[Ham-Computers] True or False?

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

Greetings All, 	
	
Here are some questions that I thought I knew the answers to, but several have
told me of their computers which contradict what I was told.	
	
1. Windows 95B. What is the maximum allowable size of a single hard drive that
is not partitioned?	
	
2. Is it possible to have a not partitioned 10 Gig hard drive in a laptop
running under Windows 95b? 	
	
3. Can you run an 80 Gig not partitioned hard drive under Windows 98 second
edition? 		
	
4. Does anybody custom make and sell a computer without any operating system? In
other words, buy the computer and install whatever OS you desire. 		
	
5. Does the BIOS play a role in the type of OS used, that is, BIOS XYZ is needed
to run Windows 98SE and BIOS ABC is needed to run Windows XP HE. You can not run
either/or with the same BIOS?	
	
6. What is the technical difference between BIOS and CMOS? During boot up, which
is active and when, and what do both do? 	
	
7. Howcommon is a hard drive failure from use? Does one type of use cause a
greater wear factor than another?	
	
I have run Compaq computers since I upgraded from my IBM XT system. I run the
computer 8-12 hours per day, every day. I have never had a hard drive failure on
any computer, ever. Yet I hear about people who seem to have failures quite
often. Am I just lucky? Are my computers better quality than theirs to begin
with? Are they doing something that causes a higher wear factor? 	
	
Thank you very much for your thoughts and assistance. 	
	
Duane Fischer, W8DBF	
dfischer at usol.com