NTFS? Hard dirve limit?

[bwesley8]

We've got an aging PIII 800-Mhz system running WinXP Home, with 20-Gb and
6-Gb HDD's (FAT32); the system boots on the 20-Gb drive.

Initially, I figured to simply replace the 6-Gb drive (it's older,
installed in 1999) to get more storage capacity, so off I went to the local
CompUSA -- haven't yet decided whether that was a smart move or not(!) since
I came home more confused than before.

The sales clerk warned me that there was a size limit to the HDD this system
would recognize, but he wasn't sure what it was...(hey, the kid could have
simply sold me that 300-Gb drive and let me figure out why it wouldn't
work!). After Google search and some browsing through WinXP Help, I'm still
puzzled...

The system motherboard was purchased in 12/2001, has a Via chipset,
Award BIOS. How big a drive will the system properly recognize?

Thanks,

Bart

 

[Cuzman]

" How big a drive will the system properly recognize? "


I expect the motherboard isn't equipped with 48-bit LBA.
http://www.48bitlba.com/

 

[bwesley8]

I expect that you are correct -- however, the link you provided refers to
"the capacity of IDE ATA/ATAPI devices..." as having a "...limit of 137.4
GB." If that's the limit, the local Best Buy has a 120-Gb western Digital
drive on sale for $50 (after rebates).

Thanks,

Bart

 

[VWWall]

We've got an aging PIII 800-Mhz system running WinXP Home, with 20-Gb and
6-Gb HDD's (FAT32); the system boots on the 20-Gb drive.

Initially, I figured to simply replace the 6-Gb drive (it's older,
installed in 1999) to get more storage capacity, so off I went to the local
CompUSA -- haven't yet decided whether that was a smart move or not(!) since
I came home more confused than before.

The sales clerk warned me that there was a size limit to the HDD this system
would recognize, but he wasn't sure what it was...(hey, the kid could have
simply sold me that 300-Gb drive and let me figure out why it wouldn't
work!). After Google search and some browsing through WinXP Help, I'm still
puzzled...

The system motherboard was purchased in 12/2001, has a Via chipset,
Award BIOS. How big a drive will the system properly recognize?

The 137GB limit comes from the BIOS being able to address only 2^28
sectors of 512 bytes each. (2^28 x 512 = 137.4 GB using 1KB = 1000.
Using the "computer" measure of 1KB = 1024, this is 128GB. Drive makers
use the first convention, so any drive sold as < 137GB is OK. The
nearest one to this is 120GB, which will work fine. You also need at
least SP1 on WindowsXP to go over the 137GB limit, even with a 48bit LBA
BIOS.

 

[bwesley8]

Thanks! That's the info I needed.

Bart

The 137GB limit comes from the BIOS being able to address only 2^28
sectors of 512 bytes each. (2^28 x 512 = 137.4 GB using 1KB = 1000.
Using the "computer" measure of 1KB = 1024, this is 128GB. Drive makers
use the first convention, so any drive sold as < 137GB is OK. The nearest
one to this is 120GB, which will work fine. You also need at least SP1 on
WindowsXP to go over the 137GB limit, even with a 48bit LBA BIOS.