At 10:34 PM 12/30/1999 David Landau wrote:
>
>My HD is 4.3GB. Now it is divided into 3 partitions -- 1.99, 1.99, and .312.
>Up until now, I've only been using C:, essentially filling it up, while D:
>and E: remain not utilized. I think (and here I'm asking for opinions and
>advice) that I would like to resize the partitions. . . .
>
>When I tested my Windows95 boot disk, I saw that it doesn't recognize my
>CD-ROM. . . .


David:

From the way your drive is partitioned, I assume that you are using FAT-16
and have 32KB-sized allocation units on drives C: and D:. I would therefore
recommend you keep it that way until you migrate to FAT-32. Just move your
data to subdirectories on D: and re-configure your programs to search for
your data on the new drive (i.e., change the defaults). You should backup
data to removable media, and might use E: drive for downloads and archives.

Replacing Windows 95 with Windows 98 SE is your best bet, however, it is
a change that is best accomplished by backing up, then zeroing out your
hard drive (with an utility that will write zeroes to all sectors, such
as IBM's Wipe -- cf. the Nospin web site) and installing Windows 98 SE
(opting for Fat-32 in FDISK; i.e., enable large drive use) and all software
from scratch. Depending on the ratio of software viz. data (and the timetable
for your adding another hard drive), I would size your drive(s) into a C: for
OS/software and D: for Data. You can put Data anywhere safe but your OS and
software should normally stay on C:.

A CAVEAT: You should verify your hardware and software will function without
incident on a Windows 98 SE platform. See http://www.annoyances.org/win98/
and other web sites, such as Nospin, to do your research. A stable, usable
system is best left alone.

I have Windows 98 and software installed on a 4GB Ultra IDE C: drive, a
SCSI HDD split into D: and E: for virtual memory and data (work/personal),
and use a CDR, LS-120, Zip and removable HDD for backups/archives. Every so
often, I zero out my C: drive and ghost a basic OS/software system from
an image on a CDR to clear out artifacts from old software. Then I update
the software and also the changeable files (macros, bookmarks, addresses,
et al.) from a LS-120 used as an incremental backup. I'm sure others here
have comparable or better systems for backing up and removing clutter.

Regarding your CD-ROM Boot Disk, include in your CONFIG.SYS the statement:

        Device=A:\CDROM.SYS /D:MSCD001

and, in your AUTOEXEC.BAT the statement:

        A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001

where CDROM.SYS is your CD-ROM driver and you've copied it to the Root
Directory of your Boot Disk (along with MSCDEX.EXE).

Regards,

John Chin
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.digitalconcern.com

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