TITLE: EZ-Drive's Most Frequently Asked Questions Prepared by: Seagate Technology Document: EZ-FAQ Last Revision Date: November 22, 1994 Seagate is a registered trademark of Seagate Technology, Inc. EZ-Drive is a registered trademark of Micro House International. Other product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their owners. Table of Contents 1. What is EZ-Drive Software? 2. Will EZ-Drive for Seagate install non-Seagate drives? 3. My system has an intelligent BIOS. Do I still need EZ-Drive software? 4. What is the maximum size ATA interface drive that EZ-Drive will support? 5. I have a 1 Gigabyte hard drive running a non-DOS operating system. Is EZ-Drive compatible with my operating system? 6. How do I create multiple partitions on my drive using EZ-Drive? 7. Why am I unable to run 32-bit disk access under Windows? 8. Why does my C drive disappear when I boot from a floppy? 9. How do I reinstall EZ-Drive if the boot code on my drive was damaged? 10. How do I remove EZ-Drive from my hard drive? 11. What is the function of the Maximum Overdrive feature? 12. How do I disable the Maximum Overdrive feature on my drive? Most Frequently Asked Questions About EZ-Drive Software ======================================================= 1. What is EZ-Drive software? EZ-Drive is a product from Seagate that provides a solution for DOS computers that limit drive capacity to 528 Megabytes. It is an automatic installation program that enables you to use the full capacity of your Seagate drive. EZ-Drive is easy to use and works in most systems. It automatically identifies the drive and drive configuration, sets the CMOS, partitions and DOS (high-level) formats the drive and transfers the system information to make the drive bootable if it is drive C. EZ-Drive's many features include: One step hard disk installation surpasses DOS 528 million byte drive limitation Automatically configures the CMOS and partitions and formats the drive Implements multiple read/write commands Windows 32-bit disk access capability Refer to your drive's installation guide for EZ-Drive details and instructions. The help option in the EZ-Drive installation menu also contains details and instructions. Insert the EZ-Drive diskette in the floppy to access the help option. Type EZ at the command line and press the ENTER key until the standard installation dialog box appears. Press the down arrow key to select Help. EZ-Drive is a product from Seagate. It is authorized to only be used with the original drive shipment. 2. Will EZ-Drive for Seagate install non-Seagate drives? EZ-Drive for Seagate will install a non-Seagate drive as long as a Seagate drive is present. 3. My system has an intelligent BIOS. Do I still need EZ-Drive software? EZ-Drive is not needed if your system CMOS or Host Adapter has an intelligent BIOS that does it's own cylinder and head translation to surpass the 528 Megabyte barrier. 4. What is the maximum size ATA interface drive that EZ-Drive will support? EZ-Drive will support a drive up to 2 Gigabytes. 5. I have a 1 Gigabyte drive running a non-DOS operating system. Is EZ-Drive compatible with my operating system? EZ-Drive supports only DOS 4.0 and higher and Windows 3.1. and higher. 6. How do I create multiple partitions on my drive using EZ-Drive? When you install your drive, you can choose a fully automatic installation or a custom installation. The custom installation allows you to put up to nine partitions of equal size on the drive. You can also specify the number of partitions on the drive using the command line switch. Type EZ /# where # equals 1 through 9. The number of partitions specified will be automatically created. To create partitions of unequal size, you must first install the drive with EZ-Drive and then use fdisk and format to repartition and reformat the drive. EZ-Drive bypasses the BIOS to identify the drive for the computer and the drive is not seen if you boot directly off the floppy. The blue EZ-Drive banner verifies the EZ-Drive installed drive is present. To create partitions of unequal size: 1. Install the drive with EZ-Drive. Refer to the install guide if you need assistance. 2. Reboot your system with the floppy drive door open. 3. When the C prompt appears, insert a DOS diskette and change the prompt to the floppy. 4. Use FDISK to erase the current partition and to create the desired partitions. Be sure to set the primary partition active. 5. Open the floppy door when FDISK reboots the computer. 6. You must press the CTRL key when the message "Insert a DOS diskette" appears or the computer will not identify the drive. The message is very quick. When the blue banner appears, the drive is available. If you get an "Invalid OS" message, you did not press the CTRL key in time. Reboot and try again. 7. Format each partition. 7. Why am I unable to run 32-bit disk access under Windows? You can run 32-bit access with Windows. However, there is a device conflict between EZ-Drive and the Windows 32-bit access driver. That is why when you load Windows the error message appears saying the Windows 32-bit access driver cannot be installed unless Windows 32-bit access is disabled. To reap the benefits of 32-bit access you must disable the Windows 32-bit access driver and replace it with the 32-bit access driver provided on the EZ-Drive diskette. To disable Windows 32-bit access from inside Windows, open the Control Panel. Select 386 Enhanced. Select Virtual Memory. Select Change. Select Use 32-Bit Access to disable the Windows 32-bit access. You can also disable Windows 32-bit access from the command line by typing WIN /D:F To install the replacement 32-bit access driver provided on the EZ-Drive diskette, insert the diskette into a floppy. Open File Manager and select the drive that contains EZ-Drive. Double click on SETUP.EXE. Select the INSTALL DRIVER button to load the EZ-Drive MH32BIT.386 driver. 8. Why does my C drive disappear when I boot from a floppy? EZ-Drive modifies the Drive C boot record during installation. The modification tells the computer where to look for the EZ-Drive installed drive. If you boot directly from a floppy, this information is not found. Your data can be damaged if you try to access your hard drive. If the blue banner is not displayed, EZ-Drive is not loaded in memory. This protects your drive by making it inaccessible. EZ-Drive provides a way for you to boot with a floppy. Boot your computer with the floppy door open. Hold the CTRL key while booting. When the prompt "Insert a DOS bootable diskette" appears, insert your diskette. 9. How do I reinstall EZ-Drive if the boot code on my drive was damaged? EZ-Drive can be reinstalled successfully by running EZ/MBR. This will install a fresh copy of the EZ-Drive boot code on your hard drive. 10. How do I remove EZ-Drive from my hard drive? To remove EZ-Drive, boot to a DOS diskette. Type FDISK/MBR. This will restore your original master boot record on Drive C. This is not recommended unless you have another solution available to surpass the greater than 528 Megabyte limitation. Data may be lost. The drive must then be repartitioned and reformatted. 11. What is the function of the Maximum Overdrive feature? Maximum Overdrive enables the read/write multiple drive feature (also called IDE block mode) that enhances the performance of your hard drive. 12. How do I disable the Maximum Overdrive feature on my drive? To disable Maximum Overdrive, insert the EZ-Drive diskette in the floppy. Type EZ. Press return when prompted until the Select Installation Type menu appears. Select Change Installed Features. Select Maximum Overdrive. Press the ENTER key to change the status to disable. Use the down arrow key to select Save Changes. ======================================================= EZ-Drive has available installation and troubleshooting online help. Installation and troubleshooting information is also available in the installation guide. EZ / ? will display the program's command line options.