If the machine is a Pentium 100mhz, then more than likely there is an 8 gig
bios limitation. It could be only 2.1 gig, but it's probably not any larger
than 8gig. There are a few solutions to this, one of which may be a bios
upgrade, but that has yet to give satisfactory results to me so far. You
might be able to get a custom bios that will solve the size problem,
however. Another solution would be to use a drive overlay, which is software
that maps the physical disk geometry to something your system bios will
understand. You will have to partition the software into partitions that do
not exceed the bios size limitation of your system. Drive overlays can be a
pain should you decide to move the drive to a new sysrtem later. Some drive
overlays are not easily removable and will cause the drive to be
unrecognizable in newer systems. If your drive did not come with this
software, it should be available at the Western Digital web site for free. A
third option would be to use an ide drive controller such as those made by
Promise Technologies and others. This would allow you to use the drive as
one large partition if you want and will probably speed up disk access as
well. I think you can get one starting at about 20 or 30 dollars. I am not
familiar with these controllers as far as performance/reliability. You might
be able to find info at http://www.storgaereview.com and find prices at
http://www.pricewatch.com and then check the sellers at
http://www.resellerratings.com if you want to but via the net.
Robert Graf
Subject: hard drive upgrade: Compaq P100


PCBUILD Digest - 19 Jun 2001 to 20 Jun 2001 (#2001-172)I'm working with a
Compaq 5100 (P100) machine and trying to install an additional hard drive.
I tried to install a Western Digital 20 gig drive, but "setup" misreported
the size, and it wouldn't fdisk.  Anyone know if there's any
bios limitations (I believe the machine's been updated with the latest setup
files...) on hard disk size for this series of Compaq?   My emails to Compaq
support have gone unanswered.....Please Help!!     Thanks!!!

Cal Peters
Grand Rapids, MI

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