XP won't allow you to format a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB (even though it can see and use such partitions). 98/ME will.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/314463
https://support.microsoft.com/EN-US/kb/255867

Download a windows 98SE boot disk from the net. And do not forget to choose quick format (/q option) if you don't want to wait for looong.

Or use any Linux and use gparted to create and format the partitions.

Zup wrote:

Or use any Linux and use gparted to create and format the partitions.

This^

Linux live stick really is your friend when windows craps out on you

Why is this in the Windows games forum?

Personally I use Partition Magic. It's not freeware, but does the job without much complaints. Granted, a Linux Live distro will also do (and it's free 😎 ).

I also agree with collector, this topic makes more sense in Marvin or Milliways.

tayyare wrote:

Download a windows 98SE boot disk from the net. And do not forget to choose quick format (/q option) if you don't want to wait for looong.

The links:

Masterbooter: Actually it is a multi boot management application but its efdisk partitioning utility is a gem. aAd fully functional in its shareware (no time limit) version.
http://www.masterbooter.com/download/sharewar … version_en.html

Windows 98SE boot disk (and many others): Choose the one you like.
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Moved.

EASEUS Partition Master should also allow you to do that... Or any partitioning tool besides DISKPART (the one that comes with modern Windows OSes)

On a modern Windows PC, I use Fat32Format. It's extremely fast and there is also a GUI version.
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm

If there's no Windows involved, I would boot Gparted Live, Parted Magic, Partition Magic, or some other random thing on UBCD perhaps.

tayyare wrote:

. And do not forget to choose quick format (/q option) if you don't want to wait for looong.

NO
You can only quick format a drive if its already formatted with the same file system, you can't quick format ntfs to fat32 or fat16 to fat32 only fat32 to fat32 or ntfs to ntfs ect

dr_st wrote:

XP won't allow you to format a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB (even though it can see and use such partitions). 98/ME will.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/314463
https://support.microsoft.com/EN-US/kb/255867

XP can't?

tayyare wrote:

Download a windows 98SE boot disk from the net. And do not forget to choose quick format (/q option) if you don't want to wait for looong.

Lol, I always slaved my drives to an XP system as I never knew 9x had a quick format option 😊

DISKPART can't - it will tell you that partitions bigger than 323GB need to be fo. You can just use something like EASEUS Partition Magic or a compatible version of Partition Magic and format it under XP. Or any other partitioning tool really.

Lots of good options have been posted.

Some others I can think off:

If it's a Seagate, boot from SeaTools for DOS and put a capacity limit on the drive. 120 GB for example, or 60 GB.

The other option is a USB docking station on a modern PC and using tools such as mini partition wizard, great little tool.

Pretty sure you can at the command prompt, either with FORMAT or in DISKPART.

Edit: OK, format will get to the end and fail when it's >32GB. DISKPART should still be able to do it?

NO
You can only quick format a drive if its already formatted with the same file system, you can't quick format ntfs to fat32 or fat16 to fat32 only fat32 to fat32 or ntfs to ntfs ect

Not true. If you use DISKPART to CLEAN a disk and create a new empty partition, you can still format it as NTFS with the QUICK option.

Meh still struggling; I used Fat32Format initially, this went well and formatted it, but Win98 I read only allows disks/partitions up to 137GB... so when I booted Win98 setup it said the drive needed formatting then got stuck on the formatting screen with no text appearing.

So, I ran SeaTools (as it is a Seagate drive) and tried setting the max size to 120GB, but now the drive is doing the same thing in Win98 setup, can't be seen in Fat32Format or fdisk (from Win98 bootup disk) says integer divide by 0 error, SeaTools says error trying to set any size to the disk, DISKPART and WindowsXP Disk Management can't see the drive and BIOS reports it as a 0MB disk 😒

How can I revive the disk and then set it to something that Win98SE can actually use?

Win98 doesn't really have a 137GB limit per se. Its the built in IDE driver that doesn't support LBA48 addressing, which is necessary to use HDDs bigger than 137GB. Just get this and patch Windows 98.
Now, the erros you are getting now are beyond my knowledge.

alexanrs wrote:

Win98 doesn't really have a 137GB limit per se. Its the built in IDE driver that doesn't support LBA48 addressing, which is necessary to use HDDs bigger than 137GB. Just get this and patch Windows 98.
Now, the erros you are getting now are beyond my knowledge.

Yes. FAT32 supports up to 2Tb *if* the system supports 48-bit addressing.
.

alexanrs wrote:

Win98 doesn't really have a 137GB limit per se. Its the built in IDE driver that doesn't support LBA48 addressing, which is necessary to use HDDs bigger than 137GB. Just get this and patch Windows 98.

I guess that might work, if I had 98 installed already and was adding this as a slave drive, but I'm trying to install 98 in the first place... Would using this fdisk/format from a floppy, after booting using the Win98 bootup disk work?