Welcome to DiskGo! DiskGo! is a Windows-based installation utility that makes adding a new hard drive to your system easy. To use DiskGo!, follow these steps BEFORE attaching your new hard drive: 1) Make a working copy of the DiskGo! diskette. Use the working copy to install your hard drive. Keep the original diskette in a safe place. 2) Boot your machine and start Windows. 3) Insert the DiskGo! installation diskette into drive A:. 4) For Windows 95: Select "Run..." from the Start menu. Type a:\setup For Windows 3.1: Select "Run..." from the Program Manager File menu. Type a:\setup 5) Setup will copy DiskGo! files to your hard drive. DiskGo! will then: -ask you how you wish to place your new drive in your system, -make custom installation instructions for jumpering and attaching your drive, and -prepare your new hard drive for use. ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* BIOS LIMITATIONS ---------------- Included here are brief explanations of a number of drive capacity limitations that exist in the computer industry. The use of Disk Manager and its Dynamic Drive Overlay offers a solution to each of these problems. *** 528 MB Limitation *** Using the traditional IDE interface limits the system to a maximum drive capacity of 528 MB. The cause of this limitation is Int 13h (BIOS) and IDE field sizes for the CHS (Cylinder, Head, and Sector) entries. Because the system must perform a translation between the CHS parameters recognized by the drive and those established in the Int 13h code, parameters are limited to the smaller of the field sizes allowed for each parameter by the BIOS and the IDE register set. The chart below displays the BIOS, IDE, and limiting field size. BIOS IDE Limit Sectors per Track 63 255 63 Number of Heads 255 16 16 Number of Cylinders 1024 65536 1024 ------ -------- ------ Maximum Capacity 8.4 GB 136.9 GB 528 MB The maximum system drive capacity in a combined BIOS/IDE setup is determined by the limiting field size -- 528 MB. Currently, computers are being shipped with a BIOS that implements Extended Int 13h or "Logical Block Addressing" (LBA), both of which are solutions to the 528 MB limitation. *** 4096 Cylinder (2.1 GB) Limitation *** Some computers have a BIOS that does not properly deal with the "13th bit". The 13th bit is needed to provide support for a drive having 4096 or more cylinders. The chart below displays the corresponding cylinder values in decimal, hex, and binary values. DECIMAL HEX BINARY SIZE 1023 = 3FF = 10 bits = 528 MB 2047 = 7FF = 11 bits = 1.0 GB 4095 = FFF = 12 bits = 2.1 GB 8191 = 1FFF = 13 bits = 4.2 GB 16383 = 3FFF = 14 bits = 8.4 GB If you have added a new drive and your system locks up at boot time (right after turning power on) or during System Setup, there may be several causes. Verify that the data cable is properly attached to your drive, pin 1 is correct, and the cable is not installed off a row of pins. If your new drive is larger than 2.1GB and your System Setup (CMOS) is set to "AUTO", you may have a BIOS with a 4096 or greater cylinder limitation. In this case, power off your system, remove your new drive, and follow the instructions that DiskGo! provides. When configuring System Setup (CMOS), DO NOT USE AUTO. Rather, choose one of the following: - USER DEFINABLE set to 1024 cyls 16 hds 63 sects - Drive type 1. Another option is to contact your computer manufacturer to get a BIOS upgrade that will support more than 4096 cylinders. *** 6322 Cylinder (3.27 GB) Limitation *** Some computers have a BIOS that does not properly handle a cylinder value over 6322. If you are in the System Setup attempting to set the cylinder value higher than 6322 (for a 3.27 GB+ drive) and your computer hangs, your computer may have a BIOS with this limitation. To by-pass this limitation, you have two options: - Set the cylinder value to 1024 or less and use Ontrack's Disk Manager to provide support for the whole drive. - Contact your computer manufacturer for a BIOS upgrade, if one is available. *** Invalid BIOS information *** Some computers have a BIOS that may display invalid information in the System Setup (CMOS). This issue may show up in one of two ways: - The System Setup will display the drive parameters and capacity correctly. However, it is not translating the drive correctly. - The System Setup will display invalid drive parameters. However, the BIOS is translating the drive correctly. To ensure your drive is translated to its full capacity, you will need to check the actual drive size. This can be done when creating partitions on the drive. *** 8.4 Gigabyte limit *** If your drive is larger than 8.4 Gigabytes, the capacity may exceed the limits of your system BIOS and operating system. Most system BIOS cannot support ATA drives this large. DOS and Windows operating systems limit the drive capacity to 8.4 Gigabytes per physical drive and 2 Gigabytes per partition. Because of these limitations, a 32-bit file allocation table (FAT32) is required to achieve full capacity of your drive beyond 8.4 Gigabytes. To achieve full capacity of your drive you need a Windows operating system that supports FAT32 and BIOS support for drives greater than 8.4 Gigabytes, from one of the following: Third party device driver, such as Disk Manager (Disk Manager is provided on the DiskGo! diskette included with your drive), or an intelligent ATA host adapter, or a system BIOS upgrade. ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* To install your hard disk using Disk Manager, simply follow these basic steps: 1) Following the instructions that DiskGo! provides you, set your System Setup (CMOS), jumper your drive(s), and physically install your hard disk into your computer. Disk Manager assumes power, cables, jumpers, etc., are connected and properly installed. 2) Insert your DOS diskette in drive A: and boot the machine to DOS. 3) Insert your DiskGo! diskette into drive A: and type DM to invoke Disk Manager. 4) When the installation has completed, remove the DiskGo! diskette from drive A: and boot from the hard disk. See the Disk Manager online manual for more information. Refer to the License Agreement at the beginning of the DiskGo! program. Disk Manager is copyright 1985-1998 by ONTRACK Data International, Inc. Refer to the License Agreement in the Disk Manager online manual.