Upgrading older laptop hdd

Target platform: Mitsubishi Amity CP, currently with 1.6gb hdd.

Desired results: 20-40gb hdd installed and working.

OS: win98

Ok, I'd like to upgrade the drive on my Amity (when it arrives) so I can have *all* my important personal files with me wherever I go.

I know the routine with Ghost and whatnot to copy the old drive to the new. What I don't know is if the Amity BIOS will recognize the whole new drive. I kinda doubt it.

So I'll have to use an overlay program (maxblast?) to access the whole drive but do I maxblast the new hdd before I ghost from the old drive or ???

Also, where do I create the suspend partition? At the 8gb boundary (assuming the Amity BIOS supports a drive of that size) or at the end of the new hdd?

Hearing from someone that has upgraded an older laptop/tablet with a big hdd would help me greatly.

I've not encountered a bios that accepted a 20gb and had problems with 40gb upgrade. There is a max cylinders/heads/sectors (CHS) which you might encounter but you can sometimes set jumpers to get around that or you have to load a driver when the OS boots.
8GB for suspend seems rather excessive. They're generally a little larger than the amount of physical RAM installed. I've seen these created automatically by recovery CDs and I've also seen them ignored completely when running a recovery CD. What I've seen are usually at the start of the HD and have a different OS ID. It might be 'Ghosting' the drive is the best bet for that.
Having said all that, I have no experience whatsover of the the machine you are talking about, only from my work with Laptops and PCs in general.

Thanks for the help.

I should say the suspend partition is about 256mb in size, but I'm not sure if I should create it at the 8gb point on the hdd (assuming that's the limit of BIOS recognition, so the BIOS thinks the suspend area is at the end of the disk) or create the 256mb suspend partition at the actual end of the disk.

I've read it matters because if the suspend partition isn't done right the unit miht write suspend data to the middle of user data. I guess I'll experiment, that is, if I can get the 40gb hd booting and running.

I'll post up again when I run into trouble

As jpfx says if you can get past 8Gig, you can get up to 132Gig as it supports 32-bit LBA.
I assume that you are using the latest BIOS revision and all.

Usually in my experiences the S2D partition is at the head of the disk, rather than the end.

The last option you have at your disposal is using one of those BIOS upgrade companies who will try and source the code for the BIOS and then write 32-bit LBA into it for you. Longshot though, and you have to pay up too.

Yep, this might be more fun than I bargained for. Does anyone remember the nasty Award bug that locked up a computer if more than a 32gb hdd was installed?

Anyhow, on my Libretto the S2D was a pain to implement on a 10gb hdd I installed. I kept writing into user data until I figured it out.

Fraid I don't recall that one.

Before I became disabled I was a real cutting edge nerd. I ordered stuff the day it was announced, which meant of course it didn't work without workarounds when it arrived.

Enough of that crap for me. I prefer to let others go banannas trying to make new things work.
Hence, nothing newer in this house techwise than my 3 year old desktop.

Forget it!! 40 gig will not be supported under Win98, because of the FAT 32 limit! (1,024 cylinders from experience!). But as C:Amie says, that shouldn't be too much of a problem otherwise. What is the specs though? If it is a 486 or a Pentimun, then you MAY have a problem.

Well you just create a 32Gig and a 8Gig partition to overcome that.

Good point C:Amie, I forgot that aspect!! But I think it is better to keep the partitions of an equivlent size, 20+20 rather than 32+8
If Wally MUST have the full 40 accessable on one parition, then someone pass him a copy of Win 2k please?

FAT32 has no such restriction, perhaps you're thinking of FAT16?
useful info

FAT32 may not, but Microsoft's FAT32 Driver does.
Perhaps you're thinking of a standards body

I thought about using w2k, but 160mb of RAM is cutting it thin. I know there are tuning tricks and whatnot but I *really* do need win98 for easy ghosting of usb devices from within the OS.

That and I don't want to pay to buy pen services/handwriting for w2k. I don't think it's offered for free from CIC or Mitsubishi.

I *may* even opt for an 80gb if I can find one for the right price. The ME fdisk/format handles FAT32 out to 137gb IIRC.

edit: Oh yea, it's a P166. And I plan a 4gb-whatever split. 4gb is more than adequate for w98 for my use.

Edited by wallythacker 2006-03-16 9:40 PM

edit: doublle, my ISP is awful this week

Edited by wallythacker 2006-03-16 9:40 PM