Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Guest SomeOne

Posted June 1, 2008

Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it relates

to is WinME

I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ Bios

as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D is

a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs to

have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following software;

Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on Drive C

because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

utility to operate on Drive C".

Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive E;

however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I boot

in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and I

do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C, etc)

I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer not

to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

Thanks in advance

SomeOne

Guest Brian A.

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

You don't have to be using EZ-BIOS, updating FDISK would take care of the

drive limit.

Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044

Also, you may want to try running defrag in Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads the

minimum drivers/software needed to run Windows.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

Conflicts start where information lacks.

http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

"SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

> Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

> shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

>

> I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it relates

> to is WinME

>

> I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>

> I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>

> Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ Bios

> as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

>

> I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D is

> a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

> Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs to

> have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following software;

> Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

> Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on Drive C

> because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

> utility to operate on Drive C".

>

> Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

> directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive E;

> however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>

> I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I boot

> in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and I

> do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C, etc)

>

> I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer not

> to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>

> Thanks in advance

>

> SomeOne

>

Guest MEB

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Uhm, better find out what motherboard/make/model motherboard/computer first

[old board].... If Ez-Bios [old drive overlay program] was installed there

MAY be an actual BIOS limitation...

Seagate called it Disk Wizard, Quantum called it Disk Go, Maxtor called it

MaxBlast, etc....all are basically the same thing, check for BIOS

limitation, installs drive overlay.

Poster might try first scandisking in DOS to check the drive/partitions for

errors.

Check the EZ-Bios utility to see if it has tools to check the drive with

[don't remember].

--

MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com

--

_________

"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

news:uB$pK87wIHA.5832@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

| You don't have to be using EZ-BIOS, updating FDISK would take care of

the

| drive limit.

| Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB

| http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044

|

| Also, you may want to try running defrag in Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads

the

| minimum drivers/software needed to run Windows.

|

| --

|

| Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

| Conflicts start where information lacks.

| http://basconotw.mvps.org/

|

| Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

| How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

|

| "SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

| news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

| > Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

| > shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

| >

| > I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it

relates

| > to is WinME

| >

| > I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

| >

| > I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

| >

| > Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ

Bios

| > as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

| >

| > I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D

is

| > a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

| > Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs

to

| > have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following

software;

| > Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

| > Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on

Drive C

| > because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

| > utility to operate on Drive C".

| >

| > Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

| > directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive

E;

| > however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

| >

| > I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I

boot

| > in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and

I

| > do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C,

etc)

| >

| > I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer

not

| > to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

| >

| > Thanks in advance

| >

| > SomeOne

| >

|

Guest MEB

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Oh sorry, Western Digital EZ-BIOS, had an update that needed installed.

Might check to see if it is.

--

MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com

--

_________

"MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:OJ6YqK8wIHA.4376@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

| Uhm, better find out what motherboard/make/model motherboard/computer

first

| [old board].... If Ez-Bios [old drive overlay program] was installed there

| MAY be an actual BIOS limitation...

| Seagate called it Disk Wizard, Quantum called it Disk Go, Maxtor called

it

| MaxBlast, etc....all are basically the same thing, check for BIOS

| limitation, installs drive overlay.

|

| Poster might try first scandisking in DOS to check the drive/partitions

for

| errors.

|

| Check the EZ-Bios utility to see if it has tools to check the drive with

| [don't remember].

|

| --

| MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com

| --

| _________

|

| "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

| news:uB$pK87wIHA.5832@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

| | You don't have to be using EZ-BIOS, updating FDISK would take care of

| the

| | drive limit.

| | Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB

| | http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044

| |

| | Also, you may want to try running defrag in Safe Mode. Safe Mode

loads

| the

| | minimum drivers/software needed to run Windows.

| |

| | --

| |

| | Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

| | Conflicts start where information lacks.

| | http://basconotw.mvps.org/

| |

| | Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

| | How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

| |

| | "SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

| | news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

| | > Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

| | > shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

| | >

| | > I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it

| relates

| | > to is WinME

| | >

| | > I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

| | >

| | > I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

| | >

| | > Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ

| Bios

| | > as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

| | >

| | > I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive

D

| is

| | > a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages

from

| | > Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs

| to

| | > have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following

| software;

| | > Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk

or

| | > Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on

| Drive C

| | > because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown

disk

| | > utility to operate on Drive C".

| | >

| | > Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

| | > directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to

Drive

| E;

| | > however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

| | >

| | > I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I

| boot

| | > in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working

and

| I

| | > do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive

C,

| etc)

| | >

| | > I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer

| not

| | > to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

| | >

| | > Thanks in advance

| | >

| | > SomeOne

| | >

| |

|

Guest Brian A.

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

IIRC the mobo wouldn't be the limit problem, the version of FDISK would be,

however if EZ-BIOS was installed, also IIRC it's not easy to get rid of. MS

put out an updated FDISK that dealt with the 32 GB limit and 64 GB limit. I

have an old board from 1994 where I installed the 64 GB FDISK and haven't had

any issue. Had I not installed it I would have had to install the drive overlay

EZ-BIOS.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

Conflicts start where information lacks.

http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

"MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:OJ6YqK8wIHA.4376@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> Uhm, better find out what motherboard/make/model motherboard/computer first

> [old board].... If Ez-Bios [old drive overlay program] was installed there

> MAY be an actual BIOS limitation...

> Seagate called it Disk Wizard, Quantum called it Disk Go, Maxtor called it

> MaxBlast, etc....all are basically the same thing, check for BIOS

> limitation, installs drive overlay.

>

> Poster might try first scandisking in DOS to check the drive/partitions for

> errors.

>

> Check the EZ-Bios utility to see if it has tools to check the drive with

> [don't remember].

>

> --

> MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com

> --

> _________

>

> "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

> news:uB$pK87wIHA.5832@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> | You don't have to be using EZ-BIOS, updating FDISK would take care of

> the

> | drive limit.

> | Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB

> | http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044

> |

> | Also, you may want to try running defrag in Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads

> the

> | minimum drivers/software needed to run Windows.

> |

> | --

> |

> | Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

> | Conflicts start where information lacks.

> | http://basconotw.mvps.org/

> |

> | Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

> | How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

> |

> | "SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

> | news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

> | > Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

> | > shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

> | >

> | > I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it

> relates

> | > to is WinME

> | >

> | > I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

> | >

> | > I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

> | >

> | > Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ

> Bios

> | > as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

> | >

> | > I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D

> is

> | > a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

> | > Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs

> to

> | > have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following

> software;

> | > Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

> | > Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on

> Drive C

> | > because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

> | > utility to operate on Drive C".

> | >

> | > Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

> | > directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive

> E;

> | > however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

> | >

> | > I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I

> boot

> | > in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and

> I

> | > do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C,

> etc)

> | >

> | > I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer

> not

> | > to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

> | >

> | > Thanks in advance

> | >

> | > SomeOne

> | >

> |

>

Guest philo

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

"SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

> Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

> shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

>

> I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it

relates

> to is WinME

>

> I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>

> I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>

> Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ Bios

> as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

>

> I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D

is

> a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

> Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs to

> have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following software;

> Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

> Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on Drive

C

> because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

> utility to operate on Drive C".

>

> Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

> directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive

E;

> however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>

> I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I

boot

> in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and I

> do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C,

etc)

>

> I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer not

> to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>

> Thanks in advance

>

> SomeOne

>

Caution:

If you re-fdisk your drive you'll end up deleting eveything.

If you boot from a floppy and skip the EZ-bios screen you will not have

access to your drive.

Try booting to safe mode and see if you can defrag your drive from there.

If Speed Disk still refuses to run...just try Windows defrag, that should

work.

To enter safe mode...hit F8 right after the EZ bios message screen

Guest Bob Harris

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

A couple of thoughts:

1. Using something like EZ BIOS can make the hard drive unreadable on all

machines, except your current machine or a clone thereof. Thus, if the

motherboard ever fails, you could not simply move the hard drive to another

PC. Therefore, I hope that you have a backup of all personal data off of

that hard drive. If not, invest in CDs, DVDs, external USB, etc, soon. If

your PC did not come with USB 2.0, you could add a PCI-USB2 card to it.

These are cheap in any computer store, physical or online. For 98SE you

would need to install drivers, so be sure that the card supports 98SE. If

it says 2000, XP and above, avoid it.

2. There is a better way to get about BIOS limitations that overlay

software like EZ BIOS. There are any number of cheap PCI cards with ATA/100

disk controllers on them. If you have a spare PCI slot, you could add one

of these boards and hook a new disk to it. Such boards have their own BIOS,

and all of them sold in recent years can go way past 32 Gig. However, be

aware that some aspects of 98SE can not handle disks beyond 127 Gig, so

limit any new disks to 120 Gig. As for how to transfer information from

your current primary hard drive to a new one, personal data can be copied

with windows explorer. But, the operating system and program can not be so

easily copied. Normally I would recommend a cloning program that operates

outside of windows (e.g., old DOS version of GHOST), but I doubt that would

work with a disk that uses EZ BIOS. Fortunately, there are more advanced

backup programs that can run from within windows and can handle

locked/in-use files. Acronis TrueImage is one of them. Check out the

following link for more options, some free:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads3.html

Be sure that that any program claims support for 98SE. Some of the latest

versions are only doing XP and Vista.

3. If you were willing to do a clean install of 98SE and all programs, then

you could simply unplug both current hard drives, install a PCI-ATA/100

card, attach one or more hard drives to it, partition and format via a DOS

floppy with new FDISK, or better yet via a CD from the disk manufacturer (CD

images are usualkly a free download, if they do not come with the hard

drive).

4. A less permanaent solution would be to get a larger D:\ drive. You

might even find one used for nearly nothing. Try to restrict yourself to

disks less than 32 Gig, or with jumpers to limit their size to 32 Gig, thus

avoiding the need for overlay software on that disk. Then, copy all

personal files to that disk. That would at least free up some space on the

primary hard drive.

"SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

> Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

> shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

>

> I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it

> relates

> to is WinME

>

> I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>

> I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>

> Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ Bios

> as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

>

> I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D

> is

> a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

> Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs to

> have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following software;

> Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

> Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on Drive

> C

> because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

> utility to operate on Drive C".

>

> Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

> directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive

> E;

> however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>

> I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I

> boot

> in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and I

> do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C,

> etc)

>

> I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer not

> to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>

> Thanks in advance

>

> SomeOne

>

Guest glee

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Here is my reply to your identical post in the win98.performance group. Please do

not multi-post like this....cross-post so all replies are visible in all groups at

once.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossposting

Start the computer in SAFE MODE, and then run Windows' Scandisk and Defrag utilities

from there, not Norton's.

Please post back with your results. Give us any error messages received word for

word, please. Also please post back with the exact error messages you receive from

scandisk and defrag when you originally tried. Did it really state "unable to

operate because the disk is in use", or did it state because the "disk is locked"?

Also note that the info you read on the web re: your issue, that stated it applied

to Windows ME, may also apply to your Win98 system.

Why do you even have the Norton programs installed on the system that you only use

for mail? They cause more system problems that they fix.

How to Start Windows in Safe Mode

http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

Getting into Windows Safe Mode

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm

How to start Windows in Safe Mode

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial61.html

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

"SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

> Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

> shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

>

> I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it relates

> to is WinME

>

> I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>

> I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>

> Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ Bios

> as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

>

> I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D is

> a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

> Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs to

> have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following software;

> Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

> Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on Drive C

> because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

> utility to operate on Drive C".

>

> Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

> directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive E;

> however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>

> I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I boot

> in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and I

> do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C, etc)

>

> I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer not

> to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>

> Thanks in advance

>

> SomeOne

>

Guest glee

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

How do you figure? If it's an older system, it could very well have a 32GB limit

imposed by the BIOS....that has nothing to do with FDISK. I have a system here from

1998 that has a 32GB limit....it was an Award BIOS bug.

There was no FDISK update for a 32GB limit in FDISK, that I recall. There was an

update for a ~64GB limit of the program. Please provide a link to a 32GB limit in

FDISK. You must be thinking of XP, which has a 32GB limit for formatting with

FAT32.

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

news:ONmQip8wIHA.1504@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> IIRC the mobo wouldn't be the limit problem, the version of FDISK would be,

> however if EZ-BIOS was installed, also IIRC it's not easy to get rid of. MS put

> out an updated FDISK that dealt with the 32 GB limit and 64 GB limit. I have an

> old board from 1994 where I installed the 64 GB FDISK and haven't had any issue.

> Had I not installed it I would have had to install the drive overlay EZ-BIOS.

>

> --

>

> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

> Conflicts start where information lacks.

> http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>

> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

>

> "MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message

> news:OJ6YqK8wIHA.4376@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>> Uhm, better find out what motherboard/make/model motherboard/computer first

>> [old board].... If Ez-Bios [old drive overlay program] was installed there

>> MAY be an actual BIOS limitation...

>> Seagate called it Disk Wizard, Quantum called it Disk Go, Maxtor called it

>> MaxBlast, etc....all are basically the same thing, check for BIOS

>> limitation, installs drive overlay.

>>

>> Poster might try first scandisking in DOS to check the drive/partitions for

>> errors.

>>

>> Check the EZ-Bios utility to see if it has tools to check the drive with

>> [don't remember].

>>

>> --

>> MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com

>> --

>> _________

>>

>> "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

>> news:uB$pK87wIHA.5832@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> | You don't have to be using EZ-BIOS, updating FDISK would take care of

>> the

>> | drive limit.

>> | Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB

>> | http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044

>> |

>> | Also, you may want to try running defrag in Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads

>> the

>> | minimum drivers/software needed to run Windows.

>> |

>> | --

>> |

>> | Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

>> | Conflicts start where information lacks.

>> | http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>> |

>> | Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

>> | How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

>> |

>> | "SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

>> | news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

>> | > Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

>> | > shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

>> | >

>> | > I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it

>> relates

>> | > to is WinME

>> | >

>> | > I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>> | >

>> | > I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>> | >

>> | > Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ

>> Bios

>> | > as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

>> | >

>> | > I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D

>> is

>> | > a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

>> | > Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs

>> to

>> | > have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following

>> software;

>> | > Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

>> | > Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on

>> Drive C

>> | > because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

>> | > utility to operate on Drive C".

>> | >

>> | > Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

>> | > directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive

>> E;

>> | > however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>> | >

>> | > I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I

>> boot

>> | > in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and

>> I

>> | > do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C,

>> etc)

>> | >

>> | > I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer

>> not

>> | > to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>> | >

>> | > Thanks in advance

>> | >

>> | > SomeOne

>> | >

>> |

>>

>

Guest Brian A.

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

I sit corrected, the 32 GB limit was for Win95/98 and the fix wasn't FDISK, it

was for the protected mode IDE driver Esdi_ 506. I'll agree that much older

boards that didn't support LBA would be subject to the limit, although a board

from '98 I would think should. The Matsonic mobo I have had an Award BIOS circa

'94 which has been updated to '99 and supports LBA.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

Conflicts start where information lacks.

http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

"glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in message

news:%23gz%23I6%23wIHA.516@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> How do you figure? If it's an older system, it could very well have a 32GB

> limit imposed by the BIOS....that has nothing to do with FDISK. I have a

> system here from 1998 that has a 32GB limit....it was an Award BIOS bug.

>

> There was no FDISK update for a 32GB limit in FDISK, that I recall. There was

> an update for a ~64GB limit of the program. Please provide a link to a 32GB

> limit in FDISK. You must be thinking of XP, which has a 32GB limit for

> formatting with FAT32.

> --

> Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+

> http://dts-l.net/

> http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

>

> "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

> news:ONmQip8wIHA.1504@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> IIRC the mobo wouldn't be the limit problem, the version of FDISK would be,

>> however if EZ-BIOS was installed, also IIRC it's not easy to get rid of. MS

>> put out an updated FDISK that dealt with the 32 GB limit and 64 GB limit. I

>> have an old board from 1994 where I installed the 64 GB FDISK and haven't had

>> any issue. Had I not installed it I would have had to install the drive

>> overlay EZ-BIOS.

>>

>> --

>>

>> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

>> Conflicts start where information lacks.

>> http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>>

>> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

>> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

>>

>> "MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message

>> news:OJ6YqK8wIHA.4376@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>> Uhm, better find out what motherboard/make/model motherboard/computer first

>>> [old board].... If Ez-Bios [old drive overlay program] was installed there

>>> MAY be an actual BIOS limitation...

>>> Seagate called it Disk Wizard, Quantum called it Disk Go, Maxtor called it

>>> MaxBlast, etc....all are basically the same thing, check for BIOS

>>> limitation, installs drive overlay.

>>>

>>> Poster might try first scandisking in DOS to check the drive/partitions for

>>> errors.

>>>

>>> Check the EZ-Bios utility to see if it has tools to check the drive with

>>> [don't remember].

>>>

>>> --

>>> MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com

>>> --

>>> _________

>>>

>>> "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

>>> news:uB$pK87wIHA.5832@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>> | You don't have to be using EZ-BIOS, updating FDISK would take care of

>>> the

>>> | drive limit.

>>> | Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB

>>> | http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044

>>> |

>>> | Also, you may want to try running defrag in Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads

>>> the

>>> | minimum drivers/software needed to run Windows.

>>> |

>>> | --

>>> |

>>> | Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

>>> | Conflicts start where information lacks.

>>> | http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>>> |

>>> | Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

>>> | How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

>>> |

>>> | "SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

>>> | news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

>>> | > Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

>>> | > shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

>>> | >

>>> | > I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it

>>> relates

>>> | > to is WinME

>>> | >

>>> | > I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>>> | >

>>> | > I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>>> | >

>>> | > Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ

>>> Bios

>>> | > as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

>>> | >

>>> | > I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D

>>> is

>>> | > a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

>>> | > Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs

>>> to

>>> | > have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following

>>> software;

>>> | > Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

>>> | > Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on

>>> Drive C

>>> | > because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

>>> | > utility to operate on Drive C".

>>> | >

>>> | > Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

>>> | > directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive

>>> E;

>>> | > however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>>> | >

>>> | > I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I

>>> boot

>>> | > in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and

>>> I

>>> | > do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C,

>>> etc)

>>> | >

>>> | > I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer

>>> not

>>> | > to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>>> | >

>>> | > Thanks in advance

>>> | >

>>> | > SomeOne

>>> | >

>>> |

>>>

>>

>

Guest glee

Posted June 1, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Some Award BIOS v.4.51 and older had the issue....usually a BIOS update will fix it.

The fix was added to updates after May 1999. I've got the updated BIOS file for my

machine with the issue, but have never installed it because the largest drive I have

for it is 30GB.

32GB 63 Sector Limit

http://www.allensmith.net/Storage/HDDlimit/63Sector.htm

http://support.ontrack.com/cgi-bin/ontrack.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=77

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-1940681.php

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

news:OTMDea$wIHA.1936@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> I sit corrected, the 32 GB limit was for Win95/98 and the fix wasn't FDISK, it

> was for the protected mode IDE driver Esdi_ 506. I'll agree that much older

> boards that didn't support LBA would be subject to the limit, although a board

> from '98 I would think should. The Matsonic mobo I have had an Award BIOS circa

> '94 which has been updated to '99 and supports LBA.

>

> --

>

> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

> Conflicts start where information lacks.

> http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>

> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

>

> "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in message

> news:%23gz%23I6%23wIHA.516@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>> How do you figure? If it's an older system, it could very well have a 32GB limit

>> imposed by the BIOS....that has nothing to do with FDISK. I have a system here

>> from 1998 that has a 32GB limit....it was an Award BIOS bug.

>>

>> There was no FDISK update for a 32GB limit in FDISK, that I recall. There was an

>> update for a ~64GB limit of the program. Please provide a link to a 32GB limit

>> in FDISK. You must be thinking of XP, which has a 32GB limit for formatting with

>> FAT32.

>> --

>> Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+

>> http://dts-l.net/

>> http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

>>

>> "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

>> news:ONmQip8wIHA.1504@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>>> IIRC the mobo wouldn't be the limit problem, the version of FDISK would be,

>>> however if EZ-BIOS was installed, also IIRC it's not easy to get rid of. MS

>>> put out an updated FDISK that dealt with the 32 GB limit and 64 GB limit. I

>>> have an old board from 1994 where I installed the 64 GB FDISK and haven't had

>>> any issue. Had I not installed it I would have had to install the drive overlay

>>> EZ-BIOS.

>>>

>>> --

>>>

>>> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

>>> Conflicts start where information lacks.

>>> http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>>>

>>> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

>>> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

>>>

>>> "MEB" <meb@not here@hotmail.com> wrote in message

>>> news:OJ6YqK8wIHA.4376@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>> Uhm, better find out what motherboard/make/model motherboard/computer first

>>>> [old board].... If Ez-Bios [old drive overlay program] was installed there

>>>> MAY be an actual BIOS limitation...

>>>> Seagate called it Disk Wizard, Quantum called it Disk Go, Maxtor called it

>>>> MaxBlast, etc....all are basically the same thing, check for BIOS

>>>> limitation, installs drive overlay.

>>>>

>>>> Poster might try first scandisking in DOS to check the drive/partitions for

>>>> errors.

>>>>

>>>> Check the EZ-Bios utility to see if it has tools to check the drive with

>>>> [don't remember].

>>>>

>>>> --

>>>> MEB http://peoplescounsel.orgfree.com

>>>> --

>>>> _________

>>>>

>>>> "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message

>>>> news:uB$pK87wIHA.5832@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>>> | You don't have to be using EZ-BIOS, updating FDISK would take care of

>>>> the

>>>> | drive limit.

>>>> | Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB

>>>> | http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263044

>>>> |

>>>> | Also, you may want to try running defrag in Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads

>>>> the

>>>> | minimum drivers/software needed to run Windows.

>>>> |

>>>> | --

>>>> |

>>>> | Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

>>>> | Conflicts start where information lacks.

>>>> | http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>>>> |

>>>> | Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

>>>> | How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

>>>> |

>>>> | "SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> wrote in message

>>>> | news:TGs0k.120$js1.95@newsfe24.lga...

>>>> | > Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

>>>> | > shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

>>>> | >

>>>> | > I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it

>>>> relates

>>>> | > to is WinME

>>>> | >

>>>> | > I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>>>> | >

>>>> | > I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>>>> | >

>>>> | > Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ

>>>> Bios

>>>> | > as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

>>>> | >

>>>> | > I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D

>>>> is

>>>> | > a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

>>>> | > Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs

>>>> to

>>>> | > have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following

>>>> software;

>>>> | > Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

>>>> | > Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on

>>>> Drive C

>>>> | > because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

>>>> | > utility to operate on Drive C".

>>>> | >

>>>> | > Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

>>>> | > directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive

>>>> E;

>>>> | > however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>>>> | >

>>>> | > I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I

>>>> boot

>>>> | > in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and

>>>> I

>>>> | > do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C,

>>>> etc)

>>>> | >

>>>> | > I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer

>>>> not

>>>> | > to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>>>> | >

>>>> | > Thanks in advance

>>>> | >

>>>> | > SomeOne

>>>> | >

>>>> |

>>>>

>>>

>>

>

Guest Bill Watt

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Glen,

Don't you have to boot with a start up diskette and temporarily

suspend EZ Bios to Defrag? Not cancel it but I recall there is an

option to Suspend or Remove when booting with a diskette in order to

work on the HDD. The options come up quickly when booting with the

floppy.

Or was Suspend used for something else, do you remember?

Regards,

Bill Watt

Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

_____________________________________________________________

On Sun, 1 Jun 2008 09:43:36 -0400, "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com>

wrote:

>Here is my reply to your identical post in the win98.performance group. Please do

>not multi-post like this....cross-post so all replies are visible in all groups at

>once.

>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossposting

>

>Start the computer in SAFE MODE, and then run Windows' Scandisk and Defrag utilities

>from there, not Norton's.

>

>Please post back with your results. Give us any error messages received word for

>word, please. Also please post back with the exact error messages you receive from

>scandisk and defrag when you originally tried. Did it really state "unable to

>operate because the disk is in use", or did it state because the "disk is locked"?

>

>Also note that the info you read on the web re: your issue, that stated it applied

>to Windows ME, may also apply to your Win98 system.

>

>Why do you even have the Norton programs installed on the system that you only use

>for mail? They cause more system problems that they fix.

>

>How to Start Windows in Safe Mode

>http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

>

>Getting into Windows Safe Mode

>http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm

>

>How to start Windows in Safe Mode

>http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial61.html

Guest glee

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

I'm not an overlay user, Bill, but I've never heard of not being able to defrag from

Windows because an overlay was installed. Also, the OP mentions that the other

partitions defrag with no problem....only C: cannot because the "disk is locked by

another utility"

You probably forgot more than I ever knew about overlays. ;-)

I think these articles may be relevant for the original poster:

Error Message "Windows Cannot Defragment This Drive now Because It Has Been Locked

by a Disk Utility" When Using Disk Defragmenter

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

MS-DOS Lock and Unlock command help

http://www.computerhope.com/lockhlp.htm

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

"Bill Watt" <nobwatt@ptd.net> wrote in message

news:teq644990q5kvn8m9umg0oku51lll3c3pg@4ax.com...

>

> Glen,

>

> Don't you have to boot with a start up diskette and temporarily

> suspend EZ Bios to Defrag? Not cancel it but I recall there is an

> option to Suspend or Remove when booting with a diskette in order to

> work on the HDD. The options come up quickly when booting with the

> floppy.

> Or was Suspend used for something else, do you remember?

>

> Regards,

>

> Bill Watt

> Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

>

> _____________________________________________________________

>

> On Sun, 1 Jun 2008 09:43:36 -0400, "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com>

> wrote:

>

>>Here is my reply to your identical post in the win98.performance group. Please do

>>not multi-post like this....cross-post so all replies are visible in all groups at

>>once.

>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossposting

>>

>>Start the computer in SAFE MODE, and then run Windows' Scandisk and Defrag

>>utilities

>>from there, not Norton's.

>>

>>Please post back with your results. Give us any error messages received word for

>>word, please. Also please post back with the exact error messages you receive

>>from

>>scandisk and defrag when you originally tried. Did it really state "unable to

>>operate because the disk is in use", or did it state because the "disk is locked"?

>>

>>Also note that the info you read on the web re: your issue, that stated it applied

>>to Windows ME, may also apply to your Win98 system.

>>

>>Why do you even have the Norton programs installed on the system that you only use

>>for mail? They cause more system problems that they fix.

>>

>>How to Start Windows in Safe Mode

>>http://www.pchell.com/support/safemode.shtml

>>

>>Getting into Windows Safe Mode

>>http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm

>>

>>How to start Windows in Safe Mode

>>http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial61.html

>

Guest Bill Watt

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Glen,

As you know, if a utility locks the drive for direct access and then

the utility is not closed properly or simply fails to unlock the

drive then the drive remains locked. If the OP has closed ALL

utilities, especially any Norton programs, and the drive is still

locked then you boot to DOS and enter Unlock C:.

Booting to Safe mode as you wisely suggested should not load any

resident utilities although the drive may still be locked, if it is

it seems it would be safe to unlock it.

That may be the case and your links should help him.

I have used EZ BIOS. :-) :-)

Regards,

Bill Watt

Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

_______________________________________________________________

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 01:15:02 -0400, "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com>

wrote:

>I'm not an overlay user, Bill, but I've never heard of not being able to defrag from

>Windows because an overlay was installed. Also, the OP mentions that the other

>partitions defrag with no problem....only C: cannot because the "disk is locked by

>another utility"

>

>You probably forgot more than I ever knew about overlays. ;-)

>

>I think these articles may be relevant for the original poster:

>

>Error Message "Windows Cannot Defragment This Drive now Because It Has Been Locked

>by a Disk Utility" When Using Disk Defragmenter

>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

>

>MS-DOS Lock and Unlock command help

>http://www.computerhope.com/lockhlp.htm

Guest Bill Watt

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Glen,

The OP says he can't boot to DOS using the DOS Start Menu. That may

be because of the EZ BIOS. I believe booting with the EZBIOS

Diskette will provide the option to Suspend the overlay to use DOS.

He could try it to get into DOS just to use Unlock C: then re- boot

to Windows and run Scandisk and Defrag. I think the EZBIOS diskette

may be needed to get the option, not sure.

What do you think?

Regards,

Bill Watt

Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

_____________________________________________________________

..

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 01:15:02 -0400, "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com>

wrote:

>I'm not an overlay user, Bill, but I've never heard of not being able to defrag from

>Windows because an overlay was installed. Also, the OP mentions that the other

>partitions defrag with no problem....only C: cannot because the "disk is locked by

>another utility"

>

>You probably forgot more than I ever knew about overlays. ;-)

>

>I think these articles may be relevant for the original poster:

>

>Error Message "Windows Cannot Defragment This Drive now Because It Has Been Locked

>by a Disk Utility" When Using Disk Defragmenter

>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

>

>MS-DOS Lock and Unlock command help

>http://www.computerhope.com/lockhlp.htm

Guest Jeff Richards

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

If EZ-Bios is installed and operating, it should not affect booting to DOS

in any way - it is installed and functioning before the system boots, and it

couldn't care less what OS gets booted. Some DOS utilities might not cope

with a large partition size, but otherwise it should run fine. But I didn't

see that the OP said he couldn't boot to DOS - only that if he did he wanted

to be careful in case he had accidentally bypassed EZ-BIOS. But if the

system is on an EZ-Bios-managed partition, then he wouldn't be able to boot

unless it was installed and functioning, so that's not really a worry. I

think he was saying that he can't start DOS from within Windows, but that

has all sorts of issues of its own anyway.

I think the unknown disk utility remains unknown.

--

Jeff Richards

MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)

"Bill Watt" <nobwatt@ptd.net> wrote in message

news:4r5744t153ulsvsufqgu27l7o91801unpk@4ax.com...

>

> Glen,

>

> The OP says he can't boot to DOS using the DOS Start Menu. That may

> be because of the EZ BIOS. I believe booting with the EZBIOS

> Diskette will provide the option to Suspend the overlay to use DOS.

> He could try it to get into DOS just to use Unlock C: then re- boot

> to Windows and run Scandisk and Defrag. I think the EZBIOS diskette

> may be needed to get the option, not sure.

>

> What do you think?

>

> Regards,

>

> Bill Watt

> Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

> _____________________________________________________________

> .

>

> On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 01:15:02 -0400, "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com>

> wrote:

>

>>I'm not an overlay user, Bill, but I've never heard of not being able to

>>defrag from

>>Windows because an overlay was installed. Also, the OP mentions that the

>>other

>>partitions defrag with no problem....only C: cannot because the "disk is

>>locked by

>>another utility"

>>

>>You probably forgot more than I ever knew about overlays. ;-)

>>

>>I think these articles may be relevant for the original poster:

>>

>>Error Message "Windows Cannot Defragment This Drive now Because It Has

>>Been Locked

>>by a Disk Utility" When Using Disk Defragmenter

>>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

>>

>>MS-DOS Lock and Unlock command help

>>http://www.computerhope.com/lockhlp.htm

>

Guest Franc Zabkar

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

On Sun, 1 Jun 2008 02:59:06 -0500, "SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com> put

finger to keyboard and composed:

>I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>

>I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>

>Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ Bios

>as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

If your motherboard manufacturer doesn't offer a BIOS update to

circumvent the HD size limitation, then you may be able to download a

patched BIOS from here:

http://wims.rainbow-software.org/index.php?count=-1

See the bottom of that page for links to more patched BIOSes. The

upper limit for these BIOSes is typically 128GB.

If your motherboard isn't listed, then post a request to the wimsbios

forum and one of the experts will probably patch your BIOS for you.

http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/my-hard-drive-isn-t-recognized-vf26.html

>I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D is

>a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

>Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs to

>have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following software;

>Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

>Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on Drive C

>because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

>utility to operate on Drive C".

>Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

>directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive E;

>however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>

>I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I boot

>in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and I

>do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C, etc)

>

>I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer not

>to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>

>Thanks in advance

>

>SomeOne

I could easily be wrong, but I would have thought that the EZ BIOS

overlay would be transparent to Windows disc utilities, and to real

mode DOS.

AIUI, hard disc overlays place their own MBR code in the first

physical sector of the HD, together with a small dummy partition table

(eg 20MB ?). This EZ MBR code is bootstrapped at power-on, loads its

own INT13 BIOS extensions, and then points the OS to a relocated

partition table which reflects the true capacity of the HD. The EZ

BIOS code remains memory resident and consumes about 3KB of

conventional memory. If you boot into DOS mode and execute the MEM

command, you will see about 637KB of conventional RAM instead of

640KB.

One potential problem is that if you boot from a CD or floppy

diskette, you may not be able to see the HD's file system. This is

because you will be looking at the dummy partition table at physical

sector 0. In order to see the relocated partition table, you first

need to start booting from the HD, then, during a small window of

opportunity, you will be invited to "type Ctrl-S to boot from floppy",

or something like that. This allows the EZ BIOS to become memory

resident before booting to the diskette.

In short, I suspect that your problem is related to some other Windows

based software, not EZ BIOS.

- Franc Zabkar

--

Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

Guest glee

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Hi Jeff,

The OP multiposted, twice, and I forwarded his reply from the second thread in

win98.performance to this group, but it is also a separate thread with the same

subject line....there are two posts both by me since one is a forward and one is a

reply to it. Look for it directly after this thread....it looks like part of this

thread because of the identical subject and no other threads between them.

In it, the OP stated in part:

<quote>

> When I start system in SAFE Mode I still have the problem. However, using

> Win98SE ScanDisk / Defrag I do get the message "Scan Disk Cannot Continue

> Because A Program Such As A Disk Utility Has Locked This Drive. Close The

> Program Or Wait For It To Finish, Then Restart ScanDisk" The other messages

> was when I tried to use the Norton utility.

AND

> By the way, if on a re-boot I tell the machine to re-boot in DOS the only

> thing that I get is a fast flashing cursor in the upper left corner of the

> screen

</quote>

I am waiting for a reply as to how he actually tried the DOS boot.....from the boot

menu or from Start> Shutdown> MS-DOS Mode.

I still think his problems may be due to the issues described in this article,

though it states it applies to WinME:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

"Jeff Richards" <JRichards@msn.com.au> wrote in message

news:OzwvA8IxIHA.5520@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> If EZ-Bios is installed and operating, it should not affect booting to DOS in any

> way - it is installed and functioning before the system boots, and it couldn't

> care less what OS gets booted. Some DOS utilities might not cope with a large

> partition size, but otherwise it should run fine. But I didn't see that the OP

> said he couldn't boot to DOS - only that if he did he wanted to be careful in case

> he had accidentally bypassed EZ-BIOS. But if the system is on an EZ-Bios-managed

> partition, then he wouldn't be able to boot unless it was installed and

> functioning, so that's not really a worry. I think he was saying that he can't

> start DOS from within Windows, but that has all sorts of issues of its own anyway.

>

> I think the unknown disk utility remains unknown.

> --

> Jeff Richards

> MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)

> "Bill Watt" <nobwatt@ptd.net> wrote in message

> news:4r5744t153ulsvsufqgu27l7o91801unpk@4ax.com...

>>

>> Glen,

>>

>> The OP says he can't boot to DOS using the DOS Start Menu. That may

>> be because of the EZ BIOS. I believe booting with the EZBIOS

>> Diskette will provide the option to Suspend the overlay to use DOS.

>> He could try it to get into DOS just to use Unlock C: then re- boot

>> to Windows and run Scandisk and Defrag. I think the EZBIOS diskette

>> may be needed to get the option, not sure.

>>

>> What do you think?

>>

>> Regards,

>>

>> Bill Watt

>> Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

>> _____________________________________________________________

>> .

>>

>> On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 01:15:02 -0400, "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com>

>> wrote:

>>

>>>I'm not an overlay user, Bill, but I've never heard of not being able to defrag

>>>from

>>>Windows because an overlay was installed. Also, the OP mentions that the other

>>>partitions defrag with no problem....only C: cannot because the "disk is locked

>>>by

>>>another utility"

>>>

>>>You probably forgot more than I ever knew about overlays. ;-)

>>>

>>>I think these articles may be relevant for the original poster:

>>>

>>>Error Message "Windows Cannot Defragment This Drive now Because It Has Been

>>>Locked

>>>by a Disk Utility" When Using Disk Defragmenter

>>>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

>>>

>>>MS-DOS Lock and Unlock command help

>>>http://www.computerhope.com/lockhlp.htm

>>

>

Guest Jeff Richards

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

I had both posts, but the reference to '...tell the machine to re-boot in

DOS" I took as Start> Shutdown> MS-DOS Mode. Assuming it was something to

do with Norton seemed like a cheap shot, but that article clearly indicates

it is a possibility. Whatever, I think something like that is more likely

than an issue with EZ-Bios.

--

Jeff Richards

MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)

"glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in message

news:%23xPuOZLxIHA.1236@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Hi Jeff,

> The OP multiposted, twice, and I forwarded his reply from the second

> thread in win98.performance to this group, but it is also a separate

> thread with the same subject line....there are two posts both by me since

> one is a forward and one is a reply to it. Look for it directly after

> this thread....it looks like part of this thread because of the identical

> subject and no other threads between them.

>

> In it, the OP stated in part:

> <quote>

>> When I start system in SAFE Mode I still have the problem. However,

>> using

>> Win98SE ScanDisk / Defrag I do get the message "Scan Disk Cannot Continue

>> Because A Program Such As A Disk Utility Has Locked This Drive. Close

>> The

>> Program Or Wait For It To Finish, Then Restart ScanDisk" The other

>> messages

>> was when I tried to use the Norton utility.

> AND

>> By the way, if on a re-boot I tell the machine to re-boot in DOS the only

>> thing that I get is a fast flashing cursor in the upper left corner of

>> the

>> screen

> </quote>

>

> I am waiting for a reply as to how he actually tried the DOS boot.....from

> the boot menu or from Start> Shutdown> MS-DOS Mode.

> I still think his problems may be due to the issues described in this

> article, though it states it applies to WinME:

> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

> --

> Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

> http://dts-l.net/

> http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

>

> "Jeff Richards" <JRichards@msn.com.au> wrote in message

> news:OzwvA8IxIHA.5520@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>> If EZ-Bios is installed and operating, it should not affect booting to

>> DOS in any way - it is installed and functioning before the system boots,

>> and it couldn't care less what OS gets booted. Some DOS utilities might

>> not cope with a large partition size, but otherwise it should run fine.

>> But I didn't see that the OP said he couldn't boot to DOS - only that if

>> he did he wanted to be careful in case he had accidentally bypassed

>> EZ-BIOS. But if the system is on an EZ-Bios-managed partition, then he

>> wouldn't be able to boot unless it was installed and functioning, so

>> that's not really a worry. I think he was saying that he can't start DOS

>> from within Windows, but that has all sorts of issues of its own anyway.

>>

>> I think the unknown disk utility remains unknown.

>> --

>> Jeff Richards

>> MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)

>> "Bill Watt" <nobwatt@ptd.net> wrote in message

>> news:4r5744t153ulsvsufqgu27l7o91801unpk@4ax.com...

>>>

>>> Glen,

>>>

>>> The OP says he can't boot to DOS using the DOS Start Menu. That may

>>> be because of the EZ BIOS. I believe booting with the EZBIOS

>>> Diskette will provide the option to Suspend the overlay to use DOS.

>>> He could try it to get into DOS just to use Unlock C: then re- boot

>>> to Windows and run Scandisk and Defrag. I think the EZBIOS diskette

>>> may be needed to get the option, not sure.

>>>

>>> What do you think?

>>>

>>> Regards,

>>>

>>> Bill Watt

>>> Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

>>> _____________________________________________________________

>>> .

>>>

>>> On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 01:15:02 -0400, "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com>

>>> wrote:

>>>

>>>>I'm not an overlay user, Bill, but I've never heard of not being able to

>>>>defrag from

>>>>Windows because an overlay was installed. Also, the OP mentions that

>>>>the other

>>>>partitions defrag with no problem....only C: cannot because the "disk is

>>>>locked by

>>>>another utility"

>>>>

>>>>You probably forgot more than I ever knew about overlays. ;-)

>>>>

>>>>I think these articles may be relevant for the original poster:

>>>>

>>>>Error Message "Windows Cannot Defragment This Drive now Because It Has

>>>>Been Locked

>>>>by a Disk Utility" When Using Disk Defragmenter

>>>>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

>>>>

>>>>MS-DOS Lock and Unlock command help

>>>>http://www.computerhope.com/lockhlp.htm

>>>

>>

>

Guest glee

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Well, he solved the problem (see the last forward from me this morning), though he

may have other problems.

I don't mind taking cheap shots at Symantec....they so often are deserved, IMHO.

--

Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

http://dts-l.net/

http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

"Jeff Richards" <JRichards@msn.com.au> wrote in message

news:ONARpAMxIHA.1236@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>I had both posts, but the reference to '...tell the machine to re-boot in DOS" I

>took as Start> Shutdown> MS-DOS Mode. Assuming it was something to do with Norton

>seemed like a cheap shot, but that article clearly indicates it is a possibility.

>Whatever, I think something like that is more likely than an issue with EZ-Bios.

> --

> Jeff Richards

> MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)

> "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in message

> news:%23xPuOZLxIHA.1236@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> Hi Jeff,

>> The OP multiposted, twice, and I forwarded his reply from the second thread in

>> win98.performance to this group, but it is also a separate thread with the same

>> subject line....there are two posts both by me since one is a forward and one is

>> a reply to it. Look for it directly after this thread....it looks like part of

>> this thread because of the identical subject and no other threads between them.

>>

>> In it, the OP stated in part:

>> <quote>

>>> When I start system in SAFE Mode I still have the problem. However, using

>>> Win98SE ScanDisk / Defrag I do get the message "Scan Disk Cannot Continue

>>> Because A Program Such As A Disk Utility Has Locked This Drive. Close The

>>> Program Or Wait For It To Finish, Then Restart ScanDisk" The other messages

>>> was when I tried to use the Norton utility.

>> AND

>>> By the way, if on a re-boot I tell the machine to re-boot in DOS the only

>>> thing that I get is a fast flashing cursor in the upper left corner of the

>>> screen

>> </quote>

>>

>> I am waiting for a reply as to how he actually tried the DOS boot.....from the

>> boot menu or from Start> Shutdown> MS-DOS Mode.

>> I still think his problems may be due to the issues described in this article,

>> though it states it applies to WinME:

>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

>> --

>> Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

>> http://dts-l.net/

>> http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

>>

>> "Jeff Richards" <JRichards@msn.com.au> wrote in message

>> news:OzwvA8IxIHA.5520@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>> If EZ-Bios is installed and operating, it should not affect booting to DOS in

>>> any way - it is installed and functioning before the system boots, and it

>>> couldn't care less what OS gets booted. Some DOS utilities might not cope with

>>> a large partition size, but otherwise it should run fine. But I didn't see that

>>> the OP said he couldn't boot to DOS - only that if he did he wanted to be

>>> careful in case he had accidentally bypassed EZ-BIOS. But if the system is on

>>> an EZ-Bios-managed partition, then he wouldn't be able to boot unless it was

>>> installed and functioning, so that's not really a worry. I think he was saying

>>> that he can't start DOS from within Windows, but that has all sorts of issues of

>>> its own anyway.

>>>

>>> I think the unknown disk utility remains unknown.

>>> --

>>> Jeff Richards

>>> MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)

>>> "Bill Watt" <nobwatt@ptd.net> wrote in message

>>> news:4r5744t153ulsvsufqgu27l7o91801unpk@4ax.com...

>>>>

>>>> Glen,

>>>>

>>>> The OP says he can't boot to DOS using the DOS Start Menu. That may

>>>> be because of the EZ BIOS. I believe booting with the EZBIOS

>>>> Diskette will provide the option to Suspend the overlay to use DOS.

>>>> He could try it to get into DOS just to use Unlock C: then re- boot

>>>> to Windows and run Scandisk and Defrag. I think the EZBIOS diskette

>>>> may be needed to get the option, not sure.

>>>>

>>>> What do you think?

>>>>

>>>> Regards,

>>>>

>>>> Bill Watt

>>>> Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

>>>> _____________________________________________________________

>>>> .

>>>>

>>>> On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 01:15:02 -0400, "glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com>

>>>> wrote:

>>>>

>>>>>I'm not an overlay user, Bill, but I've never heard of not being able to defrag

>>>>>from

>>>>>Windows because an overlay was installed. Also, the OP mentions that the other

>>>>>partitions defrag with no problem....only C: cannot because the "disk is locked

>>>>>by

>>>>>another utility"

>>>>>

>>>>>You probably forgot more than I ever knew about overlays. ;-)

>>>>>

>>>>>I think these articles may be relevant for the original poster:

>>>>>

>>>>>Error Message "Windows Cannot Defragment This Drive now Because It Has Been

>>>>>Locked

>>>>>by a Disk Utility" When Using Disk Defragmenter

>>>>>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286810

>>>>>

>>>>>MS-DOS Lock and Unlock command help

>>>>>http://www.computerhope.com/lockhlp.htm

>>>>

>>>

>>

>

Guest Jeff Richards

Posted June 2, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

.... and perhaps demonstrated yet again.

--

Jeff Richards

MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)

"glee" <glee29@spamindspring.com> wrote in message

news:OjK8gCNxIHA.4952@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> Well, he solved the problem (see the last forward from me this morning),

> though he may have other problems.

>

> I don't mind taking cheap shots at Symantec....they so often are deserved,

> IMHO.

> --

> Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+

> http://dts-l.net/

> http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

>

Guest letterman@invalid.com

Posted June 6, 2008

Re: Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

On Sun, 1 Jun 2008 02:59:06 -0500, "SomeOne" <SomeOne@Example.Com>

wrote:

>Please excuse. I am not sure if I am in the proper newsgroup. I am

>shotgunning this to every Win98 newsgroup that I am coming across.

>

>I have tried looking this up on the new, but the only thing that it relates

>to is WinME

>

>I have an old system that I uses for subscription mail.

>

>I had about 100MB mem w/Win98SE

>

>Due to the age of the mother board, I have to use something called EZ Bios

>as I am running a hard drive that is greater than 32 gig.

>

>I have two hard drives. Drive C, E, and F are logical drive and Drive D is

>a single 4 Gig hard driv. Problem is this. I keep getting messages from

>Norton stating that Drive C is heavily fragmented (over 82%) and needs to

>have defrag run on it. When I try and run any of the following software;

>Norton Disk Doctor, Optimization Wizard, Speed Disk, Win98 Scan Disk or

>Win98 Disk Defrag, I get the following message "Unable to operate on Drive C

>because it is in use by unknown disk utility. Please close unknown disk

>utility to operate on Drive C".

>

>Now I use Drive C as my system drive and I put nothing on the drive

>directly. When I try and install, I try and have everything go to Drive E;

>however, sometimes software does not give me that option.

>

>I have turned off everything that I can find. Have to be careful if I boot

>in DOS and try this as I am not sure of the EZ Bios would be working and I

>do not want to screw up Drive C (Defrag might not see complete Drive C, etc)

>

>I would appreciate any and all help. One thing, I really would prefer not

>to have to reformat Drive C. Drive C is 7.3 Gig with 5.6 Gig free.

>

>Thanks in advance

>

>SomeOne

>

Did you run scandisk on ALL drives and partitions. You may have some

lost files or something from a instant shutdown.

Go into your STARTUP folder and write down everything that is enabled.

Then disable everything (disable, not delete). Reboot and try to

defrag again. (later you can re-enable everything)

If you have a virus checker that runs all the time, disable it

temporarily.

Disable all screen savers.

Check for viruses & spyware

If none of the above helped, try to run defrag in Safe Mode.

One last thing.

Get yourself a copy of DEFRAG.EXE from WindowsME. Rename the one that

came with Win98 (in Windows folder), to defrag.98. Copy the ME one

DEFRAG.EXE to the Windows folder. It's far better and much faster

than the one from Win98. It's 100% compatible with 98. If you dont

have a WinME CD, I have seen this defrag file on websites. or ask

someone on a newsgroup to send it to you.

I have used those bios utilities from drive manufacturers and never

had any problems with them. If Windows works, I doubt it's that.

Something above should help. If not, I dont know what else to try.

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