This one depends on how much money you intend to spend.  Upgrading
the motherboard may in fact add additional issues, such as replacing
some of your cards or memory.  I noticed you mentioned a controller
card, which I would believe you do not have an onboard controller and
then possibly a 486 system.  Upgrading the motherboard may entail
upgrading the CPU as well.  Even with a P133 chip this is about a
$200 investment.  You may need to opt for PCI cards such as video,
as a PCI board will have fewer ISA slots...

Buying a smaller drive and the bios would seem the sensible solution,
but then you have to weigh what you have when you are done.  Is
this system worth the investment you have made??  That should be
a consideration.

Installing the EZ drive software can create some minor problems.  But,
it is the least expensive solution.  As far as Norton Utilities, version 3
does seem to work well with Large Partition software such as EZ drive
or Disk Manager with few problems.  If you are using an older version
you may want to upgrade your Norton Utilities software.  This is a good
investment as you can use it again, if you buy a newer machine.

You need to be more specific about your system for better advice.  Such as:
1) What is your current CPU
2) What is your current motherboard (or at least how many ISA slots &
    other slots are on the board and what type of memory.. 30pin vs 72pin)
3) What cards are currently in the system & slot types (ie: ISA, VLB or PCI)
4) How far you willing to go in an upgrade, (either based on money or comfort)

Bob



At 05:30 AM 3/18/98 -0500, you wrote:
>The saga continues I need advice on how to finish this project.  Trying
>to install a 6.4 Western Digital hard drive.  The first hard drive I
>bought was defective and it turns out that my BIOS does not support
>larger drives.  It only recognized it as being a 2.1 GB drive.
>
>Contacted the motherboard manufacturer, BCM, and the BIOS upgrade would
>only support a max of 4.1 GB.
>
>Contacted Micro Firmware and they do not make BIOS for this
>manufacturer.
>
>Bought a Promise IDE controller card only to discover that I do not have
>an empty ISA slot.
>
>In talking with the WD tech person this morning after we discovered that
>the BIOS would not support the drive, we installed EZ Drive.  He said it
>wouldn't slow down the system.  I read the responses to my previous
>posts about this question, and I am doubting that decision.  In addition
>to the possibility of data loss, EZ drive conflicts with parts of Norton
>Utilities.  I can uninstall EZ drive, but what should I do?  This has
>quickly gotten out of control and I am over my head.
>
>I see my options as:
>
>1) buy a new motherboard.  Any recommendations?  What do I look for?
>Never done anything that involved.  I see the mess I've gotten into just
>trying to add a 2nd HD.  How difficult is this?  Very apprehensive about
>this solution.
>
>2) return 6.4 drive; purchase 4.1; upgrade BIOS.  I got what I thought
>was a great price on the 6.4 and 4.1's are not that much less ($50);
>seems like a waste of money.
>
>3) go with the EZ Drive.
>
>What are the recommendations?
>
>Thanks
>
>Dave Littlehale
>
>