Hello, I believe that the issue could be the following:

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-02, 16:13:

--The 120GB is just for game storage, FAT32 formatted and partition by Win98.

The FDISK utility that comes with the Windows 98 CD has troubles with FAT32 partitions larger than 64 GB. I suggest getting the updated version (KB263044) or consider using a different disk utility to handle larger partitions.

This issue is well known (at least for me). I also wanted one big partition for Games on a Computer with two HDDs (one with Win98SE, one with WinXP) back then (must have been ~2005/6) and this partition was also over 32 GB. Over 32 GB can be partitioned by Win98 and it will work there, but not on WinXP which will destroy the partition in some way. Under WinXP the limit for FAT32 partitions is 32 GB.

My solution was to create partitions with a maximum of 32 GB.

I never found out what the specific reason was...it just only works with this solution, if Win98SE and WinXP both have access to the FAT32 partitions.

kind regards
soggi

Gmlb256 wrote on 2024-10-02, 19:17:

Hello, I believe that the issue could be the following:

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-02, 16:13:

--The 120GB is just for game storage, FAT32 formatted and partition by Win98.

The FDISK utility that comes with the Windows 98 CD has troubles with FAT32 partitions larger than 64 GB. I suggest getting the updated version (KB263044) or consider using a different disk utility to handle larger partitions.

Yeah I was originally going to have XP partition and format the 120GB drive because it is quicker and easier there, but it would only let me choose NTFS as the format option. Now that i'm typing this, I didn't even think to try using the "GuiFormat"app, which lets you do any size drive into FAT32. Maybe i'll give that a shot and see if it will play nicely between OSes after THAT utility formats the drive. Otherwise I will definitely try using the patch you suggested, or finding another formatting utility. Thank you for the help!

soggi wrote on 2024-10-03, 00:39:

This issue is well known (at least for me). I also wanted one big partition for Games on a Computer with two HDDs (one with Win9 […]
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This issue is well known (at least for me). I also wanted one big partition for Games on a Computer with two HDDs (one with Win98SE, one with WinXP) back then (must have been ~2005/6) and this partition was also over 32 GB. Over 32 GB can be partitioned by Win98 and it will work there, but not on WinXP which will destroy the partition in some way. Under WinXP the limit for FAT32 partitions is 32 GB.

My solution was to create partitions with a maximum of 32 GB.

I never found out what the specific reason was...it just only works with this solution, if Win98SE and WinXP both have access to the FAT32 partitions.

kind regards
soggi

I know Win98 had the 120GB limit, even if FDISK reported the drive size incorrectly, still heard that it will function fine. Seemed like just an aesthetic issue in the FDISK program. I didn't know deep down it might also have issues that would cause problems when using other newer OSes like XP that support FAT32 as well. But thank you for the experience and suggestion. If i can't make any other solution work, then 32-64GB partitions might be the way I'll have to go. Thank you again Soggi!

XP can see FAT32 disks larger than 32Gb (upto 2Tb) but it cant make them, which is a limitation M$ decided to add.
If you put a FAT32 format on with guiformat.exe then I have found XP can see and work with it.

http://ridgecrop.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm

I use it, it works for me.

Click the picture of it and download it.
Partition the disk with XP in the usual way but dont format it in the disk management snap in.
Run the program and format the disk, quick is for a disk you know has no errors etc.
Then install Win98 onto it and XP will still see it.

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-03, 17:47:

I know Win98 had the 120GB limit, even if FDISK reported the drive size incorrectly, still heard that it will function fine. Seemed like just an aesthetic issue in the FDISK program.

It doesn't have anything to do wtih the 137 GB (128 GiB) limit - the problem is that data on FAT32 partitions above 32 GB will be destroyed if you're using the partition with Win98(SE) AND WinXP!

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-03, 17:47:

...then 32-64GB partitions might be the way I'll have to go.

Don't go over 32 GiB per FAT32 partition, this is the limit (if you want to use Win98(SE) and WinXP in dual boot)!

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-03, 17:53:

XP can see FAT32 disks larger than 32Gb (upto 2Tb) but it cant make them, which is a limitation M$ decided to add.
If you put a FAT32 format on with guiformat.exe then I have found XP can see and work with it.

Your post sounds like you didn't understand what the problem is, please read again carefully!

kind regards
soggi

soggi wrote on 2024-10-03, 20:50:

It doesn't have anything to do wtih the 137 GB (128 GiB) limit - the problem is that data on FAT32 partitions above 32 GB will b […]
Show full quote

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-03, 17:47:

I know Win98 had the 120GB limit, even if FDISK reported the drive size incorrectly, still heard that it will function fine. Seemed like just an aesthetic issue in the FDISK program.

It doesn't have anything to do wtih the 137 GB (128 GiB) limit - the problem is that data on FAT32 partitions above 32 GB will be destroyed if you're using the partition with Win98(SE) AND WinXP!

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-03, 17:47:

...then 32-64GB partitions might be the way I'll have to go.

Don't go over 32 GiB per FAT32 partition, this is the limit (if you want to use Win98(SE) and WinXP in dual boot)!

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-03, 17:53:

XP can see FAT32 disks larger than 32Gb (upto 2Tb) but it cant make them, which is a limitation M$ decided to add.
If you put a FAT32 format on with guiformat.exe then I have found XP can see and work with it.

Your post sounds like you didn't understand what the problem is, please read again carefully!

kind regards
soggi

In that case no I dont...

"The 120GB is just for game storage, FAT32 formatted and partition by Win98."

I didnt read it that he wanted to boot off the drive at all. as he said above its just for game storage and he boots off another disk. Because otherwise you would have Win98 and XP in the same partition, as its a 120Gb disk with a 120Gb partition. (if this is the case then youre right it plain wont work)

If he partitions that disk with XP and then formats it with guiformat, then puts files on it Win98 will see it and so will XP.
I know it will because I have done it.
Not only that I have installed Win98 onto a disk that I partitioned and formatted in such a manner.
I didnt use it for storage, but I know Win98 sees the disk and will install onto it, and XP sees it.

What is the sector/cluster size on the 120Gb disk?
Should be 512/16

No file can exceed 4Gb in size.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-03, 21:51:

In that case no I dont...

"The 120GB is just for game storage, FAT32 formatted and partition by Win98."

I didnt read it that he wanted to boot off the drive at all. as he said above its just for game storage and he boots off another disk. Because otherwise you would have Win98 and XP in the same partition, as its a 120Gb disk with a 120Gb partition. (if this is the case then youre right it plain wont work)

OK, you didn't understand it right.

The problem is NOT where both Windows versions are installed. The problem is (as described two times above) that Win98 and WinXP share a FAT32 partition which is larger than 32 GiB and I don't mean that the installations share the same partition, maybe I should have clarified it a bit more.

Both Win installations have access to the 120 GB (~111 GiB, so it's below the 137 GB / 128 GiB limit) partition and that's the problem. Data will be broken on partition larger than 32 GiB, if you access it with Win98(SE) AND WinXP. If you leave it alone with Win98(SE) there won't be such a problem. I had this issue myself back then in 2005/6 as described above.

This is weird, I know... I don't know why this happens, because WinXP should support Fat32 partitions larger than 32 GiB and I also don't know if this is a general problem or it's a specific one which only occurs with special configurations.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-03, 22:03:

No file can exceed 4Gb in size.

The concerning file has a size of 17426966 bytes (~16 MiB), that's far below the 4 GiB (not GB!) limit.

kind regards
soggi

soggi wrote on 2024-10-04, 00:15:

OK, you didn't understand it right. […]
Show full quote

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-03, 21:51:

In that case no I dont...

"The 120GB is just for game storage, FAT32 formatted and partition by Win98."

I didnt read it that he wanted to boot off the drive at all. as he said above its just for game storage and he boots off another disk. Because otherwise you would have Win98 and XP in the same partition, as its a 120Gb disk with a 120Gb partition. (if this is the case then youre right it plain wont work)

OK, you didn't understand it right.

The problem is NOT where both Windows versions are installed. The problem is (as described two times above) that Win98 and WinXP share a FAT32 partition which is larger than 32 GiB and I don't mean that the installations share the same partition, maybe I should have clarified it a bit more.

Both Win installations have access to the 120 GB (~111 GiB, so it's below the 137 GB / 128 GiB limit) partition and that's the problem. Data will be broken on partition larger than 32 GiB, if you access it with Win98(SE) AND WinXP. If you leave it alone with Win98(SE) there won't be such a problem. I had this issue myself back then in 2005/6 as described above.

This is weird, I know... I don't know why this happens, because WinXP should support Fat32 partitions larger than 32 GiB and I also don't know if this is a general problem or it's a specific one which only occurs with special configurations.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-03, 22:03:

No file can exceed 4Gb in size.

The concerning file has a size of 17426966 bytes (~16 MiB), that's far below the 4 GiB (not GB!) limit.

kind regards
soggi

It would be rather funny to have such a weird issue such as this, which shouldn't be a problem: ironically when running these two Windows OSes, with a FAT32 file system, on an Intel motherboard, with all Intel drivers loaded. It sounds like a flawless recipe.

There will be one major problem then coming up: I just bought some computer parts to make a super fast Win98/WinXP combo machine (Pentium 4, Socket478, 865 chipset, SATA drives, Win98 patches for 120GB+ drives/partitions), and was planning to use a 2TB drive just for game storage in the machine. If i truly can't use partitions bigger than 32GB between 98 & XP, this will end up making for an awfully messy build of drive letters!

It is extremely odd I have never read about others having this problem with dual booting 98 & XP and using a shared drive between them.
I really hope some more fellows can chime in as well. I appreciate everyone's input here!

Largest drive I've had in a 9x/XP dual boot rig is a pair 320GB drives in a stripe array, but I can't remember how large the partitions were.

I've other PC's which have smaller SCSI drives forcing me to have multiple drive letters. In my case I gave each OS its own games drives, eg
E:\Win9x games
F:\WinXP games

I also like having a separate drive for OS install files, drivers, etc and even the game iso's depending on the size, Kind of like a recovery partition
and also a "dump" or "scratch" disk, which I use to unzip, copy files and whatever else. Basiclly this drive is always a bit of a mess but keeps the OS and other data drives nice and organised.

soggi wrote on 2024-10-04, 00:15:

OK, you didn't understand it right. […]
Show full quote

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-03, 21:51:

In that case no I dont...

"The 120GB is just for game storage, FAT32 formatted and partition by Win98."

I didnt read it that he wanted to boot off the drive at all. as he said above its just for game storage and he boots off another disk. Because otherwise you would have Win98 and XP in the same partition, as its a 120Gb disk with a 120Gb partition. (if this is the case then youre right it plain wont work)

OK, you didn't understand it right.

The problem is NOT where both Windows versions are installed. The problem is (as described two times above) that Win98 and WinXP share a FAT32 partition which is larger than 32 GiB and I don't mean that the installations share the same partition, maybe I should have clarified it a bit more.

Both Win installations have access to the 120 GB (~111 GiB, so it's below the 137 GB / 128 GiB limit) partition and that's the problem. Data will be broken on partition larger than 32 GiB, if you access it with Win98(SE) AND WinXP. If you leave it alone with Win98(SE) there won't be such a problem. I had this issue myself back then in 2005/6 as described above.

This is weird, I know... I don't know why this happens, because WinXP should support Fat32 partitions larger than 32 GiB and I also don't know if this is a general problem or it's a specific one which only occurs with special configurations.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-03, 22:03:

No file can exceed 4Gb in size.

The concerning file has a size of 17426966 bytes (~16 MiB), that's far below the 4 GiB (not GB!) limit.

kind regards
soggi

So this problem only manifests itself in a dual boot configuration?

chinny22 wrote on 2024-10-04, 04:47:

Largest drive I've had in a 9x/XP dual boot rig is a pair 320GB drives in a stripe array, but I can't remember how large the par […]
Show full quote

Largest drive I've had in a 9x/XP dual boot rig is a pair 320GB drives in a stripe array, but I can't remember how large the partitions were.

I've other PC's which have smaller SCSI drives forcing me to have multiple drive letters. In my case I gave each OS its own games drives, eg
E:\Win9x games
F:\WinXP games

I also like having a separate drive for OS install files, drivers, etc and even the game iso's depending on the size, Kind of like a recovery partition
and also a "dump" or "scratch" disk, which I use to unzip, copy files and whatever else. Basiclly this drive is always a bit of a mess but keeps the OS and other data drives nice and organised.

I'm strickly running from onboard IDE controllers - I have a DVD drive, plus the two hard drives already, so that leaves me one more spot on the IDE chain for an additional hard drive. So I might just have to go this route of XP having it's own game drive, and making sure to hide the drive letter for 98's game drive, so nothing even remotely gets touched by XP. It kinda sucks because with the hardware I got in the machine, there are plenty of games that will play fine on both 98 and XP, and avoiding having to double-install the games. I know not every game would actually work like this, but it would've been interesting to see which games didn't complain. I know at least the DOS games would be fine.

But if I have to chop up the 120GB (and and additional one soon) into four pieces and drive letters, I guess it's not the worst thing in the world.

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-02, 16:13:

Long time lurker, rarely posting, but LOVE the wealth of knowledge on this site. Mad respect to everyone here. […]
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Long time lurker, rarely posting, but LOVE the wealth of knowledge on this site. Mad respect to everyone here.

Trying to finalize my Win98 machine and got 99% of it figured out. However this recent issue has me absolutely stumped!
The machine is mainly for 98, but XP will also be on the machine for a few select newer games, with USB & Network additional support.

--Pentium 3@667MHz Intel 815, 128MB RAM, 40GB HDD IDE Master on Primary IDE Channel, 120GB HDD IDE Master on Secondary IDE Channel.
--Win98 Second Edition, and Windows XP Pro SP3 VLK.
--40GB drive is split in half (20GB FAT32/20GB NTFS) dual booting 98 and XP with no issues, runs great.
--The 120GB is just for game storage, FAT32 formatted and partition by Win98.
--Motherboard chipset drivers installed on both 98 and XP.
--When booted into 98, installing, copying, moving, anything file related happens without issue on the 120GB drive.
--When booted into XP, it seems files of substantial size that are on the 120GB drive can't be read correctly. I am able to open small files like TXT and INI's in Notepad without issue. But "big" files like a zipped copy of Descent (that I made myself while in Win98) say that the file is corrupted and wont extract.
--HOWEVER, while still in WinXP, when I access a copy of the exact same file on the 40GB drive (which is the 98 and XP boot drive), I can open the file without issue, no corruption notification.

--There is nothing functionally wrong with the 120GB drive - no bad sectors, clicking, etc.
--The motherboard is old, and the biggest drives it can recognize and write to is 120GB.
--I am at a complete loss for why XP is not happy trying to access this hard drive.....

Would it be possible for you to test the following.

Clear the 120GB drive of all partitions
boot in XP and partition the drive and format the partition fat32
reboot in 98
copy the descent.zip to the 120G partition
reboot to XP
test the descent.zip copy located on the 120G drive

Also, whilst in XP, copy the descent.zip to the 120G drive and test it again. (the version on the 120G drive.

Thanks

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-04, 13:08:

So this problem only manifests itself in a dual boot configuration?

The dual boot is not important I guess...the problem is a FAT32 partition which is larger than 32 GiB and was created under Win98(SE). But it's unusual to switch internal HDDs between different PCs, so someone will only notice this issue in a dual boot config.

In my case back than there were two Samsung HDDs with each 80 GB - an IDE (primary partition with Win98 SE on FAT32) and a SATA (primary partition with XP on NFTS) - and I wanted to share one big FAT32 secondary partition logic drive (with ~60 GiB) on the IDE HDD with both OSes which shouldn't be a problem. But than I had this issue and data went corrupted.

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-04, 15:54:

But if I have to chop up the 120GB (and and additional one soon) into four pieces and drive letters, I guess it's not the worst thing in the world.

This will be the best variant and it also was the only solution for me back then. With limiting the FAT32 partitions to 32 GiB (by formatting them under WinXP) you'll have the most stress free solution.

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-04, 17:03:

Would it be possible for you to test the following. […]
Show full quote

Would it be possible for you to test the following.

Clear the 120GB drive of all partitions
boot in XP and partition the drive and format the partition fat32
reboot in 98
copy the descent.zip to the 120G partition
reboot to XP
test the descent.zip copy located on the 120G drive

Also, whilst in XP, copy the descent.zip to the 120G drive and test it again. (the version on the 120G drive.

Thanks

Windows XP only creates FAT32 partitions up to 32 GiB, as said ~3 times before already!

kind regards
soggi

soggi wrote on 2024-10-04, 22:30:

The dual boot is not important I guess...the problem is a FAT32 partition which is larger than 32 GiB and was created under Win9 […]
Show full quote

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-10-04, 13:08:

So this problem only manifests itself in a dual boot configuration?

The dual boot is not important I guess...the problem is a FAT32 partition which is larger than 32 GiB and was created under Win98(SE). But it's unusual to switch internal HDDs between different PCs, so someone will only notice this issue in a dual boot config.

In my case back than there were two Samsung HDDs with each 80 GB - an IDE (primary partition with Win98 SE on FAT32) and a SATA (primary partition with XP on NFTS) - and I wanted to share one big FAT32 secondary partition logic drive (with ~60 GiB) on the IDE HDD with both OSes which shouldn't be a problem. But than I had this issue and data went corrupted.

ThruMy4Eyes wrote on 2024-10-04, 15:54:

But if I have to chop up the 120GB (and and additional one soon) into four pieces and drive letters, I guess it's not the worst thing in the world.

This will be the best variant and it also was the only solution for me back then. With limiting the FAT32 partitions to 32 GiB (by formatting them under WinXP) you'll have the most stress free solution.

weedeewee wrote on 2024-10-04, 17:03:

Would it be possible for you to test the following. […]
Show full quote

Would it be possible for you to test the following.

Clear the 120GB drive of all partitions
boot in XP and partition the drive and format the partition fat32
reboot in 98
copy the descent.zip to the 120G partition
reboot to XP
test the descent.zip copy located on the 120G drive

Also, whilst in XP, copy the descent.zip to the 120G drive and test it again. (the version on the 120G drive.

Thanks

Windows XP only creates FAT32 partitions up to 32 GiB, as said ~3 times before already!

kind regards
soggi

No Soggi.
WinXP can only natively create a 32Gb FAT32 partition.
I have myself created a 120Gb FAT32 partition in WinXP.
It is a 250Gb mSATA disk, it has 2 partitions on it and both of them are FAT32, and they were both created in WinXP.
I used XP disk management tool to make the partition and guiformat to format that partition.
I then took that disk out of that XP PC and into another PC and installed WinME into that disk.

so I tried a couple things before going off to work this afternoon:

--120GB :: I took the 120GB, formatted the whole drive in WinXP with GUIFormat using 32K clusters. Rebooted in Win98, zipped up Descent, copied it to 120GB, tested the file in 7zip to make sure the file was ok. Rebooted in WinXP. Same result, WinXP reads the file as corrupted.
--120GB :: After reading another posting, I was wondering if I was hitting over the maximum amount of clusters for some sort of 98/XP compatibility. So I reformatted the 120GB again (while in XP) with GUIFormat, choosing 64K clusters. Rinse, repeat, and same result of a "corrupted file" in WinXP.
--32GB :: Rebooted back into WinXP. Deleted the 120GB partition in Disk Management. Created a new partition exactly 32GB in size. Weirdly, even though XP gave me the option to format in FAT32, it would error out saying "Format not completed successfully". See attached picture. So I used GUIFormat again to format the new 32GB partition; it did so without complaining. Reboot, rinse, repeat, same problem with "corrupted file".
--30GB :: Rebooted back in WinXP. Deleted the partition again in Disk Management, and created a 30GB partition (to give the file system some sort of buffer just in case, idk). Again Disk Management failed to format it, so GUIFormat the new partition again. Reboot into Win98, rinse, repeat, and AGAIN a "corrupted file" while in WinXP.

I swear, maybe this computer just isn't meant to have a shared drive between 98 and XP, haha.
I wonder if it's cursed.

if anyone is wondering (and if it helps):
the motherboard is a "Intel D815EEA2"Socket 370 -- https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/intel- … 15eea2-easton-2
and the 120GB hard drive is a SAMSUNG SV1203N -- https://www.hdsentinel.com/storageinfo_detail … MSUNG%20SV1203N

512k sectors
16k clusters

Allocation unit size should be set to 512