[referee07]

I have an older Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop. Today I installed a 100GB hard-drive, but my computer only recognizes 27.9GB. I checked on the hard-drive, and it says it's a 120GB hard-drive. (I also installed more RAM so the computer is a lot faster, but I don't know it won't recognize the larger hard-drive.) Thanks in advance for any and all help.

[Elvandil]

Check what it says about the drive in Disk Management first:

Right-click Computer > Manage > Disk Management.

If you see nothing there that is informative, check the drive's settings in BIOS setup to be sure the right size is detected and it is set to be autodetected.

[referee07]

Elvandil, thanks for the response. I checked Manage - Disk Management - Disk Drives and saw the hard-drive (WD 1200BEVE) and also saw "This device is working properly."

How do I check the BIOS setup and make sure that the right size is detected and it is set to "autodetected?" Thanks again. BTW, how can I tell if the hard-drive is ACSI or IDE?

[referee07]

Elvandil, the BIOS in my Dell Inspiron 5100 is "A06." I Googled my laptop and went to the Dell site and found that it recommended that I download "A22." Should I do this and will it help my computer recognize the 100BH hard-drive? (Also, I didn't see anyplace in the BIOS that had "auto-recognize." Thanks again.

[Elvandil]

In Disk Management, was the entire drive allocated or was there unused space at the end (or beginning)? When you right-click on the actual icon of the drive, Properties, does it specify a size?

A BIOS update may be needed, but can be dangerous, so let's make sure you need one before taking the plunge.

Does BIOS say how large the drive is?

[Mumbodog]

Here are all the older bios versions for Inspiron 5100 notebook, A22 was the initial release for that model, not sure why yours shows A06?

http://support.dell.com/support/down...&osl=en&os=WW1

Your model supports LBA and should recognize the full size, something may have gone wrong when you installed the OS (i assume this is what you did)

Here is the latest version A32 for the Inspiron 5100

http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=114442


Home page for your models downloads

http://support.dell.com/support/down...&catid=&impid=

A workaround for this issue is to re-partition and format the drive to its full capacity on another PC prior to installing it in the notebook

[referee07]

Guys, I found out how dangerous messing around with the BIOS is. After I downloaded and installed "A22," the computer wouldn't boot-up: the fan came on but the screen was black. I "chatted" (via e-mail) with a Dell tech. who after a lot of diagnostic work, i.e., hold the "Fn" key and push start, remove the battery, hard-drive, CD bay and modem and then press start, she determined that the motherboard was ruined and that I needed another one. I called the Dell-After-Warranty-Department and was told that for between $170 (no replacement of motherboard) to $438 (replacement of motherboard) I could get my computer back to running again. I went to the BX (I work on a military base and don't pay any sales tax) I found a Compaq laptop for $609 dollars and bought it. Even with paying the lower figure ($179) I figured that now I have a new computer. Anyway, I will chalk this up to experience (not taking on something that I should not take on, i.e., messing around with the BIOS after reading on the Internet that to do so would be dangerous) and be more cautious the next time. Anyway, thanks for the help.

[Elvandil]

Horror story. I'm sorry to hear it. Did you get your files back?

You can mark your own threads "solved" using the button above.

[referee07]

Evandil, thanks for the response. I had an image back-up (Acronis) so I was able to load my docs into the new computer. I was going to mark the thread "Solved," but it wasn't really solved. Maybe Techguy.org should have a section called "Horror Stories" for this where members can go to see what can happen? I think this could be beneficial. Thanks again for all of your help.

[Elvandil]

"Solved" is often not the right word. Maybe "Finished" is better since it just means that people who are looking for people to help will know that that thread is done.

[Rich-M]

The biggest problem is a laptop without a floppy drive. If the bios update completed, it may just have been an example of the wrong version and I never use the newest version just for that reason. With a floppy drive, you could download a lower number and I bet you could flash it as I said as long as the A22 completed. It's such a shame that Dell tech support is so useless.

[referee07]

Thanks, guys, for the replies. I hope I have learned my lesson with regard to trying things I don't really feel talked with. When I was messing around with the BIOS the whole time I had a feeling I was really doing something wrong. And, in the end, the feeling was right. In the future I hope, why have the same feeling, I will not let my ego get in the way and take my computer to a "professional." I do appreciate all the help the people at techguy.org have given me. BTW, Rich-M, I read your input in the "Malware Form" scuttled AVG for DOD32.

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by referee07

Thanks, guys, for the replies. I hope I have learned my lesson with regard to trying things I don't really feel talked with. When I was messing around with the BIOS the whole time I had a feeling I was really doing something wrong. And, in the end, the feeling was right. In the future I hope, why have the same feeling, I will not let my ego get in the way and take my computer to a "professional." I do appreciate all the help the people at techguy.org have given me. BTW, Rich-M, I read your input in the "Malware Form" scuttled AVG for DOD32.

You won't regret that Nod32 is a much superior solution IMHO. Thanks for return!

[referee07]

Rich-M, thanks for the reply. I do have a question though. I bought a new computer the other day, Compaq laptop, and as I was downloading programs I got a message from AVG and indicated it detected Hacktool.EEG but essentially, could not put it in the virus vault. After reading about AVG in the Malware Forum, I deleted AVG and installed NOD32. I also installed the COMODO firewall. I ran scans with both programs but did not find Hacktool.EEG. I am thinking that this is still on my computer. What would you suggest as far as really determining if this program/virus is still on my computer? Thanks in advance for your reply.

[Rich-M]

I see some references to it on the internet but nothing definitive. I would scan with Superantispyware and if nothing still shows then forget about it as I would bet it is a false positive if an Avg found it but could not do anything with it.