a image. The CD runs a

> flavor of LINUX, and has both read and write capability for NTFS file

> systems. (I have personally tested this for verison 8 of True Image; I

> assume that any newer version also has this ability.) Just plug the USB

> drive into the PC, insert the Acronis CD, then reboot. (If it boots

> directly into win98, reboot and change the BIOS setup to boot from CD before

> hard drive.) True Image is very good about showing all hard drives, and all

> recognizeable partitions. Just be aware that some of the higher drive

> letter designations (D:, E:, F:, etc) may be slightly different than you see

> within windows, although "C:\" always seems to be C:\. Look at the size of

> the partitions and their format to help determine which is which.

>

> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

> >I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis

> > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000

> > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

> > looks

> > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is

> > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a

> > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just

> > a

> > standard USB 2.0 cable.

> >

> > Thanks!

> > Scott

 

Bob,

 

Of course!! I can't believe I was so dumb! I have Acronis v.8, and I've used the

bootable Win98 CD many times to restore an image. You reminded me that it can

also create an image. I just plugged in the WD My Book external drive, booted to

the CD, and it's now creating an image to the external drive on the FAT32 partition

(which it sees just fine). It works like a charm. Bob, you're a genius!! Happy

New Year!!

 

Thanks again!

Scott

Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

 

philo wrote:

>

> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

> news:4775919A.CA707F5A@uslink.net...

> >

> >

> > philo wrote:

> > >

> > > "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

> > > news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

> > > > I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for

> Acronis

> > > > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows

> 2000

> > > > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

> > > looks

> > > > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive).

> Is

> > > > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on

> a

> > > > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive,

> just

> > > a

> > > > standard USB 2.0 cable.

> > > >

> > > > Thanks!

> > > > Scott

> > >

> > > If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98

> > > drivers were avail for the device

> >

> > philo,

> >

> > Oops, I should have explained that I partitioned the external drive into

> two

> > sections...one is NTFS for my Win XP machines. The second partition is FAT

> 32,

> > specifically for my Win 98 machines. If there's a driver that will let my

> > Win98 system see the FAT32 portion of the drive, then I'm in business.

> Any

> > ideas?

> >

> > Thanks!

> > Scott

>

> Ok, now that it's been established the drive has fat32 on it...it's worth

> proceeding.

> Did you check the device mfg's website to see if they have a driver for

> win98???

>

> If they do...you're in luck.

 

philo,

 

I found the correct Win98SE driver for this model on Western Digital's site. I

ran setup and installed it, but it still doesn't see the drive (the FAT32 partition).

However, the problem was solved, thanks to Bob Harris's post below.

 

Thanks for your input.

Scott

Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

> >

> > Ok, now that it's been established the drive has fat32 on it...it's

worth

> > proceeding.

> > Did you check the device mfg's website to see if they have a driver for

> > win98???

> >

> > If they do...you're in luck.

>

> philo,

>

> I found the correct Win98SE driver for this model on Western Digital's

site. I

> ran setup and installed it, but it still doesn't see the drive (the FAT32

partition).

> However, the problem was solved, thanks to Bob Harris's post below.

>

> Thanks for your input.

> Scott

 

 

Glad you got it all worked out.

 

I also use Acronis and as mentioned...

with multiple drives and partitions...the bootable CD sees the configuration

differently

than when used from within the OS

Guest Lil' Dave
Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

news:4775CFFD.DAE27A18@uslink.net...

>

>

> Bob Harris wrote:

>>

>> The win98 drivers usually come from the device manufacturer, in this case

>> Western Digital.

>>

>> However, you might have another option: Acronis True Image can be run

>> from

>> a bootable CD, which it will create for you. This CD is useful when you

>> are

>> attempting to restore the parition containing the operating system, or in

>> case you need to replace the internal hard drive. But, it can also be

>> used

>> to get around any win98 limitations for creating a image. The CD runs a

>> flavor of LINUX, and has both read and write capability for NTFS file

>> systems. (I have personally tested this for verison 8 of True Image; I

>> assume that any newer version also has this ability.) Just plug the USB

>> drive into the PC, insert the Acronis CD, then reboot. (If it boots

>> directly into win98, reboot and change the BIOS setup to boot from CD

>> before

>> hard drive.) True Image is very good about showing all hard drives, and

>> all

>> recognizeable partitions. Just be aware that some of the higher drive

>> letter designations (D:, E:, F:, etc) may be slightly different than you

>> see

>> within windows, although "C:\" always seems to be C:\. Look at the size

>> of

>> the partitions and their format to help determine which is which.

>>

>> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

>> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

>> >I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for

>> >Acronis

>> > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows

>> > 2000

>> > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

>> > looks

>> > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive).

>> > Is

>> > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on

>> > a

>> > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive,

>> > just

>> > a

>> > standard USB 2.0 cable.

>> >

>> > Thanks!

>> > Scott

>

> Bob,

>

> Of course!! I can't believe I was so dumb! I have Acronis v.8, and I've

> used the

> bootable Win98 CD many times to restore an image. You reminded me that it

> can

> also create an image. I just plugged in the WD My Book external drive,

> booted to

> the CD, and it's now creating an image to the external drive on the FAT32

> partition

> (which it sees just fine). It works like a charm. Bob, you're a genius!!

> Happy

> New Year!!

>

> Thanks again!

> Scott

 

Glad you're satisfied. However, I believe you said the problem was with

98SE not seeing any partitions on the USB hard drive. Not writing a image

file to that partition with Acronis.

 

Old drive image 2002 could write to NTFS or FAT/FAT32 partitions an image

file either in 98, or from its boot media. It could not see USB or Firewire

drives though without aid of a windows environment to see such. Install of

DI 2002 did not allow windows explorer to "see" NTFS partitions. Only under

the DI 2002 application.

 

Dave

Posted

Re: External Hard Drive Driver

 

 

 

Lil' Dave wrote:

>

> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

> news:4775CFFD.DAE27A18@uslink.net...

> >

> >

> > Bob Harris wrote:

> >>

> >> The win98 drivers usually come from the device manufacturer, in this case

> >> Western Digital.

> >>

> >> However, you might have another option: Acronis True Image can be run

> >> from

> >> a bootable CD, which it will create for you. This CD is useful when you

> >> are

> >> attempting to restore the parition containing the operating system, or in

> >> case you need to replace the internal hard drive. But, it can also be

> >> used

> >> to get around any win98 limitations for creating a image. The CD runs a

> >> flavor of LINUX, and has both read and write capability for NTFS file

> >> systems. (I have personally tested this for verison 8 of True Image; I

> >> assume that any newer version also has this ability.) Just plug the USB

> >> drive into the PC, insert the Acronis CD, then reboot. (If it boots

> >> directly into win98, reboot and change the BIOS setup to boot from CD

> >> before

> >> hard drive.) True Image is very good about showing all hard drives, and

> >> all

> >> recognizeable partitions. Just be aware that some of the higher drive

> >> letter designations (D:, E:, F:, etc) may be slightly different than you

> >> see

> >> within windows, although "C:\" always seems to be C:\. Look at the size

> >> of

> >> the partitions and their format to help determine which is which.

> >>

> >> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message

> >> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...

> >> >I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for

> >> >Acronis

> >> > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows

> >> > 2000

> >> > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it

> >> > looks

> >> > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive).

> >> > Is

> >> > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on

> >> > a

> >> > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive,

> >> > just

> >> > a

> >> > standard USB 2.0 cable.

> >> >

> >> > Thanks!

> >> > Scott

> >

> > Bob,

> >

> > Of course!! I can't believe I was so dumb! I have Acronis v.8, and I've

> > used the

> > bootable Win98 CD many times to restore an image. You reminded me that it

> > can

> > also create an image. I just plugged in the WD My Book external drive,

> > booted to

> > the CD, and it's now creating an image to the external drive on the FAT32

> > partition

> > (which it sees just fine). It works like a charm. Bob, you're a genius!!

> > Happy

> > New Year!!

> >

> > Thanks again!

> > Scott

>

> Glad you're satisfied. However, I believe you said the problem was with

> 98SE not seeing any partitions on the USB hard drive. Not writing a image

> file to that partition with Acronis.

>

> Old drive image 2002 could write to NTFS or FAT/FAT32 partitions an image

> file either in 98, or from its boot media. It could not see USB or Firewire

> drives though without aid of a windows environment to see such. Install of

> DI 2002 did not allow windows explorer to "see" NTFS partitions. Only under

> the DI 2002 application.

>

> Dave

 

Dave,

 

Any idea why the Win98SE driver for the WD My Book external drive, which I got

from Western Digital's website, wouldn't let me see the FAT32 partition on the

external drive from My Computer? It seems pretty straightfoward.

 

Thanks!

Scott


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