Acronis True Image has an HDD clone feature.
It can resize partitions (bigger/smaller) for the target medium.

True Image 7 to 9 or 10 should run on vintage hardware, too.
The rescue medium (boot CD) has both a DOS and Linux based version of True Image.
The main application runs on Windows (installable).

Use a classic version of Norton Ghost.

Norton Ghost was definitely the go to tool back in the day for resizing and copying drives and partitions.

If you are comfortable with Linux, Gparted is a decent option as well.

^GParted has to be older than version 0.9, though.
Later versions lost the ability to resize FAT32, if memory serves.

Edit: More information: https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread. ... and-FAt32

I did this once with HDD Guru's HDD Raw Copy Tool. It will copy all the tracks that can fit on the 4GB card, then error out when it discovers that it reached the end, but the resulting CF card works fine. I don't recall even having to adjust the partition size afterwards.

Jo22 wrote on 2024-06-12, 22:22:

^GParted has to be older than version 0.9, though.
Later versions lost the ability to resize FAT32, if memory serves.

I was not aware that this is a problem. I'll have to look into this to see if it is an issue with Gparted, or the underlying utilities it relies on.

What about taking out the CF card and clone it on modern PC with any software by choice.
Most of the nowadays cloning tools can resize partitions.
Be aware that there should not be more than 4GB of data on the original CF card. Otherwise it won't fit into the 4GB card.

For Win98 you don't even need cloning software,
1. have a boot disk that contains fdisk ready or make sure you can boot from the cd, you might need it in the end
2. connect the smaller card as slave or on another IDE channel and, if it's not ready, also partition/format it
3. xcopy the whole drive (from within windows command prompt to be able to use the parameters that maintain file attributes)
4. sys.com the 4GB card
5. remove the 8GB card and put the 4GB in its place
6. if it doesn't boot right away, use the boot disk or cd and run fdisk to make the partition active

crusher wrote on 2024-06-13, 07:38:

What about taking out the CF card and clone it on modern PC with any software by choice.
Most of the nowadays cloning tools can resize partitions.
Be aware that there should not be more than 4GB of data on the original CF card. Otherwise it won't fit into the 4GB card.

Be aware your modern cloning software is able to create partition with correct CHS setting/alignment.

I have GParted live on my PXE server, and just booted it in a VM to see what it offers.....

v1.5.0, 64 bit (though that might not matter):

FAT16 and FAT32 has support for all possible operations, including grow and shrink. It require dosfstools and mtools, but this live environment has those installed.

That Opensuse post was from 2011, so FAT must be back 😀

Disruptor wrote on 2024-06-13, 09:51:

Be aware your modern cloning software is able to create partition with correct CHS setting/alignment.

What exactly to be aware of?

It's been a long time since I set up my DOS gaming PC.
Can't remember exactly If I created the FAT16 partition on the CF card first with MiniTool Partition Wizard or if I just used the CF out of the box in the DOS PC.
Later on I switched to DOS 7.10 and a FAT32 formatted CF.
I Don't know neither if I did any preparing actions on modern PC or used the CF straight in the DOS PC.
I never had any problems with my CFs so far.

For SSDs I know they must be aligned correctly to avoid data loss and prolong life time.
So it would be interesting for me if I have to alter my way of using CF cards in those retro machines.

konc wrote on 2024-06-13, 08:35:

For Win98 you don't even need cloning software, 1. have a boot disk that contains fdisk ready or make sure you can boot from the […]
Show full quote

For Win98 you don't even need cloning software,
1. have a boot disk that contains fdisk ready or make sure you can boot from the cd, you might need it in the end
2. connect the smaller card as slave or on another IDE channel and, if it's not ready, also partition/format it
3. xcopy the whole drive (from within windows command prompt to be able to use the parameters that maintain file attributes)
4. sys.com the 4GB card
5. remove the 8GB card and put the 4GB in its place
6. if it doesn't boot right away, use the boot disk or cd and run fdisk to make the partition active

Is it possible to MBR & partition and put a win98 boot record on an old hard drive from a Windows 11 computer?

douglar wrote on 2024-06-13, 13:57:

konc wrote on 2024-06-13, 08:35:

For Win98 you don't even need cloning software, 1. have a boot disk that contains fdisk ready or make sure you can boot from the […]
Show full quote

For Win98 you don't even need cloning software,
1. have a boot disk that contains fdisk ready or make sure you can boot from the cd, you might need it in the end
2. connect the smaller card as slave or on another IDE channel and, if it's not ready, also partition/format it
3. xcopy the whole drive (from within windows command prompt to be able to use the parameters that maintain file attributes)
4. sys.com the 4GB card
5. remove the 8GB card and put the 4GB in its place
6. if it doesn't boot right away, use the boot disk or cd and run fdisk to make the partition active

Is it possible to MBR & partition and put a win98 boot record on an old hard drive from a Windows 11 computer?

I don't think so, but there is no modern machine involved in what I described. I meant the copying to happen on the same win98 machine, sorry if it wasn't clear.

Let me try to rephrase it: have both cards connected to the win98 machine. Assuming C: is the 8GB card and D: the (partitioned and formatted) target 4GB card, from windows command prompt do something like xcopy c:\*.* d:\ /e/c/h and then sys d:. Now remove completely the 8GB card and use the 4GB in its place. If it doesn't boot right away you only need to run fdisk and set the partition to active.

konc wrote on 2024-06-13, 14:40:

I don't think so, but there is no modern machine involved in what I described. I meant the copying to happen on the same win98 machine, sorry if it wasn't clear.

Let me try to rephrase it: have both cards connected to the win98 machine. Assuming C: is the 8GB card and D: the (partitioned and formatted) target 4GB card, from windows command prompt do something like xcopy c:\*.* d:\ /e/c/h and then sys d:. Now remove completely the 8GB card and use the 4GB in its place. If it doesn't boot right away you only need to run fdisk and set the partition to active.

Gotcha. I was thinking about putting the Win98 files on a fast computer first and then and copying it to several different devices with a USB adapter. I was hoping WinImage or something like that could force the MBR & boot sector on the storage device. I suppose it's best to do the format and sys on the retro to be sure that CHS vs LBA isn't an issue.

Back in the day, before shutting down the Win9x instance I wanted to copy, I'd delete the ENUM branch of the HKLM registry. That would cause Win9x to do a full hardware re-detect on the next boot. Then I would boot from a Netware boot disk and copy all the files up to the server. And then I'd boot as many computers as 10-base-T could handle in a lab and copy the files down, cloning them 10 at a time or so. We rolled out a lot of computers that year.

douglar wrote on 2024-06-13, 17:15:

Gotcha. I was thinking about putting the Win98 files on a fast computer first and then and copying it to several different devices with a USB adapter. I was hoping WinImage or something like that could force the MBR & boot sector on the storage device. I suppose it's best to do the format and sys on the retro to be sure that CHS vs LBA isn't an issue.

I think you can do that, it's a simple file copy after all. Minus the boot part of course, but that's just a matter of starting from a boot disk once to sys and set the partition active if it isn't.

douglar wrote on 2024-06-13, 17:15:

Back in the day, before shutting down the Win9x instance I wanted to copy, I'd delete the ENUM branch of the HKLM registry. That would cause Win9x to do a full hardware re-detect on the next boot. Then I would boot from a Netware boot disk and copy all the files up to the server. And then I'd boot as many computers as 10-base-T could handle in a lab and copy the files down, cloning them 10 at a time or so. We rolled out a lot of computers that year.

Nice! I like the way of getting a copy that can be redeployed, just like an OEM restore disc.

konc wrote on 2024-06-13, 08:35:

For Win98 you don't even need cloning software, 1. have a boot disk that contains fdisk ready or make sure you can boot from the […]
Show full quote

For Win98 you don't even need cloning software,
1. have a boot disk that contains fdisk ready or make sure you can boot from the cd, you might need it in the end
2. connect the smaller card as slave or on another IDE channel and, if it's not ready, also partition/format it
3. xcopy the whole drive (from within windows command prompt to be able to use the parameters that maintain file attributes)
4. sys.com the 4GB card
5. remove the 8GB card and put the 4GB in its place
6. if it doesn't boot right away, use the boot disk or cd and run fdisk to make the partition active

This is the best way IMO. XCOPY SYS and FDISK are all you need for DOS/Win9x drives.

On a modern PC, I've used the free version of Macrium Reflect to do this operation and it worked fine. If you only have one card reader, you can use DISK2VHD from SysInternals, then mount the VHD in Windows as the source disk and write to the CF with Reflect.

Well, it would be good if LFNs are being preserved during copy operations.
Though on plain MS-DOS 7.1, there's no LFN support enabled by default, as far as I know.

Ok, strictly speaking, Windows 9x uses 8.3 (SFNs?) for the system files, but things like "Program Files" may end up as "PROGRA~1" after copying.

Also, not all of the third-party drivers and utilities do use 8.3 naming scheme.
So after copying them from command line, they might end up being shortened.

I know this from OS/2 Warp already, which was supposed to use 8.3 naming scheme for the system files. Unfortunately, it didn't.
It also stored long file names in hidden text files, which had to be updated each time (which DOS in a dual-boot scenario didn't do).

Edit: Copying from Windows command prompt is another story, of course.
But then there might be certain permission issues, if system files are being accessed from a live system.

Fat32 has file attributes but no permissions. You're thinking about NTFS.

No I think he means if you try to copy from system files that are open with exclusive access by the system then the copy will fail on those files, so it's better to copy outside the live OS.