Windows 98 and lower format utility

First create the Fat32EBD diskette from the Win98 CD-Rom. It is located in the Tools\MtsUtil\Fat32EBD folder, which also contains the Fat32EBD.txt file with instructions for making the diskette.
OR
A Win98 Startup diskette can be supplemented for the Fat32EBD diskette as well, just take note of the location of the FDISK and FORMAT files - they are different using that diskette.


There is a problem when you use FDISK.EXE to partition a hard drive that is larger than 64 GB in size. You can read more about this bug and download a patch with an updated version of FDISK.EXE in MS Knowledge Base article.
1. Download the update linked in the above MS Knowledge Base article but DO NOT double click on it or execute it in any way.
2. Assuming you have something like WinZip already installed, right click on the downloaded file and select "Open with WinZip" or similar from the pop-up menu.
3. A listing of all the files compressed into the downloaded .exe should appear. Locate and extract the appropriate FDISK.98 file for the version of Win98 you are running ONLY.


Date Time Size File name Operating System
---------------------------------------------------------------
05/19/00 10:30am 64,428 Fdisk.98g Windows 98
05/18/00 8:35am 64,460 Fdisk.98s Windows 98 Second Edition


4. Rename the FDISK.98 file to FDISK.EXE and copy it to your FAT32EBD diskette - over writing the original one.

You should remember to download and apply this patch once Win98 is installed to update the FDISK.EXE file in the Windows\Command folder as well.

1. Boot with your W98 Fat32ebd diskette, type FDISK at the A:\> prompt, and follow these instructions.
2. You will see the following screen in DOS
Your computer has a disk larger than 512 MB. This version of Windows includes improved support for large disks, resulting in more efficient use of disk space on large drives, and allowing disks over 2 GB to be formatted as a single drive.
IMPORTANT: If you enable large disk support and create any new drives on this disk, you will not be able to access the new drive(s) using other operating systems, including some versions of Windows 95 and Windows NT, as well as earlier versions of Windows and MS-DOS. In addition, disk utilities that were not designed explicitly for the FAT32 file system will not be able to work with this disk. If you need to access this disk with other operating systems or older disk utilities, do not enable large drive support.

Do you wish to enable large disk support (Y/N)? [Y]

3. Select "Y" if you wish to partition using the FAT32 file system or "N" if you want to use the FAT16 file system.

4.
FDISK Options Current fixed disk drive: 1

Choose one of the following:

1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information

Enter choice: [1]

Press ESC to exit FDISK

OR
4. Press 3 to choose Delete Partition Or Logical DOS Drive, and then press ENTER. The Delete DOS Partition Or Logical DOS Drive screen appears.


Delete DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Choose one of the following:

1. Delete Primary DOS Partition
2. Delete Extended DOS Partition
3. Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition
4. Delete Non-DOS Partition

Enter choice: [ ]

Press ESC to return to FDISK Options

5. If any of your partitions were created with a third-party disk-partitioning utility or installation program, press 4 to choose Delete Non-DOS Partition, and then press ENTER. If all your partitions were created with MS-DOS, press ESC to return to the FDISK Options screen, then skip to step 10 of this procedure.

Delete Non-DOS Partition

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
C: 1 A PRI DOS 23 FAT16 33%
2 Non-DOS 23 33%
3 EXT DOS 23 33%

Total disk space is 69 Mbytes

WARNING! Data in the deleted Non-DOS Partition will be lost.
What non-DOS partition do you want to delete? [1]

Press ESC to return to FDISK Options

6. Type the number of the partition you want to delete, and then press ENTER.
7. To confirm the deletion, press Y, and then press ENTER.
8. Press ESC to return to the FDISK Options screen.
9. Repeat steps 4 - 8 if you have any other partitions that were created with a third-party disk-partitioning utility or installation program.
10. The FDISK Options menu should now be on your screen. If you have a partition that was created with MS-DOS, press 3 to choose Delete Partition Or Logical DOS Drive and press ENTER.
11. If you have a logical drive, press 3 to choose Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) In The Extended DOS Partition and press ENTER. Then the Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) In The Extended DOS Partition screen appears. If you don't have any logical drives, skip to step 19.

Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition

Drv Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
D: 15 FAT12 65%
E: 8 FAT12 35%

Total Extended DOS Partition size is 23 Mbytes

WARNING! Data in a deleted Logical DOS Drive will be lost.
What drive do you want to delete? [ ]

Press ESC to return to FDISK Options
12. Type the letter of the drive you want to delete and press ENTER.
13. Type the volume label if there is one and press ENTER.
14. To confirm the deletion, press Y and press ENTER.
15. If there are other logical drives you want to delete, repeat steps 12 - 14 above.
16. When all logical drives have been deleted, press ESC. An information screen appears.
17. Press ESC again to return to the FDISK Options screen.
18. Press 3 to choose Delete Partition Or Logical DOS Drive and press ENTER. The Delete DOS Partition Or Logical DOS Drive screen appears.
19. Press 2 to choose Delete Extended DOS Partition and press ENTER. The Delete Extended DOS Partition screen appears. If you don't have any extended DOS partitions, skip to step 21.

Delete Extended DOS Partition

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
C: 1 A PRI DOS 23 FAT16 33%
2 EXT DOS 23 33%

Total disk space is 69 Mbytes

WARNING! Data in the deleted Extended DOS Partition will be lost.
Do you wish to continue (Y/N)? [N]

Press ESC to return to FDISK Options
20. To confirm that you want to delete the extended DOS partition, press Y and press ENTER.
21. Press ESC to return to the FDISK Options screen.
22. Press 3 to choose Delete Partition Or Logical DOS Drive and press ENTER. The Delete DOS Partition Or Logical DOS Drive screen appears.
23. Press 1 to choose Delete Primary DOS Partition and press ENTER. The Delete Primary DOS Partition screen appears.

Delete Primary DOS Partition

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
C: 1 A PRI DOS 23 FAT16 33%

Total disk space is 69 Mbytes (1 Mbyte=1048576 bytes)

WARNING! Data in the deleted Primary DOS Partition will be lost.
What primary partition do you want to delete? [1]
Enter volume label? []

Press ESC to return to FDISK Option
24. Press ENTER to delete your primary partition.
25. Type the volume label, if there is one, and press ENTER.
26. To confirm the deletion, press Y and press ENTER.
27. Press ESC to return to the FDISK Options screen.

28. Press ENTER to choose Create A DOS Partition Or Logical DOS Drive. The Create DOS Partition Or Logical DOS Drive screen appears.

Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Choose one of the following:

1. Create Primary DOS Partition
2. Create Extended DOS Partition
3. Create Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition

Enter choice: [1]

Press ESC to return to FDISK Options

29. Press ENTER to choose Create Primary DOS Partition. The Create Primary DOS Partition screen appears.

Create Primary DOS Partition

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Do you wish to use the maximum available size for a Primary DOS
Partition and make the partition active (Y/N)..............?[Y]

Press ESC to return to FDISK Options

30. Press ENTER to specify the maximum size for the partition and make the partition active.
31. Make sure your Startup disk is in drive A and press any key.
Formatting Your Hard Disk

You cannot use your hard disk until you format it. To format your hard disk:

1. Make sure you boot Win98 from your Fat32EBD diskette.
2. Type the following at the MS-DOS command prompt and press ENTER

format <drive>: /U /C /S where <drive> is your hard disk drive.

For example, if your hard disk drive is drive C, type the following command:

format c: /U /C /S


KEY:

/U= Unconditional Format - ignores deleted cluster fragments
/C= Re-tests currently marked bad clusters for recovery
/S= Transfers necessary system files so disk can boot

3. Press Y and press ENTER to proceed with formatting.
4. Once formatting is complete, type a volume label if you want one and press ENTER.