Question about the Win98 boot disk. - China DOS Union Forum

Comparing the config.sys files of the Win98 and WinMe boot disks, I found that the 98 config has one extra command line:
device=himem.sys /testmem

ff
What's the difference between using this command and not using it?

Also, I don't know whether anyone else has run into this problem:
Use the fdisk on the 98 Second Edition boot disk to create partitions, then use format to format them. After installing the operating system, when you want to format the partitions again, drive D may become impossible to format. Specifically: the hard disk has no bad sectors, using format shows no errors at all, after formatting it says it succeeded, but then if you use dir to check drive D, the files are still there, and rebooting doesn't help either. The file system is Fat32, and adding parameters to format (such as /q, /u) is also no help, and trying other Win98 boot disks doesn't work either.
Because my job is related to installing systems, I deal with a lot of old and new hard disks, and about 80% of hard disks will have this problem.
Current solutions: 1. Use a WinME boot disk to create partitions and format. 2. Use DM to create partitions and format. 3. A temporary method: before formatting the system, first format drive D in Windows, then go back to DOS to format the other drives. But since the partition was created by the fdisk on the Win98 boot disk, the next time you format it this problem still exists.

Floor1　lynnkane	Posted 2003-07-19 00:00
初级用户　Posts 2　Credits 110
Comparing the config.sys files of the Win98 and WinMe boot disks, I found that the 98 config has one extra command line: device=himem.sys /testmemff What's the difference between using this command and not using it? Also, I don't know whether anyone else has run into this problem: Use the fdisk on the 98 Second Edition boot disk to create partitions, then use format to format them. After installing the operating system, when you want to format the partitions again, drive D may become impossible to format. Specifically: the hard disk has no bad sectors, using format shows no errors at all, after formatting it says it succeeded, but then if you use dir to check drive D, the files are still there, and rebooting doesn't help either. The file system is Fat32, and adding parameters to format (such as /q, /u) is also no help, and trying other Win98 boot disks doesn't work either. Because my job is related to installing systems, I deal with a lot of old and new hard disks, and about 80% of hard disks will have this problem. Current solutions: 1. Use a WinME boot disk to create partitions and format. 2. Use DM to create partitions and format. 3. A temporary method: before formatting the system, first format drive D in Windows, then go back to DOS to format the other drives. But since the partition was created by the fdisk on the Win98 boot disk, the next time you format it this problem still exists.

Floor2　沈洁	Posted 2003-07-19 00:00
金牌会员　Posts 1,812　Credits 4,590　From 上海市
You work in the computer market, right! Actually, like me, I use a winXP boot CD to partition, then after partitioning is finished I take out the winXp CD, load SMARTDRV 4069 then put in the win98 Ghost file, and use GHOST to quickly install the operating system, then after the system is installed I quickly format the other drive letters. The speed is insanely fast!

Floor3　lynnkane	Posted 2003-07-19 00:00
初级用户　Posts 2　Credits 110
Hehe, it's the customer service department for brand-name PCs. I usually do hardware repair and system recovery work. I often have to make house calls because of this problem. If the customer has a large amount of important data, I can't delete the partitions either.

Floor4　沈洁	Posted 2003-07-19 00:00
金牌会员　Posts 1,812　Credits 4,590　From 上海市
Hardware maintenance is pretty easy! Data recovery is the troublesome part! UNformat may not even be useful!