Windows 98 Installation & Configuration Handbook

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- 10 -

Installing and Configuring Hard Disk Drives


by Rob Tidrow

Identifying Types of Hard Disk Drives Supported

The majority of users interested in adding a hard drive to their computer already have Windows 98 installed. If you do not have Windows 98 installed and you want to add a new hard drive to your system, you need to install the new hard drive and then install Windows 98 on it using the Windows 98 Setup routine. You'll need the full version of Windows 98 to do so. Consult Chapters 1 and 2 when installing Windows 98 on your blank, freshly formatted hard drive.


NOTE: A valuable resource when you install a new hard drive is your system documentation. In this manual, you'll find specific information that relates to your system, such as interrupt settings and CMOS settings.

Also, if you need more information on how to install a hard drive on your system, refer to Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Sixth Edition, published by Que.


For this chapter, it is assumed that you are adding another hard drive to your PC to use with your current Windows 98 installation. Some users opt for a second hard drive if their first hard drive becomes full or if they have a need to separate their data and programs from their operating system. This is the case in many situations when you use a removable hard drive that you carry with you or store in a secure place.

Before you rush in and start installing a hard drive, you first should examine the types of hard drives you can install in Windows 98. The following types of hard disk drives are supported under Windows 98:

ESDI

Hardcards

IDE

IDE LBA

MFM

Windows 98 supports the following types of bus adapters:

EISA

ISAMCA

PCI

PCMCIA

RLL

SCSI

SCSI 2

VL bus

Although Windows 98 supports other types of drives, the following two sections discuss IDE and SCSI devices in more detail. IDE and SCSI devices are the most prevalent devices available on current computers.

IDE Drives

Windows 98 supports Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) drives, which are the most popular hard drive interfaces used in computers. If you have a computer that was manufactured in the last several years, it more than likely includes an IDE drive.

One of the improvements Windows 98 has with IDE drives is its support for large IDE disk drives. New IDE drives support the logical block addressing (LBA) scheme, which enables them to exceed the 528MB size limitation. These new drives sometimes are referred to as Enhanced IDE drives. Running the FAT16 file system, Windows 98 can support primary partition sizes of 2GB, with support of multiple 2GB logical drives in extended partitions. Running the FAT32 file system, however, Windows 98 supports primary partitions that are larger than 2GB, with the additional benefit of smaller cluster sizes. Also, versions of Windows prior to Windows 95 support large hard drives in real mode, but Windows 95 and Windows 98 support large IDE drives using a protected-mode disk driver included with Windows 98.

Windows 98 includes an updated IDE hard disk driver that supports the following technologies:

Another feature of Windows 98 is its support of a second IDE controller in your computer, if your computer can support it. You need to refer to your computer's documentation to determine how to set up your CMOS configuration to handle this second IDE controller. If you use a laptop, you can use a combination of an IDE controller and a controller in a docking station, if you use a docking station with your laptop.


NOTE: A hard disk controller acts as a "middleman" between the hard drive and your computer. A controller is needed because a PC cannot use a hard drive directly. It needs something to communicate instructions to and from the hard drive. In many cases, the BIOS is used to pass hard drive requests from the PC to the hard drive controller. The controller then accesses the hard drive.

SCSI Drives

Windows 98 includes 32-bit disk device drivers for several Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) controllers. Some of these controllers include Adaptec, Future Domain, Trantor, and UltraStor. The SCSI interface is a sub-bus to which you can connect up to seven peripherals. The SCSI supports up to eight units, but one of the units is used to connect the adapter card to the PC, leaving seven open units. You can attach hard drives, CD-ROM drives, scanners, and other devices to a SCSI adapter.

Installing a Hard Disk Drive

When you install a hard drive, you need to be aware of several factors that help lead you to a successful installation. Because each computer, hard drive, and Windows 98 installation is different, this section shows you some of the general steps to help you physically install your hard drive. You should use this section as an overview and reference another resource for hardware-specific questions you might have.

Before you begin ripping open your computer and stuffing a new hard drive inside it, be sure your computer supports the type of hard drive you are installing. You should be able to find this information on the computer specification you received with your PC. If you are the type of user who is not comfortable installing hardware, this chapter probably will not make you more comfortable doing so. It will show you how to configure your hard drive after it's installed, however. You can get this information later in this chapter in the section "Configuring Your Hard Disk Drive."


TIP: Before you turn off your computer to add the new hard drive, you should back up your system in case you lose any data on your existing hard drive.

Plug and Play and Legacy Hard Drives

In Chapter 5, "Installing and Configuring New Hardware and Software," you learn about Plug and Play and how it helps you set up your devices quickly and easily under Windows 98. Another term you might hear is legacy. Legacy refers to devices that do not support the Plug and Play specification. Many of the troubleshooting problems you'll run into under Windows 98 are related to legacy devices, because they are older devices.

The Plug and Play feature requires cooperation among BIOS manufacturers, device manufacturers, and the software developers. Therefore, in order to use this feature, you need a BIOS that supports Plug and Play, a hard disk drive that is Plug and Play-compliant, and Windows 98, which has the support to recognize a new Plug and Play-compliant device and perform an automatic installation of it. This makes the addition of new hardware a simple and painless operation. In some cases, you don't even need to turn off the power to the PC to install a Plug and Play device (although it's recommended that you power down your computer anytime you remove its case).

Disk Drive Addressing

To access a hard disk drive, the address of the disk must be specified. The address is a single, alphabetic character followed by a colon. If the colon is omitted, Windows 98 interprets the drive letter as a filename consisting of a single letter instead of a disk drive address.


NOTE: The addressing scheme can become complicated. If you are connected to a network, each disk you want to have on the network also will have an alphabetic character assigned to it. To further complicate the issue, you can use the DOS command SUBST to substitute one disk address for another. Schemes such as these are beyond the scope of this book.

In addition, Windows 98 has specific addresses it uses for the disk devices and CD-ROMs. The addresses of the floppy-disk and hard-disk drives are determined by the cables attached to them. To simplify this discussion, you can use a standard form of addressing. You safely can assume the following for this discussion:

When Windows 98 is started, the existing disks are assigned an address based on the following scheme:


TIP: If your CD-ROM drive allows you to, always assign the address for a CD-ROM drive to a letter that is a few letters after your last hard disk drive. If, for example, your hard drives are C: and D:, make your CD-ROM F: or G:. That way, if you add more hard disk drives, the address of your CD-ROM does not change and you do not have to change any links to files on a CD-ROM. See Chapter 12, "Installing and Configuring CD-ROM and DVD Drives," for information on installing a CD-ROM drive.

Sometimes, however, Windows sets up a CD-ROM drive with a specific drive letter that you might not be able to change even after installing a new hard drive. This might make the CD-ROM drive letter higher than the new hard drive.


Referencing the Windows 98 Device Manager

The Windows 98 Device Manager is used to display and change the parameters associated with your system's hardware, including hard disk drives. In most instances, the default settings selected by Windows 98 are the correct ones. Sometimes, however, you might encounter a problem after you install your hard drive, and you'll need to access the Device Manager to fix the problem. For this reason, you should become familiar with the Device Manager, even before you install a new hard drive. To access the Device Manager, use the following procedure:

1. Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double-click the System icon.

2.
After the System Properties dialog box appears, select the Device Manager page, as shown in Figure 10.1.

FIG 10.1 You can view your system's hard disk drive(s) properties by using the Device Manager.

To view your hard drive properties, you need to look at both the Disk Drives setting and the Hard Disk Controllers setting. Click the plus sign (+) next to each of these settings to reveal the type of drives and controllers you have installed.

Figure 10.1 shows two drives under Disk Drives. The drive named GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE01 is the hard drive on the system. The other drive is the floppy disk drive installed. Under Hard Disk Controllers, two controllers are listed, both named Standard Bus Mastering IDE Hard Disk Controller.

Installing a Hard Drive

As pointed out earlier, this chapter assumes that you already have one hard drive installed on your system with Windows 98 running on it. Unless you piece together your own computer, the first hard drive is always installed when you purchase your computer. Today's computers usually can support at least two hard disk drives.


CAUTION: Static electricity can be discharged from your body and can cause permanent damage to the chips in your computer. If you do not use an antistatic strip, always touch something metal, such as the case, before touching any components inside the computer.

To install a new hard drive, use the following steps:

1. Turn off the power to the computer. You should leave the power cord plugged in to keep the electrical ground established.

2.
Disconnect all cables from the computer and note their locations with a piece of masking tape.

3.
Remove the case by unscrewing the six or eight screws holding it to the frame.

You now are ready to install your second hard disk drive. Because each hard drive and computer is different, this is where you need to read and follow the instructions provided by the hard drive manufacturer to install the hard disk drive. Some generalized guidelines follow:

1. Locate an available bay in which to install the hard drive. Many hard drives come with a drive kit, usually at an additional charge, with all the necessary hardware to mount the drive in the bay. You might need an adapter if your bay is for a 5 1/4-inch hard disk drive and you are installing a 3 1/2-inch hard disk drive. In addition, rails, which are attached to the side of the hard disk drive, also may be needed. You now can install the drive with the appropriate screws (usually four 6/32x1/4-inch screws).


TIP: It might be easier to connect the power connector and hard disk drive cable before sliding the hard disk drive into the bay.
2. Next, locate an available power-supply connection. If none is available, you have to purchase a Y-cable. The Y-cable enables you to share an existing power connector with two devices. To install it, locate a device near the empty bay that has a power connection plugged into it. Then disconnect that plug, and then plug the female end of the Y-cable into it. Now, one of the male ends is for the device you just unplugged, and the other male end is for your new hard disk drive. Because a hard disk drive uses more electricity than most other devices, you should use a Y-cable of 18 gauge or heavier.

3.
You now are ready to attach the hard disk drive cables between the hard disk controller and the hard disk drive. These are two flat, wide ribbon cables, with a red or blue stripe along one edge. This colored edge should be next to pin number 1 when it is connected to the hard disk drive and the hard disk controller. You can locate the pin number by referring to your computer's documentation and looking at the schematic drawing of the motherboard.

Most disk drives have a single cable that combines the functions of the data cable and the control cable. Also, to help ensure that the cable is connected properly, a plastic key might be placed between a row of pins in the connector. With this plastic key, the connector can be attached only to the disk drive.

After the hard disk drive is secured to the bay and the drive cable and power cable are connected, you are ready to close the computer and begin configuring Windows 98 for your new hard disk drive.


NOTE: Because Windows 98 supports up to two IDE disk controllers, you can install a second controller if you install a third or fourth hard drive in your system. Again, consult your hardware documentation for the placement of the new controller on your PC's motherboard. Some motherboards include a set of golden pins labeled to identify them for the second controller, such as Secondary IDE.

Closing the Computer

With all the new hardware installed, you now can close the computer to complete the configuration of the new hardware.


TIP: If you're like me, you like to make sure everything is working before you go through all the trouble of refastening all those screws on your computer. You might want to bypass this section for now and go to the "Configuring Your Hard Disk Drive" section to make sure that your hard drive works. Of course, you need to attach all the cables and power cords before booting up your computer, but you might save time if the hard drive doesn't work and you need to check loose cables and the like by keeping the case off for now.

These are the general steps to close your computer:

1. Refasten the case by reversing the procedure used to remove it. Namely, place the case back over the frame of the computer and insert the removed screws to refasten the case to the frame. Ensure that all cables and wires are placed neatly inside the computer, in a position where they aren't pinched by other components or trapped between the case and the frame of the computer.

2.
All cables now can be plugged into their proper ports, according to the labels on each cable.

After you install a new hard drive in your computer, you need to configure it to work properly with your specific computer. To do this, reboot your computer and run your computer's setup program to enable you to make changes to your CMOS settings. On some machines, you can start the setup program by pressing F1 during bootup. Refer to your computer's and hard disk drive's documentation at this point to configure your machine to work with the new hard drive. You might need to run specific software provided by your hard drive manufacturer, for example, before partitioning and eventually installing Windows 95 and Windows 98 on your new drive. After you make these changes, be sure to save them and then reboot your computer.

Partitioning Your New Hard Disk Drive

Before you use your new hard drive with Windows 98, you can partition it using the FDISK command. Some hard drives come prepartitioned and preformatted, so you might not have to partition your drive. When you partition a hard drive, you define the areas of the disk for Windows 98 (or any other operating system, for that matter) to recognize as a volume. To Windows 98, a volume is the part of the disk that is specified as the drive letter, such as C or D.

When you partition a drive, you set it up in one of the following partition types:

After you set up partitions, you need to specify the active partition, which your PC uses to boot to. If you elect to place Windows 98 on one partition and Windows NT on another, for example, you need to specify the Windows 98 partition as the active one to run Windows 98. Likewise, when you want to boot Windows NT, you need to switch the active partition to the partition on which NT is installed.

Partitioning Requirements for Installing Windows 98

To install Windows on your new hard drive, you must create a FAT partition on your new hard drive. You cannot install Windows 98 on a computer that has only Hewlett-Packard file system (HPFS) or Windows NT file system (NTFS) partitions.


NOTE: For information on setting up your hard drive as a FAT32 partition, read "Using FAT32" in Chapter 14, "Configuring Memory, Disks, and Devices."

The following list describes how Windows 98 Setup handles different types of disk partitions:


NOTE: With Windows NT 4.0, you can use long filenames like you can with Windows 98. This enables you to install Windows 98 (as an upgrade to an existing Windows 95 installation) and Windows NT 4.0 on the same partition using the FAT file system. If you want to use NTFS with Windows NT 4.0, be sure to install Windows 98 on a separate partition.

Using FDISK

When you use the FDISK command, you can partition your hard drive into one or several partitions. You might want to partition your new hard drive into two partitions if you want to install a different operating system, such as OS/2 Warp, on your computer. This way, you can have both Windows 98 (as an upgrade to an existing Windows 95 installation) and OS/2 residing on the same computer but occupying different hard drives.


CAUTION: Running FDISK destroys all data on the partitions you change or create. Do not use FDISK if you are not comfortable making these changes and if you have not backed up all the data on your drive. If you are in a company, consult your MIS or help-desk person before continuing.

Another time when you can partition a hard drive is when you already have set up a hard drive, and you want to repartition it. If you want to repartition a hard drive with several logical drives into one drive, you first must use FDISK to delete all existing partitions and logical drives, and then create a new primary partition and make it active. The active partition is the partition in which your system boots. For this chapter, your active partition already is set up and is not modified. This is the partition on the hard drive that contains Windows 98. You don't need to worry about partitioning that hard drive. In fact, if you repartitioned that drive, you would lose all the date on it, including Windows 98.

As you just read, when you partition a hard drive, you lose all data on it. When repartition an existing hard drive, be sure to back up all your data onto another hard drive or tape backup. You cannot recover the data after you partitioned the drive.

FDISK is an MS-DOS-based application that you can run from the DOS command prompt. You also can run it in a DOS window in Windows 95 or Windows 98. As you use FDISK, each FDISK screen displays a Current Fixed Disk Drive line, followed by a number. This number is the number of the current drive that is selected. Computers with only one hard disk drive use the label 1. Computers with more than one hard disk drive label the drives in this way: the first hard disk drive on the computer is 1, the second is 2, and so on. The Current Fixed Disk Drive line refers only to physical disk drives, not logical drives.

To configure a hard drive by using FDISK, use the following steps:

1. At the DOS command prompt, type FDISK. The FDISK Options screen displays the following:
1. Create a partition or logical drive
2. Set the active partition
3. Delete a partition or logical drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed disk drive
    Enter choice [1]
    Press Esc to exit FDISK


TIP: You can press Esc anytime to exit FDISK.
2. In the preceding options list, the fifth option is not available when you have only one hard drive installed on your computer. Because you have two hard drives installed now, select 5 to switch to the second hard drive to partition it and press Enter.

3.
Now that your new drive is selected, choose option 1 and press Enter. This creates a partition on your drive. When you are prompted to set the size of the partition, the default is to use the entire drive. Select Yes in most cases.

4.
Return to the FDISK menu and be sure to select your primary fixed disk (usually, the C: drive) by selecting option 5 before you exit FDISK. Otherwise, when you reboot your system, your computer will try to boot from your new drive.


NOTE: If you installed a disk-compression program from Microsoft or another vendor, FDISK displays the uncompressed size of the drives, not the compressed size. Depending on the software, FDISK may not be able to display information about all the drives used by a disk-compression program from another vendor. You should obtain information from the software vendor if you are having difficulties.


TROUBLESHOOTING: What do I do when I get an error that Windows 98 Setup can't find a valid boot partition? This error might be a result of your disk-compression software or network components mapping over the boot drive. This can occur if you are mapping a network drive to H, but H is the hidden host drive for your disk-compression software. To resolve the invalid partition error, make sure the drive is not mapped over or logically remapped. You also should verify a valid, active partition using the FDISK command. If no active partition exists, use FDISK to mark an appropriate partition as active. Also, make sure the disk-compression software's host drive does not conflict with a mapped network drive.

Windows and Partitioning Software

For hard drives that already are installed, you should not repartition the hard drive by using FDISK if the partitions were created using Disk Manager, Storage Dimension's SpeedStor, Priam, or Everex partitioning programs. When these programs are used, they replace the existing PC's BIOS in interactions between MS-DOS and the hard disk controller. For these cases, you must use the same disk-partitioning program that was used to partition the disk in the first place. For example, if you use SpeedStor on a computer that has more than 1,024 cylinders, do not use FDISK to partition your hard drive. Use SpeedStor instead.

You can tell which type of program created the partition by searching for these files on your system: HARDRIVE.SYS for Priam, SSTOR.SYS for SpeedStor, DMDRVR.BIN for Disk Manager, and EVDISK.SYS for Everex. Usually, you find device= entries for these files in CONFIG.SYS. If you need help repartitioning the hard drive or are unsure whether the BIOS is being replaced, contact the manufacturer of the original disk-partitioning program.

Configuring Your Hard Disk Drive

After your hard drive is installed and the cables are reattached to your computer, boot your computer and start Windows 98. During the boot process, Windows 98 looks at your system and, if everything goes as planned, it detects your new hard drive. It configures the new hard drive and controller to work under Windows.

One of the problems with Plug and Play is that your computer's BIOS also needs to support Plug and Play devices. Most computers being used do not have a BIOS that supports this new specification. For this reason, Windows 98 also includes the auto-detect feature for legacy systems. If Windows 98 finds your new hard drive during bootup but cannot automatically configure it, you are presented with a screen asking whether you want to set up the device now. The best response is to answer Yes to this screen and let Windows 98 try to set it up for you.

If Windows 98 does not automatically detect your new hard drive, use the Add New Hardware Wizard to set up your hard drive. You'll find a discussion of this wizard in Chapter 5.

Formatting a Hard Disk Drive

Now that your hard drive is partitioned, and Windows 98 can recognize it, you need a way to access it. To do this, you need to perform a high-level format on it. Another reason to format a hard drive is if you want to clean up the hard drive by removing all its files and folders. Of course, you cannot do this on hard drives that currently contain data that you are using, including Windows 98.

You can format a hard drive in Windows 98 using a graphical approach with Explorer or using the FORMAT command at the MS-DOS prompt.


CAUTION: Before using the FORMAT command or utility on a drive that already contains data, make sure that your hard drive does not contain valuable data that is not backed up. When you format a hard drive, all data is erased from the disk, and you cannot recover it.

To format a hard disk drive using Explorer, use the following steps:

1. In Windows Explorer, right-click the drive icon for your hard disk drive, and then choose Format from the context-sensitive menu.

2.
In the Format dialog box, set the appropriate options for the type of format you want to perform. If your hard drive is new, you need to select the Full option in the Format Type section. In the Cap_acity drop-down list, select the size of your hard disk drive.

3.
In the Other Options area, type a label for the hard drive in the Label box. The label is the name you want to identify this drive with; don't confuse this with the drive letter.

4.
Click Start. Windows 98 formats the hard drive and, if you selected the Display Summary When Finished option in the Other Options area, a summary sheet appears that shows the amount of space available on the disk and how much space is taken up by system files and bad sectors, if any are found.

5.
Click OK when you finish reading the report.

6.
Click Close to close the Format dialog box.


TROUBLESHOOTING: I've used the Format utility in Explorer and the FORMAT command in MS-DOS, but I still can't format my hard drive. If the disk was compressed by using DriveSpace 3, you must use the Format option in DriveSpace 3 to format the compressed drive. Choose Drive, Format to start the format process in DriveSpace 3.

If you need to format a drive at the DOS command line, use the following syntax:

FORMAT driveletter

The driveletter parameter is the letter used to denote the hard drive you are formatting. To include a label for the drive, use the following syntax, with the label name replacing label:

FORMAT driveletter V:label

Your new hard drive now is ready for use.

Testing Hard Disk Drives Under Windows 98

Testing the hard disk drive is simple. All you have to do is use it. Before using it, however, you can ask Windows 98 to show you which drives are present. If you have two drives, they are shown as your C: drive and D: drive. The third one is the E: drive, and the fourth one is the F: drive. Some ways to see these drives follow:

To make sure that your new hard drive functions properly, copy a file from your old hard drive to the new hard drive. When finished, compare the two files to see whether the file was copied successfully. Likewise, copy the file you just copied to the new hard drive back to the old hard drive and change the name. Now compare the two files on the old hard disk drive to see whether they still are identical.


TROUBLESHOOTING: How do I configure my Syquest removable IDE drive for Windows 98? For a Syquest IDE drive to work properly under Windows 98, be sure to configure the drive's Properties dialog box to enable it as a removable drive. If this doesn't work, add the entry RemovableIDE=true to the [386enh] section of your SYSTEM.INI file.

I do a lot of work with large files (several megabytes in size), and transferring them to other machines not on the local area network is difficult. What is the easiest way to move these files around using hard drive technology? There are several solutions you can use. One of the most commonly used technologies is tape backup, which you can read about in Chapter 13, "Setting Up Backup Systems."

Another solution is to use a Syquest drive or similar technology that uses tape cartridges to store data. Probably one of the most popular technologies being used today is the removable hard drive or portable hard drive system. Iomega, for example, manufactures the Iomega Zip and Iomega Jaz drives, which you can use as portable and removable hard drives. You can attach these units to your system using a SCSI II host or parallel port (in the case of Zip drives). The Zip drive supports cartridges the size of 3 1/2-inch disks that hold 100MB, whereas the Jaz drive uses 1GB cartridges to enable you to store and access files.

One advantage of the Zip and Jaz drives over backup systems is that the Zip and Jaz drives act like regular hard drives. In fact, the Jaz drive has seek times as fast as 10ms to 12ms, making them faster than most hard drives found on PCs.


Troubleshooting Hard Disk Drives Under Windows 98

At times, you'll experience problems with your hard disk drive. Some of these problems are discussed in this section. You might encounter one of these problems during bootup. If your computer stalls because of the new hard drive, you might have a problem with where your hard disk drivers are installed. The I/O Supervisor requires the hard disk driver files with the extensions PDR, MPD, VXD, and 386 to be located in the SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS subfolder in your Windows 98 folder. The I/O Supervisor is responsible for loading these hard disk device drivers.

If your computer locks up during startup or hardware detection, use the following troubleshooting steps to fix the problem:

1. Look for SYS files in the IOSUBSYS folder. These are Windows NT miniport drivers that detect the I/O ports and may cause your computer to stop. (These appear only on hard drives with previous versions of Windows NT installed on them.) Replace the Windows NT driver with a Windows 98 miniport or a real-mode driver.

2.
Check your IOS.INI file for real-mode drivers not replaced by protected-mode drivers.

3.
When loading protected-mode drivers, the real-mode driver generally remains loaded in memory, even though the protected-mode driver is running. In CONFIG.SYS, type REM at the beginning of the line that calls the real-mode driver.

4.
Some systems might encounter problems with devices that use ASPI drivers, such as tape backup units. Try using only real-mode drivers, and then try using only protected-mode drivers.

The section "Closing the Computer," earlier in this chapter, suggested that you might not want to replace the computer case just yet. Well, now is when you'll appreciate this advise. If your device does not work, and it's not because of the preceding failure, the problem might be hardware-related. You need to take a look at the physical connections your new hard drive has inside the computer. Sometimes, a loose connection can create huge problems during setup.

Some possible areas to investigate follow:


NOTE: In the following list, the term hard disk drive cable is used to mean the controller cable and/or the data cable, depending on which system you have.

After adjusting the cables and/or replacing the hard drive, reboot the computer and walk through the Add New Hardware Wizard again. If none of these solutions help, call the technical-support number included with your hard drive. New drivers for Windows 98 might be available that they can send to you.

Using Bus Mastering

A problem you might encounter is if bus mastering is enabled on a hard drive that is not specifically certified to work with a Windows bus master driver. To know whether your hard drive supports bus mastering, perform the following steps:

1. Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double-click the System icon.

2.
In the System Properties dialog box, select the Device Manager tab.

3.
Double-click the hard drive you want to examine. Do not double-click the drive's controller.

4.
Select Properties.

5.
Select the Settings tab. Look for DMA appears under the Int 13 unit option. Keep the DMA option unchecked unless your hard drive specifically supports bus mastering. If there is no check box, your motherboard chipset does not support a compatible bus master interface.


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