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How to get Windows98 SE to work with Flash Drives larger than 1GB

C

CurlySue

Flightless Bird
I recognize that re-posting is taboo, but I wanted the whole SUBJECT (title)
to be visible and that's why . . .

In short, I cannot get Windows 98SE to work with any Flash Drive larger than
1GB. It will work with 1GB drives, but I prefer to use 4GB (and perhaps
larger drives).

First, I want to state that I understand that this is not a Windows 98
forum, but its forum . . . microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion . . .
http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...spx?guid=2795731e-e69c-426a-aac8-5493495967b2
.. . . is EMPTY, and all of the Win98 Links, except Shell, associated with
Newsgroups deleted June 1, 2010 redirect to . . .
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/group/WindowsAnswers . . .
Windows Forums, where Windows 7, Vista and XP are shown.

So, since my primary PC is XP, I thought that I would try here and see where
it gets me.

Prior to posting here, I Googled and reviewed, tried and failed, for hours -
over 15 hours, to be exact.

The first thing I did was a thorough system scrubbing of the Registry and
Programs, eliminating temp files, and other crap.

Because I hadn't updated for the last 3 years, I found Windows98 SE Service
Pack 2.1 and installed it. Then I scrubbed the Registry (which, to my
surprise, remained perfectly clean) and my system.

Next, I researched, downloaded and installed various drivers - first using
the specific manufacturer's Windows 98SE drivers, and when they did not work,
I tried a couple of generic drivers. Both failed - again, Windows98 SE would
nothing work with any Flash Drive larger than 1GB.

With all of my Googling, one of the issues I had hoped to find was something
that simply stated that Window98 SE was incapable of reading any Flash Drive
larger than 1GB. But I did not, and I am having this problem with a desktop
PC - whereas my notebook PC, also running Windows98 SE, will read Flash
Drives larger than 1GB, and that is why I want to believe that I have either
forgot a setting or simply do not remember how I achieved this with my
notebook (something I did over 3 years ago).

Any suggestions, recommendations or guidance is sincerely appreciated.

With kindest regards,

CurlySue
 
P

Pegasus [MVP]

Flightless Bird
"CurlySue" <CurlySue@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A692655A-9AEC-40E6-A145-168621A5FE1F@microsoft.com...
> I recognize that re-posting is taboo, but I wanted the whole SUBJECT
> (title)
> to be visible and that's why . . .
>
> In short, I cannot get Windows 98SE to work with any Flash Drive larger
> than
> 1GB. It will work with 1GB drives, but I prefer to use 4GB (and perhaps
> larger drives).
>
> First, I want to state that I understand that this is not a Windows 98
> forum, but its forum . . . microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion . . .
> http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...spx?guid=2795731e-e69c-426a-aac8-5493495967b2
> . . . is EMPTY, and all of the Win98 Links, except Shell, associated with
> Newsgroups deleted June 1, 2010 redirect to . . .
> http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/group/WindowsAnswers . .
> .
> Windows Forums, where Windows 7, Vista and XP are shown.
>
> So, since my primary PC is XP, I thought that I would try here and see
> where
> it gets me.
>
> Prior to posting here, I Googled and reviewed, tried and failed, for
> hours -
> over 15 hours, to be exact.
>
> The first thing I did was a thorough system scrubbing of the Registry and
> Programs, eliminating temp files, and other crap.
>
> Because I hadn't updated for the last 3 years, I found Windows98 SE
> Service
> Pack 2.1 and installed it. Then I scrubbed the Registry (which, to my
> surprise, remained perfectly clean) and my system.
>
> Next, I researched, downloaded and installed various drivers - first using
> the specific manufacturer's Windows 98SE drivers, and when they did not
> work,
> I tried a couple of generic drivers. Both failed - again, Windows98 SE
> would
> nothing work with any Flash Drive larger than 1GB.
>
> With all of my Googling, one of the issues I had hoped to find was
> something
> that simply stated that Window98 SE was incapable of reading any Flash
> Drive
> larger than 1GB. But I did not, and I am having this problem with a
> desktop
> PC - whereas my notebook PC, also running Windows98 SE, will read Flash
> Drives larger than 1GB, and that is why I want to believe that I have
> either
> forgot a setting or simply do not remember how I achieved this with my
> notebook (something I did over 3 years ago).
>
> Any suggestions, recommendations or guidance is sincerely appreciated.
>
> With kindest regards,
>
> CurlySue

AFAIR, Win98 will read disks of up to 32 GBytes, which tends to be confirmed
by your notebook having no problem reading the disk. This suggests that the
problem does not lie with Windows but with the driver you use. Try to use a
the same flash disk driver as on your notebook.

Note also that Win98 has a file size limit of 4 GBytes.
 
P

Pegasus [MVP]

Flightless Bird
.. . . and have a look at the replies you received to your first and
identical post.
 
M

Mark Adams

Flightless Bird
"CurlySue" wrote:

> I recognize that re-posting is taboo, but I wanted the whole SUBJECT (title)
> to be visible and that's why . . .
>
> In short, I cannot get Windows 98SE to work with any Flash Drive larger than
> 1GB. It will work with 1GB drives, but I prefer to use 4GB (and perhaps
> larger drives).
>
> First, I want to state that I understand that this is not a Windows 98
> forum, but its forum . . . microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion . . .
> http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...spx?guid=2795731e-e69c-426a-aac8-5493495967b2
> . . . is EMPTY, and all of the Win98 Links, except Shell, associated with
> Newsgroups deleted June 1, 2010 redirect to . . .
> http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/group/WindowsAnswers . . .
> Windows Forums, where Windows 7, Vista and XP are shown.
>
> So, since my primary PC is XP, I thought that I would try here and see where
> it gets me.
>
> Prior to posting here, I Googled and reviewed, tried and failed, for hours -
> over 15 hours, to be exact.
>
> The first thing I did was a thorough system scrubbing of the Registry and
> Programs, eliminating temp files, and other crap.
>
> Because I hadn't updated for the last 3 years, I found Windows98 SE Service
> Pack 2.1 and installed it.


Since there are no Service Packs for Windows 98, who knows what it was you
installed.


Then I scrubbed the Registry (which, to my
> surprise, remained perfectly clean) and my system.
>


I'm surprised your system still works. NEVER use registry cleaners. They
don't do anything to improve performance, and they do have the potential to
totally hose your OS.


> Next, I researched, downloaded and installed various drivers - first using
> the specific manufacturer's Windows 98SE drivers, and when they did not work,
> I tried a couple of generic drivers. Both failed - again, Windows98 SE would
> nothing work with any Flash Drive larger than 1GB.


Windows 98 was never designed to handle USB devices the way XP was. Your
best bet is to get a Win 98 specific driver from the manufacturer of the USB
device. If the manufacturer doesn't have one, all bets are off. I had Win 98
fry two flash drives when i tried to use them with a generic driver (I forget
which one). If the manufacturer does provide a driver and it doesn't work,
contact the manufacturer. If the driver comes as a zip file, you have to
manually unzip it to a file and manually point the Windows driver installer
to that file or Windows will never find it by itself. (another BIG
improvement with XP)


>
> With all of my Googling, one of the issues I had hoped to find was something
> that simply stated that Window98 SE was incapable of reading any Flash Drive
> larger than 1GB. But I did not, and I am having this problem with a desktop
> PC - whereas my notebook PC, also running Windows98 SE, will read Flash
> Drives larger than 1GB, and that is why I want to believe that I have either
> forgot a setting or simply do not remember how I achieved this with my
> notebook (something I did over 3 years ago).
>


Make sure the flash drive is formatted FAT or FAT32, Win 98 cannot see or
use the NTFS file system that most XP systems use. This includes external
hard drives. They will need a driver and must be FAT or FAT32 or they will be
unusable. Also, IIRC FAT file systems are limited to 32GB partitions. You can
format the drive on an XP system, just make sure you select the proper format
(not NTFS)


> Any suggestions, recommendations or guidance is sincerely appreciated.
>
> With kindest regards,
>
> CurlySue
 
G

glee

Flightless Bird
replies inline.....
"CurlySue" <CurlySue@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A692655A-9AEC-40E6-A145-168621A5FE1F@microsoft.com...
> snip
> In short, I cannot get Windows 98SE to work with any Flash Drive
> larger than
> 1GB. It will work with 1GB drives, but I prefer to use 4GB (and
> perhaps
> larger drives).
> snip
>
> The first thing I did was a thorough system scrubbing of the Registry
> and
> Programs, eliminating temp files, and other crap.


Thereby most likely damaging numerous needed registry entries....

>
> Because I hadn't updated for the last 3 years, I found Windows98 SE
> Service
> Pack 2.1 and installed it.


No such thing as Win98SE SP2.1 (or 2.0 for that matter). What did you
actually install and from where?


> Then I scrubbed the Registry (which, to my
> surprise, remained perfectly clean) and my system.


Again, likely removing Registry entries that should not have been
removed....Registry "cleaners" and "optimizers" are junk.


>
> Next, I researched, downloaded and installed various drivers - first
> using
> the specific manufacturer's Windows 98SE drivers, and when they did
> not work,
> I tried a couple of generic drivers. Both failed - again, Windows98
> SE would
> nothing work with any Flash Drive larger than 1GB.


What drivers are you using now? What drivers did you try, specifically?
Did you completely uninstall one set before installing another? What
brand and model is the flash drive?


>
> With all of my Googling, one of the issues I had hoped to find was
> something
> that simply stated that Window98 SE was incapable of reading any Flash
> Drive
> larger than 1GB. But I did not, and I am having this problem with a
> desktop
> PC - whereas my notebook PC, also running Windows98 SE, will read
> Flash
> Drives larger than 1GB, and that is why I want to believe that I have
> either
> forgot a setting or simply do not remember how I achieved this with my
> notebook (something I did over 3 years ago).


Win98SE will work with flash drives larger than 1GB...the problem is
with your system or the driver. My bet is on damage to your system from
using Registry "cleaners" and installing some third-party so-called
service pack. Also, did you update the system at Windows Update? You
stated you had not updated it in years, and then installed this bogus
SP.

--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
A+
http://dts-l.net/
 
E

Eddie

Flightless Bird
Re: How to get Windows98 SE to work with Flash Drives larger than1GB

hi....

http://www.wintricks.it/faq/usbpen98.html

this site is in Italian, but once you get to page two you will see self
explanatory dialogue boxes etc. (you can also copy/paste into a language
changer if you wish to read it in english.)

this driver was written specifically for users of win98 and 98se, and i
have been using it for ages no matter what Flash Drive i throw at it.

hth.

Ed
 
B

Bill in Co

Flightless Bird
Paul wrote:
> CurlySue wrote:
>> I recognize that re-posting is taboo, but I wanted the whole SUBJECT
>> (title)
>> to be visible and that's why . . .
>>
>> In short, I cannot get Windows 98SE to work with any Flash Drive larger
>> than
>> 1GB. It will work with 1GB drives, but I prefer to use 4GB (and perhaps
>> larger drives).
>>
>> First, I want to state that I understand that this is not a Windows 98
>> forum, but its forum . . . microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion . . .
>> http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...spx?guid=2795731e-e69c-426a-aac8-5493495967b2
>> . . . is EMPTY, and all of the Win98 Links, except Shell, associated with
>> Newsgroups deleted June 1, 2010 redirect to . . .
>> http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/group/WindowsAnswers . .
>> .
>> Windows Forums, where Windows 7, Vista and XP are shown.
>>
>> So, since my primary PC is XP, I thought that I would try here and see
>> where
>> it gets me.
>>
>> Prior to posting here, I Googled and reviewed, tried and failed, for
>> hours -
>> over 15 hours, to be exact.
>>
>> The first thing I did was a thorough system scrubbing of the Registry and
>> Programs, eliminating temp files, and other crap.
>>
>> Because I hadn't updated for the last 3 years, I found Windows98 SE
>> Service
>> Pack 2.1 and installed it. Then I scrubbed the Registry (which, to my
>> surprise, remained perfectly clean) and my system.
>>
>> Next, I researched, downloaded and installed various drivers - first
>> using
>> the specific manufacturer's Windows 98SE drivers, and when they did not
>> work,
>> I tried a couple of generic drivers. Both failed - again, Windows98 SE
>> would
>> nothing work with any Flash Drive larger than 1GB.
>>
>> With all of my Googling, one of the issues I had hoped to find was
>> something
>> that simply stated that Window98 SE was incapable of reading any Flash
>> Drive
>> larger than 1GB. But I did not, and I am having this problem with a
>> desktop
>> PC - whereas my notebook PC, also running Windows98 SE, will read Flash
>> Drives larger than 1GB, and that is why I want to believe that I have
>> either
>> forgot a setting or simply do not remember how I achieved this with my
>> notebook (something I did over 3 years ago).
>>
>> Any suggestions, recommendations or guidance is sincerely appreciated.
>>
>> With kindest regards,
>>
>> CurlySue
>
> The limits of the various flavors of FAT (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32) are listed
> here.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table
>
> http://web.archive.org/web/20060307082555/
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/c13621675.mspx
>
> "FAT16 volumes larger than 2 GB are not accessible from computers
> running
> MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, and many other operating
> systems. This limitation occurs because these operating systems do not
> support cluster sizes larger than 32 KB, which results in the 2 GB
> limit."
>
> Maybe it's the way you're formatting the flash drive ?
>
> I have only two USB flash sticks here.
>
> If I insert my Kingston 1GB stick, then select "format" for the thing,
> the choices are:
>
> FAT (FAT12 or FAT16, as appropriate ?)
> FAT32
> exFAT

FAT12 is offered? I thought FAT12 was only used by floppy disks, or
perhaps the older floppy disk formats like 5" (can't recall now). (My
guess is for all PC floppy disks, though).
 
P

Paul

Flightless Bird
Re: How to get Windows98 SE to work with Flash Drives larger than1GB

Bill in Co wrote:

>>
>> If I insert my Kingston 1GB stick, then select "format" for the thing,
>> the choices are:
>>
>> FAT (FAT12 or FAT16, as appropriate ?)
>> FAT32
>> exFAT
>
> FAT12 is offered? I thought FAT12 was only used by floppy disks, or
> perhaps the older floppy disk formats like 5" (can't recall now). (My
> guess is for all PC floppy disks, though).
>

If the storage device you attempted to "format" was smaller than 32MB,
it might try FAT12 for you. I'm guessing that is what you'll find on
a floppy ? If the storage device is larger than 32MB, then I think
it'll do FAT16. It leaves a generic "FAT" in the menu, to surprise you.
It would have made more sense, if they just named the specific option
they planned to use.

I used a utility that can identify file systems, and it said my floppy
has FAT12 on it. So I can verify that one. If I was to plug the
Kingston 1GB flash into the computer, and select "FAT" as the
formatting option, I think it would use FAT16 for that.

The "FAT" option is missing, when I plug in the 8GB flash, because
even FAT16 isn't going to work for that. Only FAT32 could handle it,
in the FAT family.

Paul
 
B

Bill in Co

Flightless Bird
Paul wrote:
> Bill in Co wrote:
>
>>>
>>> If I insert my Kingston 1GB stick, then select "format" for the thing,
>>> the choices are:
>>>
>>> FAT (FAT12 or FAT16, as appropriate ?)
>>> FAT32
>>> exFAT
>>
>> FAT12 is offered? I thought FAT12 was only used by floppy disks, or
>> perhaps the older floppy disk formats like 5" (can't recall now). (My
>> guess is for all PC floppy disks, though).
>>
>
> If the storage device you attempted to "format" was smaller than 32MB,
> it might try FAT12 for you. I'm guessing that is what you'll find on
> a floppy ?

I expect so. :) PC Floppies only went up to 1.44 MB, as I recall.
Well, possibly there were a few 2.88 MB really hi density ones, but I can't
recall now. 1.44 MB was as high as I ever went.

> If the storage device is larger than 32MB, then I think
> it'll do FAT16. It leaves a generic "FAT" in the menu, to surprise you.
> It would have made more sense, if they just named the specific option
> they planned to use.

Well, unless you have a floppy drive, I can't see any need for FAT12.
I would expect the generic FAT entry you see there will be FAT16 (since you
plugged in some external device, and we're not talking about a floppy
drive).

> I used a utility that can identify file systems, and it said my floppy
> has FAT12 on it. So I can verify that one. If I was to plug the
> Kingston 1GB flash into the computer, and select "FAT" as the
> formatting option, I think it would use FAT16 for that.

I would expect so.
I just don't think there are any 32 MB (or less) external plug-in storage
devices, are there?

> The "FAT" option is missing, when I plug in the 8GB flash, because
> even FAT16 isn't going to work for that. Only FAT32 could handle it,
> in the FAT family.
>
> Paul
 
J

John John - MVP

Flightless Bird
Re: How to get Windows98 SE to work with Flash Drives larger than1GB

Paul wrote:
> Bill in Co wrote:
>
>>>
>>> If I insert my Kingston 1GB stick, then select "format" for the thing,
>>> the choices are:
>>>
>>> FAT (FAT12 or FAT16, as appropriate ?)
>>> FAT32
>>> exFAT
>>
>> FAT12 is offered? I thought FAT12 was only used by floppy disks, or
>> perhaps the older floppy disk formats like 5" (can't recall now).
>> (My guess is for all PC floppy disks, though).
>
> If the storage device you attempted to "format" was smaller than 32MB,
> it might try FAT12 for you. I'm guessing that is what you'll find on
> a floppy ?

The maximum volume size supported by FAT12 is about 16MB (32,680 sectors
x 512 bytes/sector), on Windows XP FAT16 supports volumes of 8MB to 4GB.
NT operating systems cannot (will not) format hard disk volumes
smaller than 8MB and FAT12 is pretty well reserved for floppy disks.

John



> If the storage device is larger than 32MB, then I think
> it'll do FAT16. It leaves a generic "FAT" in the menu, to surprise you.
> It would have made more sense, if they just named the specific option
> they planned to use.
>
> I used a utility that can identify file systems, and it said my floppy
> has FAT12 on it. So I can verify that one. If I was to plug the
> Kingston 1GB flash into the computer, and select "FAT" as the
> formatting option, I think it would use FAT16 for that.
>
> The "FAT" option is missing, when I plug in the 8GB flash, because
> even FAT16 isn't going to work for that. Only FAT32 could handle it,
> in the FAT family.
>
> Paul
 
P

Paul

Flightless Bird
C

CurlySue

Flightless Bird
Re: How to get Windows98 SE to work with Flash Drives larger than

"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:

> AFAIR, Win98 will read disks of up to 32 GBytes, which tends to be confirmed
> by your notebook having no problem reading the disk. This suggests that the
> problem does not lie with Windows but with the driver you use. Try to use a
> the same flash disk driver as on your notebook.
>
> Note also that Win98 has a file size limit of 4 GBytes.

Thanks for your reply, Pegasus.

Prior to posting, tried what you suggested - and failed. However, shortly
after my initial post(s), courtesy of one of the following...

UNOFFICIAL Windows98 SE Service Pack 2.1a Download
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4131.html

Auto-Patcher For Windows 98se (English) - MSFN Forums
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/80800-auto-patcher-for-windows-98se-english/

....my USBSTOR.SYS file was updated and, via the C:/WINDOWS\INF directory,
this driver worked and all is well again.

Thanks for your support!

CS
 
C

CurlySue

Flightless Bird
Re: How to get Windows98 SE to work with Flash Drives larger than

"Pegasus [MVP]" wrote:

> .. . . and have a look at the replies you received to your first and
> identical post.

Did. Thanks! :eek:)
 
C

CurlySue

Flightless Bird
Re: How to get Windows98 SE to work with Flash Drives larger than

Hi there, Eddie! Thanks for your reply.

I am VERY happy to hear that driver works for you. Shortly after my initial
post(s), I managed to secure an updated USBSTOR.SYS driver courtesy of one of
the following updating programs...

|MG| UNOFFICIAL Windows98 SE Service Pack 2.1a Download
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4131.html

Auto-Patcher For Windows 98se (English) - MSFN Forums
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/80800-auto-patcher-for-windows-98se-english/

....and via the C:/WINDOWS\INF directory, I managed to get the Flash Drive to
work and all is well now.

Thanks again!

CS

"Eddie" wrote:

> hi....
>
> http://www.wintricks.it/faq/usbpen98.html
>
> this site is in Italian, but once you get to page two you will see self
> explanatory dialogue boxes etc. (you can also copy/paste into a language
> changer if you wish to read it in english.)
>
> this driver was written specifically for users of win98 and 98se, and i
> have been using it for ages no matter what Flash Drive i throw at it.
>
> hth.
>
> Ed
 
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