[Ham-Computers] True or False?

[Jay Eimer]

I can't answer all, but here's some of them (inline).

-----Original Message-----
From: ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:ham-computers-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Duane
Fischer, W8DBF
Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 21:13
To: ham-computers at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Ham-Computers] True or False?



	
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?	
Not sure of the max, but if you mean OSR2, it had FAT32 which supports
very large hard drives.
	
2. Is it possible to have a not partitioned 10 Gig hard drive in a
laptop
running under Windows 95b? 	
Yes, I have one.
	
3. Can you run an 80 Gig not partitioned hard drive under Windows 98
second
edition? 		
Don't know that one.
	
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.

Yes.  AkTek Computing in Tulsa will custom build anything you want.  I
can get you contact info if you want it.  They don't usually ship
(they're a local storefront, not an internet store) but I'm sure they
could work something out.  There are probably others in just about any
town.
	
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?	
Hard drive failures can be measured in years - unless something
catastrophic happens.  A power failure while the write head is on the
disk is almost guaranteed to mess up at least a few sectors, and can
crash a disk totally (data wise) but a true mechanical failure is rare.
	
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? 	
Mostly it is power failures causing head crashes (the write head
literally hits the platter, damaging the disk, or at least the data at
that point on the disk.  There are differences between brands of hard
drives, but every manufacturer switches internals based on what's the
best deal today (and it changes literally every day).  I've personally
had good service with Seagate and Quantum drives, and bad luck with
Maxtor, but I've heard the opposite from others, so ymmv.
	
Thank you very much for your thoughts and assistance. 	
	
Duane Fischer, W8DBF	
dfischer at usol.com	
    
	

	

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