FAT32 formatting allows a *partition* to be mych larger than 2GB.
But partitions are within drives; formatting at this level is
completely separate from BIOS support for large(r) drives.

  Apparently, your P100 system has a BIOS that is able to cope with
drives at least up to 8.4GB, and your K6-2 has one that exceeds that
limitation -- the latter probably has an "Ultra" controller on its
motherboard and so no third-party device is needed for this function.
 The suggestions to install a Promise (or other) controller offer a
way to overcome this limitation on systems with (a) old, limited
BIOS, and (b) no BIOS update available.

David Gillett
A+, MCSE, CCNA

On 30 May 2001, at 4:04, Jack R Payton wrote:

> Mary:
>
> OK. So, can a FAT32 system address twice as much HDD space? Also, my Mom
> has a Pentium100 system with Win98SE (FAT32) and her 4.2G HDD is fully
> accesible. We have an AMD K6-2/350 with a 17G HDD, partitioned from 2.0
> to 8.5.G - all functional (WinME, FAT32). We haven't added a Promise or
> Ultra controller, etc. Please explain.
>
> Jack

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