Join or sign in Register for your free TechRepublic membership or if you are already a member, sign in using your preferred method below. Use Your Email Use FacebookUse Linkedin

Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

Locked

In the old days of Windows 3.1, when 200 MB was considered a very large HDD, I used to regularly use DriveSpace to increase the capacity of my hard drives. I never had the slightest problem and the computers showed no loss of speed.

I am currently running out of space on my Windows 98 SE computer (which has a 4.3 GB SCSI HDD).

I would like advice from anyone who has PERSONAL EXPERIENCE of using disc compression on Win 98. Is it as stable and effective as drivespace was on Win 3.1?

NO GUESSES PLEASE. I only want comments from people who have used disc compression on Win 98.

Topic

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

I have tried it and it worked for me, but with HDD’s so cheap these days, I sugguest that you buy a new hdd and add it to the system if you have room in the case for it.

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

Poster rated this answer.

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

Don’t you just love brand name computers? Yes I have two additional 4.3 GB SCSI HDDs but thanks to the construction of the computer (Compaq workstation) there is no way of securing a second HDD.

I would love some detail of your experience with disk compression on Win 98.

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

OK for the [b]Bad News[/b] unless you have the lower FAT 16 Partition you [b]Can Not[/b] compress the drive with the Drive Space Utility supplied with Windows 98. If you have a FAT 32 Partition this option [b]Is Not Supported.[/b]

There are some third part Disc compression tools available for 98 though I’ve never personally used one so I really can not give you any advice on them. If you have any USB Ports on the computer I would pickup a USB Caddy and place a HDD into it and backup all your data to that.

If you don’t have any USB Ports you can always fit a USB to PCI Card and that should give you USB 2 Ports, again I’ve never actually tried this with a 98 computer but I do know that every USB Card that I’ve ever bought has had 98 Drivers included but I’m not sure at what speed that they will perform at under 98.

The only other option left open to you is to Clone your existing Drive to a bigger one and replace the existing HDD with a Bigger one being SCSI there should be no size limits imposed like there are with an IDE because of the BIOS which has an upper limit on the size of the drive that can be fitted.

Of course if you have a NB you’re in real trouble but even then you should be able to use one of the PCMCIA Ports with either a USB or Firewire Card and run the external HDD off that card.

But always try to get a External Caddy with its own Power Supply so it isn’t taxing the computers PS and running the risk of burning it out by overloading it.

If you can a Firewire plug in card is faster and the external caddies are about the same price you can even get ones that accept both USB & Firewire so if speed is your main preference the Firewire option would be the way to go. It would always be a good idea to at the very least have a Image of your current HDD as they can & do fail and you do not want to be in a position of loosing everything if this was to happen.

Col

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

Poster rated this answer.

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

Thanks Col. I am sure you are already familiar with this particular computer, and you know that I purchased an 80 GB HDD and an external caddy.

Of the two onboard USB ports, only one works. I think it is finally time for me get inside this computer and add a USB (1.1) card of which I have several. It may be possible for me to add a second SCSI HDD situated OUTSIDE the computer, with cables passing through a convenient open slot at the rear of the computer.

Currently I still have sufficient HDD space to function, and I may delete various programs and directories that I no longer need.

One final question. How do I ascertain whether the drive is FAT 16 or 32?

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

Hi

I used drive compression on a Win98 SE computer for 2 years. It also acted as a server for our organisation until we bought a dedicated file server – I had no issues with it. Just treat it nicely 🙂

Right-click your drive in My Computer, select properties and you will be able to see which version of FAT the drive is using.

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

Poster rated this answer.

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

To Blackcurrant

Well the bad news is I have FAT 32 so if Col is correct (which he always is) then I am stuffed.

I have found some applications that I no longer need, and can remove some more directories and get by with what I have.

I remember once using drive compression on Win 95 and I forget the details, but suffice to say it didn’t work.

I will leave the question open so that I can learn all I can about this issue. I may be able to try it on a computer that is not important.

Many thanks for the good replies so far.

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

Believe it or not, after reading these answers I decided to check the Windows Help file and ALL the pertinent information was there all along.

I will now close this question as I have the answers I need.

Reply To: Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

In reply to Drive compression on Windows 98 SE

This question was closed by the author

[Author]

Replies