It is a 'VERY RARE' if "unheard of" occasion that I [JOIN] a forum ... yet even "RARER" that I in a forum. Reason: because I have a disability that makes it very fatiguing to do intensive typing. But from the "Help" on this particular subject, that I gained here, in solving the 2Gigabyte Barrier- I felt that I owed You {ALL} a response. A key maxim to follow is, "If it Ain't Broke,Don't Fix It !" After all the reading (research) I did here about modified "shell32.dll" files of various versions, I was trying to figure out the code sequence location in my (shell32.dll v5.50.4134.101) that needed to be set to an unconditional JUMP - instead of the CONDITIONAL JUMP. Somehow (accidently) I read someones comment about how to create a GIGANTIC sized test file ... less than 4 GigaBytes ... to test Windows Explorer copying ability [Pass -OR-Fail]. They referenced using WinZip to create 1 BIG file. Since I was NOT having succes finding the 'byte sequence' to modify and less success finding a Windows 98SE based assembly code (disassembler), .................. I checked my hard drive and 1) Made a ZIPfile of my FlightSim 2002 directory (approximately: 1.9Gb over 2 Billion single bytes) 2) I copied the archive from 1 hard drive to the other for the fastest copy time. 3) Renamed the copies "Over2GB-A.zip" and "Over2GB-B.zip" .......... Then 4) I used Windows Explorer to get both archives ( on the same drive / in the same directory) 5) I used WinZIP to make a single archive "Almost4GB.ZIP" Winzip - SUCCESS, file Created. Then, using Windows Explorer, I copied the "Almost4GB.zip" file from the actual physical E: drive to the physical D: drive ... not Physical C: drive. (No partitions) Explorer copy - SUCCESS. I attempted to test defragging on the E: drive by deleting the 2GB file created earlier. My Vopt99 v4.31 presented the large 3.6 Gigabyte file as 'LOCKED' in place. Vopt99 apparently works by copying the whole file from one location on the hard drive to another - * ALL AT ONCE* I then attempted defragging with the Windows 98SE faster defragger version v4.90.0.3000 . ( This defragger seems to move cluster by cluster of the file ) Although in the 'show details' view, after about 86% it stopped showing the visual progress, .... but .... it completed the defragging of the 3.6GigaByte file - SUCCESSfully. The KEY point to this whole story (The missing CLUE) I had installed "Revolutions Pack 4 build 2700" for Windows 98(SE) - I purchased Win98SE. I don't know if "Tihy's Revolutions Pack version 4 build 2700" is even still to be found on the web. I realized prior to the install that this is a NO-GO-BACK installation. Due to an original line in the "makbackup.bat" installation file del %windir%\sysbckup ........ users windows\sybckup directory contents were being completely deleted ! Other users pointed this out to the author suggesting ........ move %windir%\sysbckup %windir%\oldbckup (so as not to destroy the original) The only thing I preferred to keep was the Win98Se version of "scandskw.exe" The "scandskw.exe" in the installation refused to save MY PREFERENCES for scanning and whether (or not) to 'fix automatically'. I do like the fade in menus ( with shadows on the edges). I used Xnview to resize the shadow_bottom.bmp (LARGER). Since the shadow_right.bmp was animated, ................ I made a new one by rotating the shadow_bottom.bmp in Xnview, THEN I enlarged it from 6 pixels to 16 pixels. The larger the shadow gives the feel of a larger 3D distance the menu is raised out of the screen. Overall, .......... I am pleased with my choice, now that I have confirmed for myself that I DO NOT need to fix a problem I thought I had, but don't. The only further testing I will need to do is which 3rd party programs break the FIX. When I used Turbo Navigator file manager ( "tn.exe" ) to copy the 3.6 GigaByte file, then checked (right-click) file 'Properties' afterwards .......... the status bar of Turbo Navigator said filesize 2GB ( not a valid archive - corrupt) That was only after turbo Navigator had handled the file. Thank You all for Your dialogue that promped my enlightenment ! I also installed the ESDI_506.pdr to break the barrier of 128GB hard drive. Currently I have (3each) Western Digital 80Gig drives to ensure DOUBLE-BACKUP against total disaster. I only had to Boot-up on E: drive and copy the Windows directory back from D: drive to C: drive once ....... due to catastrophic file deleteion. But that once proved the value of 3 Hard drives. Take care ALL !
