Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33 gig.
File system was installed as Fat 32.

The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard drive
space, which is over 40 Gig.

Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
function when the File table is NTFS?

Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I pay
for....

Thanks....

If you need to format a volume that is larger than 32 GB, use the NTFS file
system.

--
Ted Zieglar
"Backup is a computer user's best friend."

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33 gig.
> File system was installed as Fat 32.
>
> The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard drive
> space, which is over 40 Gig.
>
> Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
> function when the File table is NTFS?
>
> Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I pay
> for....
>
> Thanks....
>

It will see it if you format it with another disk utility, like fdisk
from a Windows 98 setup disk DOS boot, or Partition Magic, BootItNG etc.
Formating a hard drive 80GB FAT32 is an incredible waste of storage
space, best to format it NTFS, if you must share the drive with a FAT32
operating system then format the drive with other tools.

John

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33 gig.
> File system was installed as Fat 32.
>
> The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard drive
> space, which is over 40 Gig.
>
> Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
> function when the File table is NTFS?
>
> Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I pay
> for....
>
> Thanks....
>

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33 gig.
> File system was installed as Fat 32.


Windows XP will not create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB (although it
will happily use one if it is first created externally). You are running
into that limit.


> The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard drive
> space, which is over 40 Gig.


It's not lost space., it's just unpartitioned space. You can't use it until
it's partitioned.


> Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
> function when the File table is NTFS?


No, that's not correct. The unpartitioned isn't even NTFS. It doesn't even
have a file system until you've partitioned it.

It sounds like you're just doing something wrong. Read here: "How to use
Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


> Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I pay
> for....
>
> Thanks....

Okay...let me go step by step: maybe this will help other folx
too....which is why we're here...

I had to reinstall my OS due to MS updates conflicts.

I had a FAT 32 Partition allocated 35 gig...and a NTFS partition 33
gig, that i had to delete.

I took the advice of Seagate, and completely zero-ed out the
drive...took about 5 hours. seeing I was having problems deleting the
NTFS partition.

The puter is a HP pavilion, with WIN ME. I got into FDISK, and had
problems setting partitions. After I finally got a DOS primary
partition installed, I used the HP recovery disks to reinstall the
system.

After I reinstalled the OS, I upgraded to XP Home. this is probably at
least the 6th time in 3 years I've had to reinstall the XP update.

Now, my puter is only seeing 33 gig of storage, and I cant find the
rest of it. Disk Management in XP is greyed out, expect for open,
explore, and properties.

Now....I'm trying to find the rest of the HD storage....which I can't
seem to do.

The system runs fine, just have only 33 gig out of 74 after formatting,
to use.

I've installed the system before, never had problems like this.


Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
> > Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33 gig.
> > File system was installed as Fat 32.
>
>
> Windows XP will not create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB (although it
> will happily use one if it is first created externally). You are running
> into that limit.
>
>
> > The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard drive
> > space, which is over 40 Gig.
>
>
> It's not lost space., it's just unpartitioned space. You can't use it until
> it's partitioned.
>
>
> > Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
> > function when the File table is NTFS?
>
>
> No, that's not correct. The unpartitioned isn't even NTFS. It doesn't even
> have a file system until you've partitioned it.
>
> It sounds like you're just doing something wrong. Read here: "How to use
> Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" at
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>
>
> > Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I pay
> > for....
> >
> > Thanks....

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Okay...let me go step by step: maybe this will help other folx
> too....which is why we're here...
>
> I had to reinstall my OS due to MS updates conflicts.
>
> I had a FAT 32 Partition allocated 35 gig...and a NTFS partition 33
> gig, that i had to delete.
>
> I took the advice of Seagate, and completely zero-ed out the
> drive...took about 5 hours. seeing I was having problems deleting the
> NTFS partition.
>
> The puter is a HP pavilion, with WIN ME. I got into FDISK, and had
> problems setting partitions. After I finally got a DOS primary
> partition installed, I used the HP recovery disks to reinstall the
> system.
>
> After I reinstalled the OS, I upgraded to XP Home.


All of this was entirely unnecessary. You didn't need to zero-fill the
drive, you didn't need to use FDISK for anything, and you didn't need to
install Windows Me before using the Windows XP Upgrade.

The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous qualifying
version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see below), not to have
it installed. When setup doesn't find a previous qualifying version
installed, it will prompt you to insert its CD as proof of ownership. Just
insert the previous version's CD, and follow the prompts. Everything
proceeds quite normally and quite legitimately.

You can also do a clean installation if you have an OEM restore CD of a
previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but it *can* be done.
First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the XP upgrade CD from within
that restored system, and change from Upgrade to New Install. When it asks
where, press Esc to delete the partition and start over.

Since you apparently just did this and don't really have much, if anything,
but the operating system on the drive yet, if I were you, I'd just start
over. Do a clean installation by booting from the XP Upgrade CD (change the
BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for
a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one--preferably NTFS, not FAT32, since you
apparently want it all in a single partition.).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm



> this is probably at
> least the 6th time in 3 years I've had to reinstall the XP update.


That's extraordinary. Why? With reasonably good maintenance, you should
never have to do that. I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95,
Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of time before
the next version came out, and each on two machines here. I never
reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than an
occasional minor problem.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


> Now, my puter is only seeing 33 gig of storage, and I cant find the
> rest of it. Disk Management in XP is greyed out, expect for open,
> explore, and properties.
>
> Now....I'm trying to find the rest of the HD storage....which I can't
> seem to do.
>
> The system runs fine, just have only 33 gig out of 74 after
> formatting, to use.
>
> I've installed the system before, never had problems like this.
>
>
> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>
>>> Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33
>>> gig. File system was installed as Fat 32.
>>
>>
>> Windows XP will not create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB
>> (although it will happily use one if it is first created
>> externally). You are running into that limit.
>>
>>
>>> The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard drive
>>> space, which is over 40 Gig.
>>
>>
>> It's not lost space., it's just unpartitioned space. You can't use
>> it until it's partitioned.
>>
>>
>>> Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
>>> function when the File table is NTFS?
>>
>>
>> No, that's not correct. The unpartitioned isn't even NTFS. It
>> doesn't even have a file system until you've partitioned it.
>>
>> It sounds like you're just doing something wrong. Read here: "How to
>> use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" at
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000
>>
>> --
>> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
>> Please reply to the newsgroup
>>
>>
>>> Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I pay
>>> for....
>>>
>>> Thanks....

Well Ken....with companies like Symantec, AVG, McAfee..and the such,
I've had most of the problems with XP updates and Symantec Firewall and
AV programs conflicting with SP2 and other MS products.

Ask any average consumer, but thats about the size of it....6 in 3
years is pretty common for the most part...I know of people that have
installed their OS completely 3 times within a year, so my posting
shouldnt seem that out of this world...

By the way...thanks for all the help....


Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> > Okay...let me go step by step: maybe this will help other folx
> > too....which is why we're here...
> >
> > I had to reinstall my OS due to MS updates conflicts.
> >
> > I had a FAT 32 Partition allocated 35 gig...and a NTFS partition 33
> > gig, that i had to delete.
> >
> > I took the advice of Seagate, and completely zero-ed out the
> > drive...took about 5 hours. seeing I was having problems deleting the
> > NTFS partition.
> >
> > The puter is a HP pavilion, with WIN ME. I got into FDISK, and had
> > problems setting partitions. After I finally got a DOS primary
> > partition installed, I used the HP recovery disks to reinstall the
> > system.
> >
> > After I reinstalled the OS, I upgraded to XP Home.
>
>
> All of this was entirely unnecessary. You didn't need to zero-fill the
> drive, you didn't need to use FDISK for anything, and you didn't need to
> install Windows Me before using the Windows XP Upgrade.
>
> The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous qualifying
> version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see below), not to have
> it installed. When setup doesn't find a previous qualifying version
> installed, it will prompt you to insert its CD as proof of ownership. Just
> insert the previous version's CD, and follow the prompts. Everything
> proceeds quite normally and quite legitimately.
>
> You can also do a clean installation if you have an OEM restore CD of a
> previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but it *can* be done.
> First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the XP upgrade CD from within
> that restored system, and change from Upgrade to New Install. When it asks
> where, press Esc to delete the partition and start over.
>
> Since you apparently just did this and don't really have much, if anything,
> but the operating system on the drive yet, if I were you, I'd just start
> over. Do a clean installation by booting from the XP Upgrade CD (change the
> BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for
> a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
> prompted, then create a new one--preferably NTFS, not FAT32, since you
> apparently want it all in a single partition.).
>
> You can find detailed instructions here:
> http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
>
> or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
>
> or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
>
>
>
> > this is probably at
> > least the 6th time in 3 years I've had to reinstall the XP update.
>
>
> That's extraordinary. Why? With reasonably good maintenance, you should
> never have to do that. I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95,
> Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of time before
> the next version came out, and each on two machines here. I never
> reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than an
> occasional minor problem.
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>
>
> > Now, my puter is only seeing 33 gig of storage, and I cant find the
> > rest of it. Disk Management in XP is greyed out, expect for open,
> > explore, and properties.
> >
> > Now....I'm trying to find the rest of the HD storage....which I can't
> > seem to do.
> >
> > The system runs fine, just have only 33 gig out of 74 after
> > formatting, to use.
> >
> > I've installed the system before, never had problems like this.
> >
> >
> > Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> >> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> >>
> >>> Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33
> >>> gig. File system was installed as Fat 32.
> >>
> >>
> >> Windows XP will not create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB
> >> (although it will happily use one if it is first created
> >> externally). You are running into that limit.
> >>
> >>
> >>> The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard drive
> >>> space, which is over 40 Gig.
> >>
> >>
> >> It's not lost space., it's just unpartitioned space. You can't use
> >> it until it's partitioned.
> >>
> >>
> >>> Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
> >>> function when the File table is NTFS?
> >>
> >>
> >> No, that's not correct. The unpartitioned isn't even NTFS. It
> >> doesn't even have a file system until you've partitioned it.
> >>
> >> It sounds like you're just doing something wrong. Read here: "How to
> >> use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" at
> >> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000
> >>
> >> --
> >> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> >> Please reply to the newsgroup
> >>
> >>
> >>> Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I pay
> >>> for....
> >>>
> >>> Thanks....

I have not reinstalled Windows XP once since I first turned it on almost 4
years ago. No reason to.

Installing SP 2 was a snap for me, and never a problem since.

I'm no computer genius, trust me. I've simply learned how to use my computer
wisely by reading carefully and planning thoroughly.

--
Ted Zieglar
"Backup is a computer user's best friend."

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Well Ken....with companies like Symantec, AVG, McAfee..and the such,
> I've had most of the problems with XP updates and Symantec Firewall and
> AV programs conflicting with SP2 and other MS products.
>
> Ask any average consumer, but thats about the size of it....6 in 3
> years is pretty common for the most part...I know of people that have
> installed their OS completely 3 times within a year, so my posting
> shouldnt seem that out of this world...
>
> By the way...thanks for all the help....
>
>
> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> > (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> > > Okay...let me go step by step: maybe this will help other folx
> > > too....which is why we're here...
> > >
> > > I had to reinstall my OS due to MS updates conflicts.
> > >
> > > I had a FAT 32 Partition allocated 35 gig...and a NTFS partition 33
> > > gig, that i had to delete.
> > >
> > > I took the advice of Seagate, and completely zero-ed out the
> > > drive...took about 5 hours. seeing I was having problems deleting the
> > > NTFS partition.
> > >
> > > The puter is a HP pavilion, with WIN ME. I got into FDISK, and had
> > > problems setting partitions. After I finally got a DOS primary
> > > partition installed, I used the HP recovery disks to reinstall the
> > > system.
> > >
> > > After I reinstalled the OS, I upgraded to XP Home.
> >
> >
> > All of this was entirely unnecessary. You didn't need to zero-fill the
> > drive, you didn't need to use FDISK for anything, and you didn't need to
> > install Windows Me before using the Windows XP Upgrade.
> >
> > The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous
qualifying
> > version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see below), not to
have
> > it installed. When setup doesn't find a previous qualifying version
> > installed, it will prompt you to insert its CD as proof of ownership.
Just
> > insert the previous version's CD, and follow the prompts. Everything
> > proceeds quite normally and quite legitimately.
> >
> > You can also do a clean installation if you have an OEM restore CD of a
> > previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but it *can* be
done.
> > First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the XP upgrade CD from
within
> > that restored system, and change from Upgrade to New Install. When it
asks
> > where, press Esc to delete the partition and start over.
> >
> > Since you apparently just did this and don't really have much, if
anything,
> > but the operating system on the drive yet, if I were you, I'd just start
> > over. Do a clean installation by booting from the XP Upgrade CD (change
the
> > BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts
for
> > a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
> > prompted, then create a new one--preferably NTFS, not FAT32, since you
> > apparently want it all in a single partition.).
> >
> > You can find detailed instructions here:
> > http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
> >
> > or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
> >
> > or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
> >
> >
> >
> > > this is probably at
> > > least the 6th time in 3 years I've had to reinstall the XP update.
> >
> >
> > That's extraordinary. Why? With reasonably good maintenance, you should
> > never have to do that. I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95,
> > Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of time
before
> > the next version came out, and each on two machines here. I never
> > reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than an
> > occasional minor problem.
> >
> > --
> > Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> > Please reply to the newsgroup
> >
> >
> > > Now, my puter is only seeing 33 gig of storage, and I cant find the
> > > rest of it. Disk Management in XP is greyed out, expect for open,
> > > explore, and properties.
> > >
> > > Now....I'm trying to find the rest of the HD storage....which I can't
> > > seem to do.
> > >
> > > The system runs fine, just have only 33 gig out of 74 after
> > > formatting, to use.
> > >
> > > I've installed the system before, never had problems like this.
> > >
> > >
> > > Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> > >> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33
> > >>> gig. File system was installed as Fat 32.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Windows XP will not create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB
> > >> (although it will happily use one if it is first created
> > >> externally). You are running into that limit.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>> The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard drive
> > >>> space, which is over 40 Gig.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> It's not lost space., it's just unpartitioned space. You can't use
> > >> it until it's partitioned.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>> Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
> > >>> function when the File table is NTFS?
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> No, that's not correct. The unpartitioned isn't even NTFS. It
> > >> doesn't even have a file system until you've partitioned it.
> > >>
> > >> It sounds like you're just doing something wrong. Read here: "How to
> > >> use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" at
> > >> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> > >> Please reply to the newsgroup
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>> Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I pay
> > >>> for....
> > >>>
> > >>> Thanks....
>

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:

> Well Ken....with companies like Symantec, AVG, McAfee..and the such,
> I've had most of the problems with XP updates and Symantec Firewall
> and AV programs conflicting with SP2 and other MS products.
>
> Ask any average consumer, but thats about the size of it....6 in 3
> years is pretty common for the most part...I know of people that have
> installed their OS completely 3 times within a year, so my posting
> shouldnt seem that out of this world...


I know many average consumers, and I'm often the one who has set up their
computers for them. None of them have ever reinstalled. I don't agree that
"6 in 3 years is pretty common for the most part."


> By the way...thanks for all the help....


You're welcome. Glad to help, even if we disagree about reinstalling.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup


>
> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>> Okay...let me go step by step: maybe this will help other folx
>>> too....which is why we're here...
>>>
>>> I had to reinstall my OS due to MS updates conflicts.
>>>
>>> I had a FAT 32 Partition allocated 35 gig...and a NTFS partition 33
>>> gig, that i had to delete.
>>>
>>> I took the advice of Seagate, and completely zero-ed out the
>>> drive...took about 5 hours. seeing I was having problems deleting
>>> the NTFS partition.
>>>
>>> The puter is a HP pavilion, with WIN ME. I got into FDISK, and had
>>> problems setting partitions. After I finally got a DOS primary
>>> partition installed, I used the HP recovery disks to reinstall the
>>> system.
>>>
>>> After I reinstalled the OS, I upgraded to XP Home.
>>
>>
>> All of this was entirely unnecessary. You didn't need to zero-fill
>> the drive, you didn't need to use FDISK for anything, and you didn't
>> need to install Windows Me before using the Windows XP Upgrade.
>>
>> The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous
>> qualifying version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see
>> below), not to have it installed. When setup doesn't find a previous
>> qualifying version installed, it will prompt you to insert its CD as
>> proof of ownership. Just insert the previous version's CD, and
>> follow the prompts. Everything proceeds quite normally and quite
>> legitimately.
>>
>> You can also do a clean installation if you have an OEM restore CD
>> of a previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but it
>> *can* be done. First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the XP
>> upgrade CD from within that restored system, and change from Upgrade
>> to New Install. When it asks where, press Esc to delete the
>> partition and start over.
>>
>> Since you apparently just did this and don't really have much, if
>> anything, but the operating system on the drive yet, if I were you,
>> I'd just start over. Do a clean installation by booting from the XP
>> Upgrade CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish
>> this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the
>> existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new
>> one--preferably NTFS, not FAT32, since you apparently want it all in
>> a single partition.).
>>
>> You can find detailed instructions here:
>> http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
>>
>> or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
>>
>> or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
>>
>>
>>
>>> this is probably at
>>> least the 6th time in 3 years I've had to reinstall the XP update.
>>
>>
>> That's extraordinary. Why? With reasonably good maintenance, you
>> should never have to do that. I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11,
>> Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the
>> period of time before the next version came out, and each on two
>> machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had
>> anything more than an occasional minor problem.
>>
>> --
>> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
>> Please reply to the newsgroup
>>
>>
>>> Now, my puter is only seeing 33 gig of storage, and I cant find the
>>> rest of it. Disk Management in XP is greyed out, expect for open,
>>> explore, and properties.
>>>
>>> Now....I'm trying to find the rest of the HD storage....which I
>>> can't seem to do.
>>>
>>> The system runs fine, just have only 33 gig out of 74 after
>>> formatting, to use.
>>>
>>> I've installed the system before, never had problems like this.
>>>
>>>
>>> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>>>> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33
>>>>> gig. File system was installed as Fat 32.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Windows XP will not create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB
>>>> (although it will happily use one if it is first created
>>>> externally). You are running into that limit.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard
>>>>> drive space, which is over 40 Gig.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> It's not lost space., it's just unpartitioned space. You can't use
>>>> it until it's partitioned.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
>>>>> function when the File table is NTFS?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> No, that's not correct. The unpartitioned isn't even NTFS. It
>>>> doesn't even have a file system until you've partitioned it.
>>>>
>>>> It sounds like you're just doing something wrong. Read here: "How
>>>> to use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" at
>>>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
>>>> Please reply to the newsgroup
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I
>>>>> pay for....
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks....

BTW....I just began again after all this...did a format C: in DOS,
forgot about the partitioning problems, and lo and behold....the damn
thing allocated the whole drive, even in FAT 32...

with an 80 gig afer formatting: 74 gig available...in FAT 32.

Nuts, ain't it?



Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>
> > Well Ken....with companies like Symantec, AVG, McAfee..and the such,
> > I've had most of the problems with XP updates and Symantec Firewall
> > and AV programs conflicting with SP2 and other MS products.
> >
> > Ask any average consumer, but thats about the size of it....6 in 3
> > years is pretty common for the most part...I know of people that have
> > installed their OS completely 3 times within a year, so my posting
> > shouldnt seem that out of this world...
>
>
> I know many average consumers, and I'm often the one who has set up their
> computers for them. None of them have ever reinstalled. I don't agree that
> "6 in 3 years is pretty common for the most part."
>
>
> > By the way...thanks for all the help....
>
>
> You're welcome. Glad to help, even if we disagree about reinstalling.
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
>
>
> >
> > Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> >> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> >>> Okay...let me go step by step: maybe this will help other folx
> >>> too....which is why we're here...
> >>>
> >>> I had to reinstall my OS due to MS updates conflicts.
> >>>
> >>> I had a FAT 32 Partition allocated 35 gig...and a NTFS partition 33
> >>> gig, that i had to delete.
> >>>
> >>> I took the advice of Seagate, and completely zero-ed out the
> >>> drive...took about 5 hours. seeing I was having problems deleting
> >>> the NTFS partition.
> >>>
> >>> The puter is a HP pavilion, with WIN ME. I got into FDISK, and had
> >>> problems setting partitions. After I finally got a DOS primary
> >>> partition installed, I used the HP recovery disks to reinstall the
> >>> system.
> >>>
> >>> After I reinstalled the OS, I upgraded to XP Home.
> >>
> >>
> >> All of this was entirely unnecessary. You didn't need to zero-fill
> >> the drive, you didn't need to use FDISK for anything, and you didn't
> >> need to install Windows Me before using the Windows XP Upgrade.
> >>
> >> The requirement to use an upgrade version is to *own* a previous
> >> qualifying version's installation CD (with an OEM restore CD, see
> >> below), not to have it installed. When setup doesn't find a previous
> >> qualifying version installed, it will prompt you to insert its CD as
> >> proof of ownership. Just insert the previous version's CD, and
> >> follow the prompts. Everything proceeds quite normally and quite
> >> legitimately.
> >>
> >> You can also do a clean installation if you have an OEM restore CD
> >> of a previous qualifying version. It's more complicated, but it
> >> *can* be done. First restore from the Restore CD. Then run the XP
> >> upgrade CD from within that restored system, and change from Upgrade
> >> to New Install. When it asks where, press Esc to delete the
> >> partition and start over.
> >>
> >> Since you apparently just did this and don't really have much, if
> >> anything, but the operating system on the drive yet, if I were you,
> >> I'd just start over. Do a clean installation by booting from the XP
> >> Upgrade CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish
> >> this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the
> >> existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new
> >> one--preferably NTFS, not FAT32, since you apparently want it all in
> >> a single partition.).
> >>
> >> You can find detailed instructions here:
> >> http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
> >>
> >> or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
> >>
> >> or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> this is probably at
> >>> least the 6th time in 3 years I've had to reinstall the XP update.
> >>
> >>
> >> That's extraordinary. Why? With reasonably good maintenance, you
> >> should never have to do that. I've run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11,
> >> Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each for the
> >> period of time before the next version came out, and each on two
> >> machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had
> >> anything more than an occasional minor problem.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> >> Please reply to the newsgroup
> >>
> >>
> >>> Now, my puter is only seeing 33 gig of storage, and I cant find the
> >>> rest of it. Disk Management in XP is greyed out, expect for open,
> >>> explore, and properties.
> >>>
> >>> Now....I'm trying to find the rest of the HD storage....which I
> >>> can't seem to do.
> >>>
> >>> The system runs fine, just have only 33 gig out of 74 after
> >>> formatting, to use.
> >>>
> >>> I've installed the system before, never had problems like this.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> >>>> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Problem: Seagate Hard Drive 80 gb.; and XP is only recognizing 33
> >>>>> gig. File system was installed as Fat 32.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Windows XP will not create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB
> >>>> (although it will happily use one if it is first created
> >>>> externally). You are running into that limit.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>> The Disk Management tool will not function, to find lost hard
> >>>>> drive space, which is over 40 Gig.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> It's not lost space., it's just unpartitioned space. You can't use
> >>>> it until it's partitioned.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>> Question: Am I to assume that the Disk Mangement tool will only
> >>>>> function when the File table is NTFS?
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> No, that's not correct. The unpartitioned isn't even NTFS. It
> >>>> doesn't even have a file system until you've partitioned it.
> >>>>
> >>>> It sounds like you're just doing something wrong. Read here: "How
> >>>> to use Disk Management to configure basic disks in Windows XP" at
> >>>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> >>>> Please reply to the newsgroup
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>> Gee, I'd actually like to use the 40 gig....I like to use what I
> >>>>> pay for....
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thanks....