External Hard Drive Driver

  • Thread starter Thread starter Scott
  • Start date Start date
S

Scott

I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis
image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000
system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it looks
for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is
there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a
Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just a
standard USB 2.0 cable.

Thanks!
Scott
 
"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
> I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis
> image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000
> system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
looks
> for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is
> there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a
> Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just
a
> standard USB 2.0 cable.
>
> Thanks!
> Scott

If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98
drivers were avail for the device
 
You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be recognized and
drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device Manager,
whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:%23TJtGMZSIHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
>> I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis
>> image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows
>> 2000
>> system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
> looks
>> for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is
>> there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a
>> Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just
> a
>> standard USB 2.0 cable.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Scott
>
> If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98
> drivers were avail for the device
>
>
 
"Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
news:u$dDadZSIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be recognized
and
> drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device Manager,
> whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.
>

Nope, not at all.
If the drive is NTFS...it would be *totally* senseless to try to install it
on a Win98 machine
as no data could be read.
 
Google is your friend:
there are utilities to let win 98 read ntfs drives
and as many more mass storage drivers

--
-- -- -- -- --
Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de
spybot http://www.safer-networking.org
AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/
Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/
Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com
Panda online AntiSpyware Scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/
Catalog of removal tools (1)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/
Catalog of removal tools (2)
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387
Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before
use
Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters
_
"philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:%23hj6FjZSIHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
> "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
> news:u$dDadZSIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> > You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be recognized
> and
> > drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device Manager,
> > whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.
> >
>
> Nope, not at all.
> If the drive is NTFS...it would be *totally* senseless to try to install
it
> on a Win98 machine
> as no data could be read.
>
>
 
philo wrote:
>
> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
> > I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis
> > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000
> > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
> looks
> > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is
> > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a
> > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just
> a
> > standard USB 2.0 cable.
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Scott
>
> If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98
> drivers were avail for the device

philo,

Oops, I should have explained that I partitioned the external drive into two
sections...one is NTFS for my Win XP machines. The second partition is FAT 32,
specifically for my Win 98 machines. If there's a driver that will let my
Win98 system see the FAT32 portion of the drive, then I'm in business. Any
ideas?

Thanks!
Scott
 
AlmostBob wrote:
>
> Google is your friend:
> there are utilities to let win 98 read ntfs drives
> and as many more mass storage drivers
>
> --
> -- -- -- -- --
> Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de
> spybot http://www.safer-networking.org
> AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/
> Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan
> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
> Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/
> Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com
> Panda online AntiSpyware Scan
> http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/
> Catalog of removal tools (1)
> http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/
> Catalog of removal tools (2)
> http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387
> Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/
> Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file
> http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
> links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before
> use
> Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters
> _
> "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:%23hj6FjZSIHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> >
> > "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
> > news:u$dDadZSIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> > > You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be recognized
> > and
> > > drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device Manager,
> > > whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.
> > >
> >
> > Nope, not at all.
> > If the drive is NTFS...it would be *totally* senseless to try to install
> it
> > on a Win98 machine
> > as no data could be read.
> >
> >

Any idea which mass storage driver to look for?

Scott
 
The win98 drivers usually come from the device manufacturer, in this case
Western Digital.

However, you might have another option: Acronis True Image can be run from
a bootable CD, which it will create for you. This CD is useful when you are
attempting to restore the parition containing the operating system, or in
case you need to replace the internal hard drive. But, it can also be used
to get around any win98 limitations for creating a image. The CD runs a
flavor of LINUX, and has both read and write capability for NTFS file
systems. (I have personally tested this for verison 8 of True Image; I
assume that any newer version also has this ability.) Just plug the USB
drive into the PC, insert the Acronis CD, then reboot. (If it boots
directly into win98, reboot and change the BIOS setup to boot from CD before
hard drive.) True Image is very good about showing all hard drives, and all
recognizeable partitions. Just be aware that some of the higher drive
letter designations (D:, E:, F:, etc) may be slightly different than you see
within windows, although "C:\" always seems to be C:\. Look at the size of
the partitions and their format to help determine which is which.


"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
>I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis
> image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000
> system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
> looks
> for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is
> there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a
> Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just
> a
> standard USB 2.0 cable.
>
> Thanks!
> Scott
 
wd have drivers for external drives in win98 at the support downloads tab
--
-- -- -- -- --
Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de
spybot http://www.safer-networking.org
AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/
Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/
Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com
Panda online AntiSpyware Scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/
Catalog of removal tools (1)
http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/
Catalog of removal tools (2)
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387
Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/
Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages before
use
Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters
_
"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
news:477591CB.FFDA5ACC@uslink.net...
>
>
> AlmostBob wrote:
> >
> > Google is your friend:
> > there are utilities to let win 98 read ntfs drives
> > and as many more mass storage drivers
> >
> > --
> > -- -- -- -- --
> > Adaware http://www.lavasoft.de
> > spybot http://www.safer-networking.org
> > AVG free antivirus http://free.grisoft.com/
> > Etrust/Vet/CA.online Antivirus scan
> > http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
> > Super Antispyware http://www.superantispyware.com/
> > Panda online AntiVirus scan http://www.activescan.com
> > Panda online AntiSpyware Scan
> > http://www.pandasoftware.com/virus_info/spyware/test/
> > Catalog of removal tools (1)
> > http://www.pandasoftware.com/download/utilities/
> > Catalog of removal tools (2)
> > http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?CID=40387
> > Trouble Shooting guide to Windows http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/
> > Blocking Unwanted Parasites with a Hosts file
> > http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
> > links provided as a courtesy, read all instructions on the pages
before
> > use
> > Grateful thanks to the authors/webmasters
> > _
> > "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message
> > news:%23hj6FjZSIHA.3916@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> > >
> > > "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message
> > > news:u$dDadZSIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> > > > You're just muddying the waters. The drive still needs to be
recognized
> > > and
> > > > drivers installed. It needs to appear as a hard drive in Device
Manager,
> > > > whether it's formatted NTFS, FAT32 or any other file system.
> > > >
> > >
> > > Nope, not at all.
> > > If the drive is NTFS...it would be *totally* senseless to try to
install
> > it
> > > on a Win98 machine
> > > as no data could be read.
> > >
> > >
>
> Any idea which mass storage driver to look for?
>
> Scott
 
"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
news:4775919A.CA707F5A@uslink.net...
>
>
> philo wrote:
> >
> > "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
> > news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
> > > I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for
Acronis
> > > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows
2000
> > > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
> > looks
> > > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive).
Is
> > > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on
a
> > > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive,
just
> > a
> > > standard USB 2.0 cable.
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > > Scott
> >
> > If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98
> > drivers were avail for the device
>
> philo,
>
> Oops, I should have explained that I partitioned the external drive into
two
> sections...one is NTFS for my Win XP machines. The second partition is FAT
32,
> specifically for my Win 98 machines. If there's a driver that will let my
> Win98 system see the FAT32 portion of the drive, then I'm in business.
Any
> ideas?
>
> Thanks!
> Scott


Ok, now that it's been established the drive has fat32 on it...it's worth
proceeding.
Did you check the device mfg's website to see if they have a driver for
win98???

If they do...you're in luck.
 
Bob Harris wrote:
>
> The win98 drivers usually come from the device manufacturer, in this case
> Western Digital.
>
> However, you might have another option: Acronis True Image can be run from
> a bootable CD, which it will create for you. This CD is useful when you are
> attempting to restore the parition containing the operating system, or in
> case you need to replace the internal hard drive. But, it can also be used
> to get around any win98 limitations for creating a image. The CD runs a
> flavor of LINUX, and has both read and write capability for NTFS file
> systems. (I have personally tested this for verison 8 of True Image; I
> assume that any newer version also has this ability.) Just plug the USB
> drive into the PC, insert the Acronis CD, then reboot. (If it boots
> directly into win98, reboot and change the BIOS setup to boot from CD before
> hard drive.) True Image is very good about showing all hard drives, and all
> recognizeable partitions. Just be aware that some of the higher drive
> letter designations (D:, E:, F:, etc) may be slightly different than you see
> within windows, although "C:\" always seems to be C:\. Look at the size of
> the partitions and their format to help determine which is which.
>
> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
> >I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for Acronis
> > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows 2000
> > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
> > looks
> > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive). Is
> > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on a
> > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive, just
> > a
> > standard USB 2.0 cable.
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Scott

Bob,

Of course!! I can't believe I was so dumb! I have Acronis v.8, and I've used the
bootable Win98 CD many times to restore an image. You reminded me that it can
also create an image. I just plugged in the WD My Book external drive, booted to
the CD, and it's now creating an image to the external drive on the FAT32 partition
(which it sees just fine). It works like a charm. Bob, you're a genius!! Happy
New Year!!

Thanks again!
Scott
 
philo wrote:
>
> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
> news:4775919A.CA707F5A@uslink.net...
> >
> >
> > philo wrote:
> > >
> > > "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
> > > news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
> > > > I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for
> Acronis
> > > > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows
> 2000
> > > > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
> > > looks
> > > > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive).
> Is
> > > > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on
> a
> > > > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive,
> just
> > > a
> > > > standard USB 2.0 cable.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks!
> > > > Scott
> > >
> > > If the drive is NTFS...win98 will not be able to read it even if win98
> > > drivers were avail for the device
> >
> > philo,
> >
> > Oops, I should have explained that I partitioned the external drive into
> two
> > sections...one is NTFS for my Win XP machines. The second partition is FAT
> 32,
> > specifically for my Win 98 machines. If there's a driver that will let my
> > Win98 system see the FAT32 portion of the drive, then I'm in business.
> Any
> > ideas?
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Scott
>
> Ok, now that it's been established the drive has fat32 on it...it's worth
> proceeding.
> Did you check the device mfg's website to see if they have a driver for
> win98???
>
> If they do...you're in luck.

philo,

I found the correct Win98SE driver for this model on Western Digital's site. I
ran setup and installed it, but it still doesn't see the drive (the FAT32 partition).
However, the problem was solved, thanks to Bob Harris's post below.

Thanks for your input.
Scott
 

> >
> > Ok, now that it's been established the drive has fat32 on it...it's
worth
> > proceeding.
> > Did you check the device mfg's website to see if they have a driver for
> > win98???
> >
> > If they do...you're in luck.
>
> philo,
>
> I found the correct Win98SE driver for this model on Western Digital's
site. I
> ran setup and installed it, but it still doesn't see the drive (the FAT32
partition).
> However, the problem was solved, thanks to Bob Harris's post below.
>
> Thanks for your input.
> Scott


Glad you got it all worked out.

I also use Acronis and as mentioned...
with multiple drives and partitions...the bootable CD sees the configuration
differently
than when used from within the OS
 
"Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
news:4775CFFD.DAE27A18@uslink.net...
>
>
> Bob Harris wrote:
>>
>> The win98 drivers usually come from the device manufacturer, in this case
>> Western Digital.
>>
>> However, you might have another option: Acronis True Image can be run
>> from
>> a bootable CD, which it will create for you. This CD is useful when you
>> are
>> attempting to restore the parition containing the operating system, or in
>> case you need to replace the internal hard drive. But, it can also be
>> used
>> to get around any win98 limitations for creating a image. The CD runs a
>> flavor of LINUX, and has both read and write capability for NTFS file
>> systems. (I have personally tested this for verison 8 of True Image; I
>> assume that any newer version also has this ability.) Just plug the USB
>> drive into the PC, insert the Acronis CD, then reboot. (If it boots
>> directly into win98, reboot and change the BIOS setup to boot from CD
>> before
>> hard drive.) True Image is very good about showing all hard drives, and
>> all
>> recognizeable partitions. Just be aware that some of the higher drive
>> letter designations (D:, E:, F:, etc) may be slightly different than you
>> see
>> within windows, although "C:\" always seems to be C:\. Look at the size
>> of
>> the partitions and their format to help determine which is which.
>>
>> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
>> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
>> >I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for
>> >Acronis
>> > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows
>> > 2000
>> > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
>> > looks
>> > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive).
>> > Is
>> > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on
>> > a
>> > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive,
>> > just
>> > a
>> > standard USB 2.0 cable.
>> >
>> > Thanks!
>> > Scott
>
> Bob,
>
> Of course!! I can't believe I was so dumb! I have Acronis v.8, and I've
> used the
> bootable Win98 CD many times to restore an image. You reminded me that it
> can
> also create an image. I just plugged in the WD My Book external drive,
> booted to
> the CD, and it's now creating an image to the external drive on the FAT32
> partition
> (which it sees just fine). It works like a charm. Bob, you're a genius!!
> Happy
> New Year!!
>
> Thanks again!
> Scott

Glad you're satisfied. However, I believe you said the problem was with
98SE not seeing any partitions on the USB hard drive. Not writing a image
file to that partition with Acronis.

Old drive image 2002 could write to NTFS or FAT/FAT32 partitions an image
file either in 98, or from its boot media. It could not see USB or Firewire
drives though without aid of a windows environment to see such. Install of
DI 2002 did not allow windows explorer to "see" NTFS partitions. Only under
the DI 2002 application.

Dave
 
Lil' Dave wrote:
>
> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
> news:4775CFFD.DAE27A18@uslink.net...
> >
> >
> > Bob Harris wrote:
> >>
> >> The win98 drivers usually come from the device manufacturer, in this case
> >> Western Digital.
> >>
> >> However, you might have another option: Acronis True Image can be run
> >> from
> >> a bootable CD, which it will create for you. This CD is useful when you
> >> are
> >> attempting to restore the parition containing the operating system, or in
> >> case you need to replace the internal hard drive. But, it can also be
> >> used
> >> to get around any win98 limitations for creating a image. The CD runs a
> >> flavor of LINUX, and has both read and write capability for NTFS file
> >> systems. (I have personally tested this for verison 8 of True Image; I
> >> assume that any newer version also has this ability.) Just plug the USB
> >> drive into the PC, insert the Acronis CD, then reboot. (If it boots
> >> directly into win98, reboot and change the BIOS setup to boot from CD
> >> before
> >> hard drive.) True Image is very good about showing all hard drives, and
> >> all
> >> recognizeable partitions. Just be aware that some of the higher drive
> >> letter designations (D:, E:, F:, etc) may be slightly different than you
> >> see
> >> within windows, although "C:\" always seems to be C:\. Look at the size
> >> of
> >> the partitions and their format to help determine which is which.
> >>
> >> "Scott" <golden@uslink.net> wrote in message
> >> news:47755121.71EDF3D1@uslink.net...
> >> >I have a 500GB Western Digital external hard drive that I use for
> >> >Acronis
> >> > image backups for my various systems. The drive is set up for Windows
> >> > 2000
> >> > system and above. When I connect it via USB to my Win 98SE machine, it
> >> > looks
> >> > for driver, but can't locate one. (none came with the external drive).
> >> > Is
> >> > there any way to find a driver that will allow me to use this drive on
> >> > a
> >> > Win 98 machine? There's no special software on this external drive,
> >> > just
> >> > a
> >> > standard USB 2.0 cable.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks!
> >> > Scott
> >
> > Bob,
> >
> > Of course!! I can't believe I was so dumb! I have Acronis v.8, and I've
> > used the
> > bootable Win98 CD many times to restore an image. You reminded me that it
> > can
> > also create an image. I just plugged in the WD My Book external drive,
> > booted to
> > the CD, and it's now creating an image to the external drive on the FAT32
> > partition
> > (which it sees just fine). It works like a charm. Bob, you're a genius!!
> > Happy
> > New Year!!
> >
> > Thanks again!
> > Scott
>
> Glad you're satisfied. However, I believe you said the problem was with
> 98SE not seeing any partitions on the USB hard drive. Not writing a image
> file to that partition with Acronis.
>
> Old drive image 2002 could write to NTFS or FAT/FAT32 partitions an image
> file either in 98, or from its boot media. It could not see USB or Firewire
> drives though without aid of a windows environment to see such. Install of
> DI 2002 did not allow windows explorer to "see" NTFS partitions. Only under
> the DI 2002 application.
>
> Dave

Dave,

Any idea why the Win98SE driver for the WD My Book external drive, which I got
from Western Digital's website, wouldn't let me see the FAT32 partition on the
external drive from My Computer? It seems pretty straightfoward.

Thanks!
Scott
 
Back
Top