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+--- Thread: Adding a hard drive to a DOS computer (/showthread.php?tid=54483)
Adding a hard drive to a DOS computer - beerman - 05-07-2008
I'll be adding a hard drive to a 1999 dos computer soon and I'm wondering if there are any gotcha's I need to watch for? Any limits on the size of drive I can use?
Thanks
Re: Adding a hard drive to a DOS computer - ka jowct - 05-07-2008
There very well may be a limit. I remember the IT dude at my old job spending several days trying to get an older PC to work with a larger HD, without success.
Not sure where you'd find those specs.
Re: Adding a hard drive to a DOS computer - anonymouse1 - 05-07-2008
I don't know about hardware limits, but the way you format the HD set's limits--all that stuff about FAT, FAT16, etc.
Re: Adding a hard drive to a DOS computer - Chupa Chupa - 05-07-2008
The drive limitation is determined by the BIOS. I think DOS circa 1999 could only see 8GB, which was a huge amount back then. But the version of DOS you have will be determinative. But given how cheap drives are today find an old 20 Gigger.
Re: Adding a hard drive to a DOS computer - Filliam H. Muffman - 05-07-2008
A lot of computers from that era can take drives over 8 GB. The next level is 80 GB / 137 GB.
I had a 1 GHz Athlon computer (I think it was a KT233 Northbridge?) that was supposed to be able to read up to 137 GB. it had problems with a 120 GB drive. An 80 GB drive worked fine.
Some no-name computers use name brand motherboards. If you can find a product number on the motherboard, it might be possible to find a product manual for it.
Re: Adding a hard drive to a DOS computer - cbelt3 - 05-07-2008
And don't forget the jumper settings, and you might need to run an install program. DOS. Sheesh.
C:\fdisk *.* is the best solution for DOS computers.