Rudolph Loew's $10 48-bit LBA driver for Windows 98-ME?

[larry moe 'n curly]

According to www.48bitlba.com, a $10 program is available to add
support for drives bigger than 137GB with older versions of Windows:

http://members.aol.com/rloew1/Programs/Patch137.htm

The free demo version supports up to 145GB.

My question is, how reliable is this program?

I realize that PCI card IDE controllers are available that do the same
thing for as little as $13, but boss is cheap and wants something that
can be installed in less time (lots of computers need it).

 

[J. Clarke]

According to www.48bitlba.com, a $10 program is available to add
support for drives bigger than 137GB with older versions of Windows:

http://members.aol.com/rloew1/Programs/Patch137.htm

The free demo version supports up to 145GB.

My question is, how reliable is this program?

I realize that PCI card IDE controllers are available that do the same
thing for as little as $13, but boss is cheap and wants something that
can be installed in less time (lots of computers need it).

Why do "lots of computers need it"? If your computers don't already have
drives larger than 137 GB then they don't need it, and if you add a drive
then adding a new host adapter when you add the drive doesn't add any
significant time to the drive installation. So how did you end up with
"lots of computers" that have drives larger than they can support?

And if you're running a version of windows that doesn't have native 48-bit
LBA support, then there's also the issue of how you are going to use the
extra space. Are you going to format it as a second partitition or are you
going to reinstall the OS? If the latter, may as well upgrade the disk
controller as that won't add significantly to the time required.

If the machine doesn't have BIOS support then that driver won't help. If
they have Intel chipsets the Intel Application Accelerator which is a free
download from Intel will do the job just fine. So the utility, even if it
does work, is limited.

 

[Tod]

Hard drive manufacturer's have had for years, software that allows
the computer to use a hard drive with a larger capacity then what
the bios will support, in general this software did its job.
But one little virus can screw up this software.
Back in the late 90s my roommate worked in tech support for an anti-virus
company,
He would hear from customer all the time that used that type of hard drive
software
and how the virus screwed up the access of the drive.

stick up to your boss, he may give in.
Explain to him how much it will cost to just sent one hard drive
to a data recovery shop.

 

[Tod]

Right now on www.ebay.com some one is selling
5 Promise 100 TX2 controller for $30 (plus shipping).

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Why do "lots of computers need it"? If your computers don't already have
drives larger than 137 GB then they don't need it, and if you add a drive
then adding a new host adapter when you add the drive doesn't add any
significant time to the drive installation. So how did you end up with
"lots of computers" that have drives larger than they can support?

And if you're running a version of windows that doesn't have native 48-bit
LBA support, then there's also the issue of how you are going to use the
extra space. Are you going to format it as a second partitition or are you
going to reinstall the OS? If the latter, may as well upgrade the disk
controller as that won't add significantly to the time required.

If the machine doesn't have BIOS support then that driver won't help.

No? Why not?

 

[Arno Wagner]

larry moe 'n curly wrote:

Why do "lots of computers need it"?

To earn the author lots of money?

Arno

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

Why do "lots of computers need it"? If your computers

don't already have drives larger than 137 GB then they
don't need it, and if you add a drive then adding a
new host adapter when you add the drive doesn't add any
significant time to the drive installation. So how did
you end up with "lots of computers" that have drives
larger than they can support?

Executive decision making at work, the kind that resulted in the
purchase of 3 GHz computers with fast graphics cards and 200GB HDs for
simple business tasks and storage of 20GB max per machine. And because
this decision was supported by so many people who knew that the
hardware was overkill, I expect much of it to mysteriously disappear
and be replaced with older, slower, lower capacity stuff from people's
homes.

That's why the fuss over $3 per computer.