Maxtor Drive Install Problem

[Ken]

Hi. I'm running XP SP1 on a Dell Dimmension 8400. I purchased the PC
with a Seagate 160GB SATA harddrive. That works fine. Recently, I
purchased and installed a second (non boot) drive. That one is a
Maxtor SATA 250GB drive.

Maxtor has software used to format the drive called MaxBlast 3. When I
run that software, I get a message that says that it needs to update my
registry to support a drive bigger than 137GB. I don't understand why
it is saying this, since I already have a drive which works and is
160GB.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Ken

 

[Jerry]

And Maxtor says what?

 

[Ken]

I have to wait until Monday to find out. They're closed today. I'll
report back. Happy New Year!

 

[justme]

Why don't you just partition and format the drive with XP?

Hi. I'm running XP SP1 on a Dell Dimmension 8400. I purchased the PC
with a Seagate 160GB SATA harddrive. That works fine. Recently, I
purchased and installed a second (non boot) drive. That one is a
Maxtor SATA 250GB drive.

Maxtor has software used to format the drive called MaxBlast 3. When I
run that software, I get a message that says that it needs to update my
registry to support a drive bigger than 137GB. I don't understand why
it is saying this, since I already have a drive which works and is
160GB.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Ken

 

[Yves Leclerc]

What version of MaxBlast 3? Maxtor has posted a notice on the MaxBlast web
site stating that there was a problem with the "older" versions than 3.6.

 

[Art]

Ken:
Is there any reason why you're not using XP's Disk Management utility (Start

Right-click My Computer > Manage > Computer Management > Disk Management)

to partition and format your new drive? This XP built-in utility is an
excellent program to partition/format your hard drive. It's relatively
simple to use and it's effective. Unless you have some unusual reason for
doing so, there's no need to use a third-party program such as Maxtor's
MaxBLAST program to partition and format your hard drive in an XP
environment.

I assume your motherboard's BIOS supports large-capacity disks, i.e., disks

137 GB. You say you "already have a drive which works and is 160 GB". And

that drive contains a single partition encompassing the entire capacity of
the drive, yes? So you're absolutely certain that your motherboard's BIOS
supports large-capacity disks, yes?
Art

 

[Ken]

I have 3.6. That's what came with my disk on CD. When I checked the
web site, there doesn't seem to be a more recent version.

 

[Ken]

The only reason I haven't used XP to partition is because I don't know
if there is some reason why I should be using Maxtor's program for
their disks. Anyone know if there is a reason to do so? Otherwise,
I'd just assume use XP's program, since the Maxtor one certainly seems
buggy (even 3.6).

Thanks,

Ken

 

[Andy]

My policy is to use the tools provided by the operating system you're
using. Only use third party partitioning/formating software if there
is no other way to accomplish something.

 

[IDIDIT]

After using Partition Magic 8.01 100+ times without a stumble my
policy is to use what works and it does. Unless Norton tries (d) to
fix something that works to add the words "new and improved".

 

[Ken]

Hi again. I called Maxtor. The guy there said not to use MaxBlast.
He said to just use XP's disk management, as you recommended. I wonder
why they even bother including MaxBlast. Unless the company that makes
MaxBlast pays them to include their product. Go figure.

Anyway, I ran XP's Disk Management. It did not display my new disk. I
rebooted and ran "Rescan Disks." It ran for a second, and my new disk
still did not show up. Note that both disks plug directly into their
own SATA slot on the motherboard. They are both getting power from a
plug on the same cable (two plugs, one cable).
Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Ken

 

[Alex Nichol]

Hi. I'm running XP SP1 on a Dell Dimmension 8400. I purchased the PC
with a Seagate 160GB SATA harddrive. That works fine. Recently, I
purchased and installed a second (non boot) drive. That one is a
Maxtor SATA 250GB drive.

Maxtor has software used to format the drive called MaxBlast 3. When I
run that software, I get a message that says that it needs to update my
registry to support a drive bigger than 137GB. I don't understand why
it is saying this, since I already have a drive which works and is
160GB.

Instead of using Maxblast do it from XP itself. Control Panel - Admin
Tools - Computer Management, select Disk Management and look lower right
for the graphic of the drive. R-click in Unallocated space and Create
Partition. Provide you are at XP SP1 this should work

 

[Ken]

Instead of using Maxblast do it from XP itself. Control Panel - Admin
Tools - Computer Management, select Disk Management and look lower right
for the graphic of the drive. R-click in Unallocated space and Create
Partition. Provide you are at XP SP1 this should work

I tried this, but there is no graphic for the new drive. I tried
running Rescan Disks, but still no luck. Does this mean that my drive
is not installed properly, or could there be another reason this second
drive is not being displayed? Does it matter which SATA data slot I'm
using, e.g., must I use 0 and 1 before I use 2 or 3? Also, does the
boot drive have to be on a lower number than this second drive? Do I
need to tell the BIOS/set up program to look for a new drive?
Thanks for any tips,

Ken

 

[Yves Leclerc]

There is still a LARGE number of PCs that can not use the larger (> 137GB)
hard drives, since the BIOS updates have been discontinued. The MaxBlast
software offers a method of "cheating" in order to allow Windows XP to use
the full capacity. Only to be used as LAST resort!!!

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Do not forget to also format the drive. Partitions need to be formatted be
their use.