< 32 GB partitions only at external hard drive

[ko]

Hi all,

recently I bought a 250 GB hard drive to connect on my usb2.0 port.
But disk management in XP pro cannot build partitions bigger than
32GB. So far I have created 3 partions of 32GB fat32, which works fine
but a partition of 32 GB NTFS is not possible or a partition of 64 GB
NTFS: in both cases the format step stops at 100% saying that it could
not be completed. Maybe important: on my notebook it has been no
problem to create to 100 GB partitions.

Does anyone have a solution?

Thanks in advance,
KO.

 

[Bob Harris]

While XP has a limit of 32 Gig for creating FAT32 partitions, it has no
limit on NTFS partitions. I have made NTFS partitions up to 120 Gig on a
USB hard drive with XP.

If you are having trouble with NTFS of any size, that is NOT normal for XP.
In fact, XP normally defaults to doing NTFS.

Potential problems could be:

1. PC's motherboard BIOS does not support large disks, meaning disks bigger
than about 127 Gig. Or, if a really old PC upgraded to XP, then the BIOS
limit could be as low as 32 Gig. Check the PC or motherboard maker for
details. While this is more a problem for internal disks, a suficiently old
PC might also have trouble with large external disks.

2. XP does not automatically support disks larger than 127 Gig, even if the
BIOS can handle them. You need at least SP-1 and you need to enable 48-bit
LBA.

3. Maybe some part of the XP installation is corrupt. Think about running
SFC /SCANNOW. Have your XP CDROM handy. Or, try a repair install of XP
using the XP CDROM. Be careful, the difference betwen a repair instal and a
clean install is only a few mouse clicks, and a clean install will erase
everything first. If you do a repair, remeber o immedfiately run windows
update, snce a repair removes all updates newer than the date on the CDROM.

4. Try using the XP recovery console to make partitions. This is run from
the XP CDROM.

5. Use third-party software to make partitions. For example, Partition
Magic can work on an external drive and is not limited to 32Gig for FAT32.
It can also do NTFS.

Finally, cionsider using a different PC, also running XP, to format the hard
drive.

 

[Anna]

Hi all,

recently I bought a 250 GB hard drive to connect on my usb2.0 port.
But disk management in XP pro cannot build partitions bigger than
32GB. So far I have created 3 partions of 32GB fat32, which works fine
but a partition of 32 GB NTFS is not possible or a partition of 64 GB
NTFS: in both cases the format step stops at 100% saying that it could
not be completed. Maybe important: on my notebook it has been no
problem to create to 100 GB partitions.

Does anyone have a solution?

Thanks in advance,
KO.

KO:
Can you provide a clearer picture of what you want to do?
1. The 250 GB HD is a USB 2.0 external hard drive, right?
2. Do you want a single partition encompassing the full capacity of your 250
GB drive?
3. Are you interested in creating *only* FAT32 partition(s)? You do
understand that XP will not allow you to format FAT32 partitions > 32 GB,
don't you? (Although there's a workaround for this).
4. Or, you'd be satisfied with NTFS partition(s)?
5. You're running XP with SP1 and/or SP2, right?
6. Provide a detailed description of how you've attempted to
partition/format that 250 GB drive.
Anna

 

[Richard Urban]

Fat32 file system = 32 gig or less

NTFS file system = limited by the size of the hard drive

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Kerry Brown]

Hi all,

recently I bought a 250 GB hard drive to connect on my usb2.0 port.
But disk management in XP pro cannot build partitions bigger than
32GB. So far I have created 3 partions of 32GB fat32, which works fine
but a partition of 32 GB NTFS is not possible or a partition of 64 GB
NTFS: in both cases the format step stops at 100% saying that it could
not be completed. Maybe important: on my notebook it has been no
problem to create to 100 GB partitions.

Does anyone have a solution?

Thanks in advance,
KO.

I'm not sure why NTFS won't create the partitions. I would suspect the m/b
BIOS. If you want to create a larger FAT32 partition attach the USB drive to
a Windows 98 computer. Once the larger FAT32 partitions are created and
formatted XP will work with them it just won't create them. You will be
limited to a maximum file size of 4 GB when using FAT32 though. This makes
it kind of useless for backups unless you are just doing file copies.

Kerry

 

[ko]

I'm not sure why NTFS won't create the partitions. I would suspect the m/b
BIOS. If you want to create a larger FAT32 partition attach the USB drive to
a Windows 98 computer. Once the larger FAT32 partitions are created and
formatted XP will work with them it just won't create them. You will be
limited to a maximum file size of 4 GB when using FAT32 though. This makes
it kind of useless for backups unless you are just doing file copies.

Kerry

Hi Kerry,

Even more bizar is the fact that it does create partitions of size
32GB and format them in fat32 but not 32GB NTFS :~
On my notebook I created the desired number of partition with sizes
100,100 and 50GB and format them correctly in NTFS; but on my PC (XP
pro sp1) the explorer says that the partitions are not yet formatted
and I have to format them again. Hopefully the win98 trick works. I'll
let you know.

Thanks Kerry,

KO

 

[ko]

While XP has a limit of 32 Gig for creating FAT32 partitions, it has no
limit on NTFS partitions. I have made NTFS partitions up to 120 Gig on a
USB hard drive with XP.

If you are having trouble with NTFS of any size, that is NOT normal for XP.
In fact, XP normally defaults to doing NTFS.

That is true at least 32GB NTFS did not work whereas 32GB fat32 did
work (seven of 32GB and one containing the rest (<32GB) )

Potential problems could be:

1. PC's motherboard BIOS does not support large disks, meaning disks bigger
than about 127 Gig. Or, if a really old PC upgraded to XP, then the BIOS
limit could be as low as 32 Gig. Check the PC or motherboard maker for
details. While this is more a problem for internal disks, a suficiently old
PC might also have trouble with large external disks.

I have a athlon 1600+ with a 60GB internal.

2. XP does not automatically support disks larger than 127 Gig, even if the
BIOS can handle them. You need at least SP-1 and you need to enable 48-bit
LBA.

I used a registry file to update the registry for enabling the 48-bit
LBA.

3. Maybe some part of the XP installation is corrupt. Think about running
SFC /SCANNOW. Have your XP CDROM handy. Or, try a repair install of XP
using the XP CDROM. Be careful, the difference betwen a repair instal and a
clean install is only a few mouse clicks, and a clean install will erase
everything first. If you do a repair, remeber o immedfiately run windows
update, snce a repair removes all updates newer than the date on the CDROM.

I'll try this.

4. Try using the XP recovery console to make partitions. This is run from
the XP CDROM.

I'll try this.

5. Use third-party software to make partitions. For example, Partition
Magic can work on an external drive and is not limited to 32Gig for FAT32.
It can also do NTFS.

I used ontrack diskmanager(www.ontrack.com/diskmanager/) and could
create only one big partition (233GB NTFS) but accessing the new
partition with the windows explorer resulted in the messagebox that I
should format the disk first.

Finally, cionsider using a different PC, also running XP, to format the hard
drive.

I succesfully created the desired structure with my notebook (xp home)
and yet again the same messagebox "that I should format the disk
first"

 

[ko]

KO:
Can you provide a clearer picture of what you want to do?
1. The 250 GB HD is a USB 2.0 external hard drive, right?
Yes.

2. Do you want a single partition encompassing the full capacity of your 250
GB drive?

Nope three partitions 2x100GB NTFS and 1x50GB NTFS

3. Are you interested in creating *only* FAT32 partition(s)? You do
understand that XP will not allow you to format FAT32 partitions > 32 GB,
don't you? (Although there's a workaround for this).

Yes I do.

4. Or, you'd be satisfied with NTFS partition(s)?

Fine with me.

5. You're running XP with SP1 and/or SP2, right?
6. Provide a detailed description of how you've attempted to
partition/format that 250 GB drive.

My Computer->Manage->Disk Management->Initialize disk->New primary
partition 100GB and format NTFS style. When the progressbar is At 100%
windows says that it could not complete the format.

My Computer->Manage->Disk Management->Initialize disk->New primary
partition 100GB without format (trying to format after all partitions
are created) -> new extended partition 150 GB-> new logical drive
100GB NTFS->New logical drive 50GB (actually 33,2GB) works fine: but
formatting when the progressbar is At 100% windows says that it could
not complete the format.

Hope you can help me Anna,

Greetings,
KO.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Hi Kerry,

Even more bizar is the fact that it does create partitions of size
32GB and format them in fat32 but not 32GB NTFS :~
On my notebook I created the desired number of partition with sizes
100,100 and 50GB and format them correctly in NTFS; but on my PC (XP
pro sp1) the explorer says that the partitions are not yet formatted
and I have to format them again. Hopefully the win98 trick works. I'll
let you know.

Thanks Kerry,

KO

Is there some reason you can't upgrade to SP2? In an earlier post you say
you used a registry file to enable 48 bit LBA. What were the contents of the
file? With SP1 it shouldn't be needed.

 

[ko]

To all,

I finally succeeded:

Solution:

I have used diskmanagement in XP pro to initialize the disk and to
create the partitions. After that I used partition magic 8.0 to format
the partitions (2x100GB and 1x33GB) in FAT32. I am finally ready to
store data. Partiton magic alone did not solve the trick for me even
NTFS did not work. Strangely enough.

Anyhow, thanks you all.

Greetz,
KO

 

[Kerry Brown]

To all,

I finally succeeded:

Solution:

I have used diskmanagement in XP pro to initialize the disk and to
create the partitions. After that I used partition magic 8.0 to format
the partitions (2x100GB and 1x33GB) in FAT32. I am finally ready to
store data. Partiton magic alone did not solve the trick for me even
NTFS did not work. Strangely enough.

Anyhow, thanks you all.

Greetz,
KO

Glad you got it working. I was just going to update the thread myself. I
just had a very similar experience with an external USB hard drive. On a
computer with USB 1.1 I could make the partitions but the format would fail
with NTFS, FAT32 worked fine. I used a computer with USB 2.0 and NTFS
formatted fine.

Kerry

 

[Anna]

KO:
Can you provide a clearer picture of what you want to do?
1. The 250 GB HD is a USB 2.0 external hard drive, right?
2. Do you want a single partition encompassing the full capacity of your 250
GB drive?
3. Are you interested in creating *only* FAT32 partition(s)? You do
understand that XP will not allow you to format FAT32 partitions > 32 GB,
don't you? (Although there's a workaround for this).
4. Or, you'd be satisfied with NTFS partition(s)?
5. You're running XP with SP1 and/or SP2, right?
6. Provide a detailed description of how you've attempted to
partition/format that 250 GB drive.
Anna


From Ko:

1. Yes, it's a 250 GB USB 2.0 EHD.
2. Nope three partitions 2x100GB NTFS and 1x50GB NTFS 3. Yes (I do
understand). 4. Fine with me (NTFS partitions).

5. You're running XP with SP1 and/or SP2, right? (Unanswered)
6. Provide a detailed description of how you've attempted to
partition/format that 250 GB drive.

My Computer->Manage->Disk Management->Initialize disk->New primary
partition 100GB and format NTFS style. When the progressbar is At 100%
windows says that it could not complete the format.

My Computer->Manage->Disk Management->Initialize disk->New primary
partition 100GB without format (trying to format after all partitions
are created) -> new extended partition 150 GB-> new logical drive
100GB NTFS->New logical drive 50GB (actually 33,2GB) works fine: but
formatting when the progressbar is At 100% windows says that it could
not complete the format.


Hope you can help me Anna,


Greetings,
KO.




Glad you got it working. I was just going to update the thread myself. I
just had a very similar experience with an external USB hard drive. On a
computer with USB 1.1 I could make the partitions but the format would fail
with NTFS, FAT32 worked fine. I used a computer with USB 2.0 and NTFS
formatted fine.
Kerry


Ko:
I too am very glad things worked out for you re this issue. But I'm really
not clear on why you encountered such difficulty partitioning/formatting
your USB 2.0 external hard drive in terms of your initial objective of
creating three NTFS partitions of 100 GB, 100 GB, and 33 GB (approx). I do
understand that with respect to a EHD there's no problem in establishing
FAT32 partitions (as you ultimately did) instead of NTFS ones. Indeed, one
can make a case that it may be wise to do so since the EHD can then be used
with Win9x/Me operating systems. But setting that aside, using XP's Disk
Management utility to partition/format a EHD in NTFS should be a relatively
simple & straightforward task. So it's not clear to me why this process
failed you. (It *nearly* goes without saying that we're assuming the USB EHD
(enclosure & drive) are without defects and is properly
connected/configured). I do note you made some reference in a prior posting
to "extended partition" and "logical drive" in connection with your initial
attempt to partition the USB EHD. Ordinarily there would be no reason to
create anything *but* primary partitions on your EHD and I'm wondering
whether somehow your (apparent) attempt to create an extended partition with
logical drives kind of "muddied the waters" here. But all's well that ends
well as they say.

I note Kerry's comment as well that he too had some difficulty in this area.
We too have run into some strange & unexplained goings-on with USB devices
chiefly in terms of system non-recognition of these devices and other
anomalies. And we're at a loss to explain them. I'm beginning to wonder
whether the (many) manufacturers of these devices are not adhering to the
strict specifications of the USB 2.0 protocol and this is at the root of the
problems we're increasingly seeing with these devices.

Anna

 

[Kerry Brown]

I note Kerry's comment as well that he too had some difficulty in this
area. We too have run into some strange & unexplained goings-on with USB
devices chiefly in terms of system non-recognition of these devices and
other anomalies. And we're at a loss to explain them. I'm beginning to
wonder whether the (many) manufacturers of these devices are not adhering
to the strict specifications of the USB 2.0 protocol and this is at the
root of the problems we're increasingly seeing with these devices.

Anna

I'm pretty sure that was the case with drive I was using. I tried it on a
few computers and the results were consistent. USB 1.1 NTFS format failed,
USB 2.0 NTFS format worked. As you say FAT32 is probably a better choice
anyway. Unless you are in a domain environment you would have to change
ownership of a NTFS formatted drive every time you hooked it up to a
different computer.

Kerry

 

[ko]

Glad you got it working. I was just going to update the thread myself. I
just had a very similar experience with an external USB hard drive. On a
computer with USB 1.1 I could make the partitions but the format would fail
with NTFS, FAT32 worked fine. I used a computer with USB 2.0 and NTFS
formatted fine.

Kerry

Hi Kerry,

I was to happy to soon: my PC still did not handle my partitions well.
BUT NOW, I have finally narrowed down the error/problem (I hope). My
USB2.0 card from edimax seems to be the problem. To rule out that my
OS or BIOS as well as the drive itself was the problem, I hooked up my
drive as an internal drive in my own PC.... ET voila, I could suddenly
create the NTFS partitions easily (used partition Magic 8.0). So I was
very happy to narrow down this part. So the next step was to put the
hd back into the case (from www.techsolo.com). But elas the partitions
were not recognised again. Now I decided to hook it up to my MB's usb
port (which is probably 1.0 or 1.1: windows detects a high speed
device on a low speed port warning). AND YEZZZ, it detects the NTFS
partitions with no problems (I even magaged to copy 700MB from the
external to the internal hd). SO I concluded that it must be my USB
2.0 card. Do you think I am right? But what to do next????

Can you help me.

Greetz,
KO

 

[ko]

KO:
Can you provide a clearer picture of what you want to do?
1. The 250 GB HD is a USB 2.0 external hard drive, right?
2. Do you want a single partition encompassing the full capacity of your 250
GB drive?
3. Are you interested in creating *only* FAT32 partition(s)? You do
understand that XP will not allow you to format FAT32 partitions > 32 GB,
don't you? (Although there's a workaround for this).
4. Or, you'd be satisfied with NTFS partition(s)?
5. You're running XP with SP1 and/or SP2, right?
6. Provide a detailed description of how you've attempted to
partition/format that 250 GB drive.
Anna


From Ko:
My Computer->Manage->Disk Management->Initialize disk->New primary
partition 100GB and format NTFS style. When the progressbar is At 100%
windows says that it could not complete the format.

My Computer->Manage->Disk Management->Initialize disk->New primary
partition 100GB without format (trying to format after all partitions
are created) -> new extended partition 150 GB-> new logical drive
100GB NTFS->New logical drive 50GB (actually 33,2GB) works fine: but
formatting when the progressbar is At 100% windows says that it could
not complete the format.


Hope you can help me Anna,


Greetings,
KO.





Glad you got it working. I was just going to update the thread myself. I
just had a very similar experience with an external USB hard drive. On a
computer with USB 1.1 I could make the partitions but the format would fail
with NTFS, FAT32 worked fine. I used a computer with USB 2.0 and NTFS
formatted fine.
Kerry


Ko:
I too am very glad things worked out for you re this issue. But I'm really
not clear on why you encountered such difficulty partitioning/formatting
your USB 2.0 external hard drive in terms of your initial objective of
creating three NTFS partitions of 100 GB, 100 GB, and 33 GB (approx). I do
understand that with respect to a EHD there's no problem in establishing
FAT32 partitions (as you ultimately did) instead of NTFS ones. Indeed, one
can make a case that it may be wise to do so since the EHD can then be used
with Win9x/Me operating systems. But setting that aside, using XP's Disk
Management utility to partition/format a EHD in NTFS should be a relatively
simple & straightforward task. So it's not clear to me why this process
failed you. (It *nearly* goes without saying that we're assuming the USB EHD
(enclosure & drive) are without defects and is properly
connected/configured). I do note you made some reference in a prior posting
to "extended partition" and "logical drive" in connection with your initial
attempt to partition the USB EHD. Ordinarily there would be no reason to
create anything *but* primary partitions on your EHD and I'm wondering
whether somehow your (apparent) attempt to create an extended partition with
logical drives kind of "muddied the waters" here. But all's well that ends
well as they say.

I note Kerry's comment as well that he too had some difficulty in this area.
We too have run into some strange & unexplained goings-on with USB devices
chiefly in terms of system non-recognition of these devices and other
anomalies. And we're at a loss to explain them. I'm beginning to wonder
whether the (many) manufacturers of these devices are not adhering to the
strict specifications of the USB 2.0 protocol and this is at the root of the
problems we're increasingly seeing with these devices.

Anna

AS I wrote to Kerry:

I was to happy to soon: my PC still did not handle my partitions well.
BUT NOW, I have finally narrowed down the error/problem (I hope). My
USB2.0 card from edimax seems to be the problem. To rule out that my
OS or BIOS as well as the drive itself was the problem, I hooked up my
drive as an internal drive in my own PC.... ET voila, I could suddenly
create the NTFS partitions easily (used partition Magic 8.0). So I was
very happy to narrow down this part. So the next step was to put the
hd back into the case (from www.techsolo.com). But elas the partitions
were not recognised again. Now I decided to hook it up to my MB's usb
port (which is probably 1.0 or 1.1: windows detects a high speed
device on a low speed port warning). AND YEZZZ, it detects the NTFS
partitions with no problems (I even magaged to copy 700MB from the
external to the internal hd). SO I concluded that it must be my USB
2.0 card. Do you think I am right? But what to do next????

Can you help me.

Greetz,
KO

 

[Kerry Brown]

Hi Kerry,

I was to happy to soon: my PC still did not handle my partitions well.
BUT NOW, I have finally narrowed down the error/problem (I hope). My
USB2.0 card from edimax seems to be the problem. To rule out that my
OS or BIOS as well as the drive itself was the problem, I hooked up my
drive as an internal drive in my own PC.... ET voila, I could suddenly
create the NTFS partitions easily (used partition Magic 8.0). So I was
very happy to narrow down this part. So the next step was to put the
hd back into the case (from www.techsolo.com). But elas the partitions
were not recognised again. Now I decided to hook it up to my MB's usb
port (which is probably 1.0 or 1.1: windows detects a high speed
device on a low speed port warning). AND YEZZZ, it detects the NTFS
partitions with no problems (I even magaged to copy 700MB from the
external to the internal hd). SO I concluded that it must be my USB
2.0 card. Do you think I am right? But what to do next????

Can you help me.

Greetz,
KO

USB 2.0 cards are cheap. I'd try to exchange it or buy a different brand. It
sounds like XP thinks the card is 2.0 or you would get the same warning
about the high speed device when the drive is plugged in so it is probably a
problem with the card. It could also be the drive case. As I noted the ADS
one I was using would not do a NTFS format when hooked up to USB 1.1. It
would format fine on USB 2.0. Once it was formatted it would work fine on
USB 1.1. It appears in the rush to market some drive enclosures and some USB
cards may not be 100% compatible.

Kerry