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Q78407: Wyse DOS 3.3 Partitions Incompatible with MS-DOS 5.x and 6.x

Article: Q78407
Product(s): Microsoft Disk Operating System
Version(s): MS-DOS:5.x,6.0,6.2,6.21,6.22
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 17-DEC-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system versions 5.0, 5.0a, 6.0, 6.2, 6.21, 6.22 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When upgrading to MS-DOS 5.0 or later from Wyse DOS version 3.3 or earlier, the
following message may be displayed:

  Incompatible Drive or Device Driver

CAUSE
=====

If this error occurs, the partitions created by Wyse DOS must be deleted from
the hard disk and the MS-DOS 5 or later Upgrade must be installed manually.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Partitions created by Wyse DOS 3.3 or earlier are not compatible with MS-DOS 5.0
because of the logical sectoring. Some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
modified their adaptations of MS-DOS to provide logical drives larger than 32 MB
in versions of MS-DOS earlier than version 4.0. This was usually implemented by
using a sector size larger than the standard value of 512 bytes. This is called
"logical sectoring" because the sector size of the drive is a logical value;
that is, it is dependent on the value in the BIOS parameter block of the drive
for bytes per sector. Microsoft MS-DOS versions 4.0 and later do NOT support
this logical sectoring on hard drives. A sector size of 512 bytes per sector is
assumed on all hard drives.

For more information on repartitioning the hard disk, see Chapter 4 of the
version 5.0 "Microsoft MS-DOS Getting Started" guide, or query on the following
words:

  partition and format

For more information on manual installation, query on the following words:

  manual and install

According to Wyse, Wyse DOS 5.0 is not different from MS-DOS 5.0; it also will
not recognize partitions created by Wyse DOS 3.3.


The products included here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft;
we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance
or reliability.

Additional query words: 6.22 3.30 5.00 5.00a 6.00 6.20 3rdparty

======================================================================
Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMSDOSSearch kbMSDOS621 kbMSDOS622 kbMSDOS620 kbMSDOS600 kbMSDOS500 kbMSDOS500a
Version           : MS-DOS:5.x,6.0,6.2,6.21,6.22

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