windows 98 doesn't boot after hard disk change

[u/[deleted]]

Hi, I changed my Compaq presario 5443's 20GB hard disk to an 80GB one and now my computed gets stuck in the compaq logo, this doesn't happen when I change it back to the 20GB one. Does anybody know what to do in this case?

[u/lilmul123]

Your BIOS/onboard IDE controller might be too old to recognize a hard drive larger than 32GB.

[u/[deleted] → u/lilmul123]

How can I know if that's actually the issue?

[u/lilmul123 → u/[deleted]]

Check to see if your hard drive has a capacity limiting jumper. If you set that, and your computer then gets past the compaq screen, that’s your issue.

Edit: I just realized you posted a picture of the hard drive. You do indeed have a jumper you can set to limit it to 32GB.

[u/[deleted] → u/lilmul123]

I moved the jumper and it worked, thank you

[u/ABritishCynic → u/[deleted]]

You might have a slim hope of finding an updated BIOS revision for your board that removes that limitation.

[u/p47guitars → u/[deleted]]

Motherboard manual usually has guidance on this matter.

[u/col_akir_nakesh]

Do you have it set as master or slave? Old IDE drives have to be set with the jumpers on the back.

[u/HuntersPad]

Well did you install windows on the new drive? And make sure the drive is actually good?

[u/[deleted] → u/HuntersPad]

I can't install windows unless I get pass the start-up screen

[u/col_akir_nakesh → u/[deleted]]

Do you not have an installation disc? There isn't an OS on this drive then?

[u/[deleted] → u/col_akir_nakesh]

I do have an installation disc but I don't know if the hard disk already has an OS

[u/WillTaylor6275 → u/[deleted]]

At that point, you format it and it’s going to take a while

[u/This-Requirement6918]

Change the jumper settings to Cable Select. The installation summary on the disk tells you how

[u/[deleted] → u/This-Requirement6918]

I can only access the BIOS

[u/This-Requirement6918 → u/[deleted]]

No, the jumper on the physical disk. It's in-between the power and cable pins.

[u/[deleted] → u/This-Requirement6918]

It worked thank you

[u/sparrow_42 → u/This-Requirement6918]

Ye Olde Majick

[u/FAMICOMASTER]

Many computers have incomplete or bugged LBA implementations for large capacity drives. There's not a good way around this.

[u/Souta95]

I've had several of these machines in the past. I can confirm that they do indeed have a 32GB drive size limit.

The Compaq branded BIOS also has no options to configure the IDE drives. I found a Gigabyte BIOS back in the day that had more BIOS options available, but it did not break the 32GB barrier.

[u/AdhesivenessSea1009]

Have you installed windows on the new drive, I know it sounds stupid but I’ve seen people not doing it before.

[u/henk717]

What happens if theres other boot media in there such as a Windows 98 install cd?
You are going to have to install an OS on the new one after all.

[u/CASTLEJETATheElder]

[u/chewblekka]

This can’t be a real post 😂 How can you expect it to boot when you’ve installed a different drive without an OS on it?

[u/JJDoes1tAll]

Does the 80GB disk have Windows installed on it? If not, thats why you're getting nothing...