Problem trying to defrag Sys Drive (C:)

Tutorials Win: Microsoft Windows Forum

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
Top

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

Brian
Sun Jun 01 01:10:42 PDT 2008

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
>
>
>

Top

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

MEB
Sun Jun 01 01:36:50 PDT 2008

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
| >
| >
| >
|


Top

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

MEB
Sun Jun 01 01:45:47 PDT 2008

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
| | >
| | >
| | >
| |
|
|


Top

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

Brian
Sun Jun 01 02:31:54 PDT 2008

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
> | >
> | >
> | >
> |
>
>

Top

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

philo
Sun Jun 01 06:20:18 PDT 2008


"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


Top

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

Bob
Sun Jun 01 06:35:05 PDT 2008

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
>
>
>


Top

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

glee
Sun Jun 01 06:43:36 PDT 2008

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
>
>
>


Top

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

glee
Sun Jun 01 06:50:35 PDT 2008

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
>> | >
>> | >
>> | >
>> |
>>
>>
>


Top

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

Brian
Sun Jun 01 07:48:32 PDT 2008

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
>>> | >
>>> | >
>>> | >
>>> |
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

Top

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

glee
Sun Jun 01 08:26:06 PDT 2008

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
>>>> | >
>>>> | >
>>>> | >
>>>> |
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

Top

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

Bill
Sun Jun 01 20:38:52 PDT 2008


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

Top

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

glee
Sun Jun 01 22:15:02 PDT 2008

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
>