Hard Drive Troubles

[Mr. Hand]

I'm building a new comp. from the ground up and i installed a 320 hard drive. For some reason windows is only recognizeing the hard drive as a 128 gig. Any and all help is welcome. (I use windows XP)

 

[brite750]

I'm building a new comp. from the ground up and i installed a 320 hard drive. For some reason windows is only recognizeing the hard drive as a 128 gig. Any and all help is welcome. (I use windows XP)

I would use a smaller drive for os and your programs, then use a huge drive for file storage.

 

[Elvandil]

Do you have any service packs installed? What is the drive size limit of your BIOS/mainboard?

 

[Mr. Hand]

hi. thanks for the responce. i have sp 2 installed, and my motherboard is a msi sli ready board, i dunno the max drive size...i guess ill check the manual

 

[Elvandil]

Where did XP see the drive as 128? Was it during setup? If so, could you remove all partitions and create larger ones (was there any unallocated space)?

If XP is already installed, right-click My Computer, Manage, and click on Disk Management. Is the entire drive recognized there with some space anallocated, or does it still appear as 128?

You might also check BIOS setup and be sure the drive is autodetected and/or that LBA mode is set.

 

[Bob Cerelli]

Just as a check, what size drive does your computer see the hard drive as. If the computer doesn't see it correctly, the operating system won't either. Sometimes you can see this displayed during POST. Sometimes you need to actually look at the CMOS.

 

[drewgraham]

BIOS it and check the size. If that's wrong, then it's either the motherbaord's max drive size being exceeded or incorrect jumper settings.

If it's right then it's a Windows XP problem and I don't know.

As a side-note, partition a drive that size into two, possible three, sectors, one for the OS. And, preferably, also get a smaller drive for your OS. 40g would bne plenty.

Aaannnd, if your mb support it, i hope that 320's a SATA drive not an IDE drive.

 

[syc0path]

I actually have the same question... we just put a 160GB drive in my buddy's computer, and it said right in the directions that XP would only see 128GB until u upgraded something. I don't remember what offhand... in fact, I came on here to find out! I searched Microsoft... I think this is what we're looking for:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303013

 

[Triple6]

To enable 48bit LBA support in Windows XP you need to install at least Service Pack 1. This will allow Windows to use drives over 127GB.

You can slipstream SP1 or SP2 onto your Windows XP CD, use Google to find instructions, or you can install SP1 after installing Windows and use Disk Management to create a second partition in the remaining space for your data.

Your BIOS also needs to be able to support 48bit LBA to see anything over 137GB. Since you say new build I would hope this wouldn't be an issue.

 

[syc0path]

To enable 48bit LBA support in Windows XP you need to install at least Service Pack 1. This will allow Windows to use drives over 127GB.

You can slipstream SP1 or SP2 onto your Windows XP CD, use Google to find instructions, or you can install SP1 after installing Windows and use Disk Management to create a second partition in the remaining space for your data.

Your BIOS also needs to be able to support 48bit LBA to see anything over 137GB. Since you say new build I would hope this wouldn't be an issue.

Just to clarify, it's 137GB using the 1KB=1000B system that hard drive manufacturers use, or 128GB using the 1KB=1024B system that the rest of the world uses... just in case anyone was conused about that.

Anyway, are u saying it's not possible to have a single partition that is larger than 128GB?

 

[Triple6]

Anyway, are u saying it's not possible to have a single partition that is larger than 128GB?

Of course its possible. You just need to have Service Pack 1 installed for XP or Service Pack 4 installed for Windows 2000.

 

[lostn]

I have a similar question... I have a 250GB drive, but I intend to use it as a storage drive (i.e. No windows on it).

1. Let's suppose I manage to get a 250GB single partition successfully. Windows sees all 250GB, and it has become my storage drive. Is this 250GB partition going to be permanent? The next time I install Windows (without SP1), will the drive go back to being read as a 137GB drive, or will it stay 250GB? If the former, will I lose data?

2. I am aware of the 137GB limit, but does this apply to total drive size, or only partition size? i.e. If I split my 250GB drive into two to begin with, (125GB x2) will I overcome the problem and not need to do a thing (even if I don't have SP1 installed)?

3. If I install windows through an XP disc that has SP2 slipsteamed, will I be free from problems, or will I still have problems initially since SP2 won't be applied until after the installation is finished?

I haven't unwrapped the drive yet, as I need to know before I open it, what to do so that I can get a refund if it looks like I won't be able to get it working properly.

My drive is ATA100 by the way, not SATA. It's a Western Digital WD2500JB. And my motherboard is an Intel 865PE chipset (Gigabyte 8IPE1000 Pro2). Let us assume that the BIOS will recognize the drive as being 250GB.

Thanks.

P.S. Does anyone know if Vista Beta 1 supports 48-bit LBA drives by default?

 

[frostyrootbe]

I have a similar question... I have a 250GB drive, but I intend to use it as a storage drive (i.e. No windows on it).

1. Let's suppose I manage to get a 250GB single partition successfully. Windows sees all 250GB, and it has become my storage drive. Is this 250GB partition going to be permanent? The next time I install Windows (without SP1), will the drive go back to being read as a 137GB drive, or will it stay 250GB? If the former, will I lose data?

2. I am aware of the 137GB limit, but does this apply to total drive size, or only partition size? i.e. If I split my 250GB drive into two to begin with, (125GB x2) will I overcome the problem and not need to do a thing (even if I don't have SP1 installed)?

3. If I install windows through an XP disc that has SP2 slipsteamed, will I be free from problems, or will I still have problems initially since SP2 won't be applied until after the installation is finished?

I haven't unwrapped the drive yet, as I need to know before I open it, what to do so that I can get a refund if it looks like I won't be able to get it working properly.

My drive is ATA100 by the way, not SATA. It's a Western Digital WD2500JB. And my motherboard is an Intel 865PE chipset (Gigabyte 8IPE1000 Pro2). Let us assume that the BIOS will recognize the drive as being 250GB.

Thanks.

P.S. Does anyone know if Vista Beta 1 supports 48-bit LBA drives by default?

The 128+ space is not deleted, windows just doesn't recognize it at first (until sp1) it will show up in disk manager afterwords as a 120 gb block of free and unpartitioned space.

 

[lostn]

I understand that... but once you've filled up the 250GB storage drive, and then format your main HD to remove Windows, will the drive return to being a 128GB disk with a 120MB unused unpartitioned space? In other words, is it only recognized to its full compatibility when Windows is installed, or is permanent?

 

[Triple6]

1. Let's suppose I manage to get a 250GB single partition successfully. Windows sees all 250GB, and it has become my storage drive. Is this 250GB partition going to be permanent? The next time I install Windows (without SP1), will the drive go back to being read as a 137GB drive, or will it stay 250GB? If the former, will I lose data?

ANS: If its a secondary drive, then the partition will not be affected by a reinstall...BUT do not try to access it until SP1 or SP2 is installed.

2. I am aware of the 137GB limit, but does this apply to total drive size, or only partition size? i.e. If I split my 250GB drive into two to begin with, (125GB x2) will I overcome the problem and not need to do a thing (even if I don't have SP1 installed)?

ANS: For Windows its partition size, for the BIOS its drive size.

3. If I install windows through an XP disc that has SP2 slipsteamed, will I be free from problems, or will I still have problems initially since SP2 won't be applied until after the installation is finished?

ANS: If you have an Windows XP CD with SP2, slipstreamed or otherwise, then you'd have no issues.

I haven't unwrapped the drive yet, as I need to know before I open it, what to do so that I can get a refund if it looks like I won't be able to get it working properly.

My drive is ATA100 by the way, not SATA. It's a Western Digital WD2500JB. And my motherboard is an Intel 865PE chipset (Gigabyte 8IPE1000 Pro2). Let us assume that the BIOS will recognize the drive as being 250GB.

ANS: You should be fine.