DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-08, 12:49:

I wasn't really sure where to post this as it's technically not old hardware. It's a modern USB but with old Windows 98 hardware. I understand that 98 can't use/read USBs over 4GB...? I've already jumped over the hurdle of getting a hard drive over 128GB to work, but is there something I need to do to get bigger USB pen drives to work? I have some versions of a modded game I want to quickly test, which won't fit on my 4GB drive with what's already on there. So is there some utility or patch I'll need for bigger pen drives?

Thanks

No, i use 16 and 32gb pendrives without problem in 98, technically 128gb will work fine, what you can use is files over 4Gb on FAT32, this is limit

Anyways for bigger file, you can format pendrive to NTFS, work fine in 98

theelf wrote on 2026-05-08, 12:53:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-08, 12:49:

I wasn't really sure where to post this as it's technically not old hardware. It's a modern USB but with old Windows 98 hardware. I understand that 98 can't use/read USBs over 4GB...? I've already jumped over the hurdle of getting a hard drive over 128GB to work, but is there something I need to do to get bigger USB pen drives to work? I have some versions of a modded game I want to quickly test, which won't fit on my 4GB drive with what's already on there. So is there some utility or patch I'll need for bigger pen drives?

Thanks

No, i use 16 and 32gb pendrives without problem in 98, technically 128gb will work fine, what you can use is files over 4Gb on FAT32, this is limit

Anyways for bigger file, you can format pendrive to NTFS, work fine in 98

Oh right. I had no idea. I didn't think NTFS would even be recognised or work in 98. 😮 At the moment it's FAT32 by default.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-08, 13:04:

Oh right. I had no idea. I didn't think NTFS would even be recognised or work in 98.

It isn't, by default. But there are NTFS drivers, like Paragon NTFS.
I don't bother with those, I just use gparted on Linux to format my sticks with FAT32. Up to 128GB have not been a problem so far.

Ah, I see. Something to keep in mind if I ever need NTFS, but I can't imagine I will. Thanks. I'll report back if I run into problems using this pen drive later.

Bigger USB sticks are not a problem (< 128GB) but keep in mind that the files on it cannot be > 4GB (FAT32 limitation).

This is of course not only a limitation for USB sticks but for all FAT32 drives (including C:).

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-05-08, 13:45:

Bigger USB sticks are not a problem (< 128GB) but keep in mind that the files on it cannot be > 4GB (FAT32 limitation).

This is of course not only a limitation for USB sticks but for all FAT32 drives (including C:).

Ahh, so it's individual files rather than the capacity? I have one folder over 5GB, but it's split into multiple folders and files.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-08, 13:52:

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-05-08, 13:45:

Bigger USB sticks are not a problem (< 128GB) but keep in mind that the files on it cannot be > 4GB (FAT32 limitation).

This is of course not only a limitation for USB sticks but for all FAT32 drives (including C:).

Ahh, so it's individual files rather than the capacity? I have one folder over 5GB, but it's split into multiple folders and files.

It's indeed for individual files.

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-05-08, 13:54:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-05-08, 13:52:

Yoghoo wrote on 2026-05-08, 13:45:

Bigger USB sticks are not a problem (< 128GB) but keep in mind that the files on it cannot be > 4GB (FAT32 limitation).

This is of course not only a limitation for USB sticks but for all FAT32 drives (including C:).

Ahh, so it's individual files rather than the capacity? I have one folder over 5GB, but it's split into multiple folders and files.

It's indeed for individual files.

Okay, good to know. Thanks. I think where this may be a problem will be when I get around to converting my copy of Tex Murphy: Overseer to DVD. I imagine an individual image will be over 4GB.