But if I set the BIOS in my 286 to 1024/63/16 and I Fdisk and Format the drive in that 286 when I go to plug this into my Vista machine it will recognize it as what it actually is? a 2.1GB, not a 1024/16/63, 504MB drive? Right??
Correct. The BIOS on your Vista machine is up to date and knows about larger hard drives.
If I transfer files over won't there be some kind of corruption? I think that is why when I tried this many of the programs had garbled text and acted funny.
I give it about a 25% chance that it will work. It depends on how your vista machine is talking to the drive, details of which I won't go into here.
Provided the vista machine does not attempt to write any data to the drive (like writing a signature to it or whatever stupid things windows sometimes does), it would be harmless to try putting it on the vista box and 1st READING files off it that you put onto the drive using the 286. If files can be copied off and verified correct, then it should be ok-ish, although the longer I type, the more hesitant I get in suggesting it. You could corrupt your drive if you attempt to fill it on the vista machine if the translation is not 100% the same as the 286. It only takes 1 stray write in the wrong place to completely wreck whatever you've built up on the 286, so only do stuff that you don't mind re-doing if things go wrong!
If I use the XTIDE BIOS, (I ordered a NIC card) will have these types of problems? Will I be able to swap the drive between different computers and not have any corruption of data?
The XTIDE BIOS is a much safer method, and the way it talks to the drive can be configured so that it is doing the same translation as your Vista machine. Check the xtide universal bios 2.0 testing thread:
http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcf...IDE-Universal-BIOS-v2-0-0-beta-testing-thread
There is a tool:
http://kotisivu.lumonetti.fi/ttilli/XTIDE/BIOS_Drive_Information_Tool_v1.0.1.zip that allows you to check the translation on the 2 machines (you'd probably have to boot into DOS on your vista machine to verify it). If the two machines report the same output, then you are golden.
I think I will order a 504MB drive just in case I do have problems.
This may not actually solve your problem. Even with a drive that is small, the vista box may still be accessing it with a different translation method than your 286. I would hold off on buying any additional components for now. If you find that the XTIDE gives you full compatibility with your 2.1G drive, you may in fact want to upgrade it even further and put a larger hard drive in. IMO, an 8-10G hard drive, built in this century at least, is going to be more reliable, less power hungry and quieter than something from the mid-late 90s, so why not use it? You can probably get drives that size for free from craigslist, but you'd have to pay to get a "vintage" smaller drive...