Only 3 of 100 GB HD recognized by Windows

[Don Begezda]

Hello,
I have an old HP pavillion desktop that had originally a 60GB IDE HD with
Windows ME. I upgraded it to Windows XP Pro and everything worked fine until
the HD crashed.

I found a new 100 GB IDE HD that was blank.
I installed it and ran the FDISK command. I accepted all the default choices
and finally installed ME then XP Pro. When I looked at the disk size in My
Computer it shows that it is only 3 GB. When I go to "Setup" by pressing F1
ahile booting, it shows a full 100 GB.

XP does not run, so I reinstalled WIN ME. I tried the FDISK command at the
DOS prompt command and it wouldn't allow me to erase anything

I tried the FORMAT C: command at the DOS prompt and it would not allow it
because Windows was in use.

Any ideas of how to get the whole HD recognized and XP back on the machine
properly??

TIA
Don

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have an old HP pavillion desktop that had originally a 60GB IDE
HD with Windows ME. I upgraded it to Windows XP Pro and everything
worked fine until the HD crashed.

I found a new 100 GB IDE HD that was blank.
I installed it and ran the FDISK command. I accepted all the
default choices and finally installed ME then XP Pro. When I looked
at the disk size in My Computer it shows that it is only 3 GB. When
I go to "Setup" by pressing F1 ahile booting, it shows a full 100
GB.

XP does not run, so I reinstalled WIN ME. I tried the FDISK command
at the DOS prompt command and it wouldn't allow me to erase anything

I tried the FORMAT C: command at the DOS prompt and it would not
allow it because Windows was in use.

Any ideas of how to get the whole HD recognized and XP back on the
machine properly??

What service pack level is the Windows XP CD you are installing from?

 

[Don Begezda]

I started with a blank HD, did a FDISK, then installed ME, then installed
XP. The XP is the original XP pre-service packs. I was going to install the
SP3 upgrade that I have on disk after I had the original XP on the computer,
but didn't bother because of only 3 GB on the HD being recognized.
Since the XP didn't work after I rebooted, I have since re-installed ME with
my OE HP disk. WIN ME still only shows a 3 GB HD.
Thanks,
Don

: Don Begezda wrote:
: > I have an old HP pavillion desktop that had originally a 60GB IDE
: > HD with Windows ME. I upgraded it to Windows XP Pro and everything
: > worked fine until the HD crashed.
: >
: > I found a new 100 GB IDE HD that was blank.
: > I installed it and ran the FDISK command. I accepted all the
: > default choices and finally installed ME then XP Pro. When I looked
: > at the disk size in My Computer it shows that it is only 3 GB. When
: > I go to "Setup" by pressing F1 ahile booting, it shows a full 100
: > GB.
: >
: > XP does not run, so I reinstalled WIN ME. I tried the FDISK command
: > at the DOS prompt command and it wouldn't allow me to erase anything
: >
: > I tried the FORMAT C: command at the DOS prompt and it would not
: > allow it because Windows was in use.
: >
: > Any ideas of how to get the whole HD recognized and XP back on the
: > machine properly??
:
: What service pack level is the Windows XP CD you are installing from?
:
: --
: Shenan Stanley
: MS-MVP
: --
: How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
:
:
:

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I started with a blank HD, did a FDISK, then installed ME, then
installed XP. The XP is the original XP pre-service packs. I was
going to install the SP3 upgrade that I have on disk after I had
the original XP on the computer, but didn't bother because of only
3 GB on the HD being recognized.
Since the XP didn't work after I rebooted, I have since
re-installed ME with my OE HP disk. WIN ME still only shows a 3 GB

You should utilize a Windows XP CD with SP1 or above integrated. You can
create such a CD yourself given you have the original CD and an Internet
connection and a CD burner. You seem to have at least two of those. ;-)

You should download the hard disk drive manufacturer's diagnostics utility
and use it to perform all tests and perform a zero-write wipe. This will
ensure the drive is in full working order.

Then boot with Your Windows XP CD with at least SP1a integrated and use it
to partition the drive. You should see *when you are partitioning* how much
space you are going to get - long before Windows XP is ever fully installed.

 

[Leonard Grey]

Disconnect your computer from the internet. Erase your hard disk and
perform a clean install of Windows XP. (There is no need to install
Windows ME prior to installing Windows XP.)

* Be sure to select the NTFS file system. Format the entire hard drive.
* Insert your Windows ME CD only when asked.
* You can activate Windows later.

Next install your security software.

Connect to the internet and update all your security software.

Then go to Windows Update and install Service Pack 1. You can activate
Windows at this time.

After Service Pack 1 is installed you will be able to install Service
Pack 3.

 

[Don Begezda]

: Disconnect your computer from the internet. Erase your hard disk and
: perform a clean install of Windows XP. (There is no need to install
: Windows ME prior to installing Windows XP.)
:

When I tried to load XP from my XP update CD onto my clean drive it wouldn't
allow me to do it because it asked for a valid version of another Windows OS
to be the operating system so I could update to XP.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

When I tried to load XP from my XP update CD onto my clean drive it
wouldn't allow me to do it because it asked for a valid version of
another Windows OS to be the operating system so I could update to
XP.

If you have Windows ME/98 installed now - how did you install it? Via an
installation CD?

If so - you can easily perform a clean installation with the Windows XP CD
using the previous Windows version CD to provide the necessary proof of an
upgradable version being owned by you. It will ask during the install for
you to insert the prior windows version CD.

 

[Leonard Grey]

"Upgrading to Windows XP from Windows 9x/Me"
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_9xupgrade.asp

 

[Don Begezda]

: You should utilize a Windows XP CD with SP1 or above integrated. You can
: create such a CD yourself given you have the original CD and an Internet
: connection and a CD burner. You seem to have at least two of those. ;-)

I don't understand how to integrate the SP1 onto this XP CD. How do I do
this ? Aren't these Microsoft XP CD disks read only. BTW it's an upgrade to
XP CD if that makes a difference.
Continue reading below.

:
: You should download the hard disk drive manufacturer's diagnostics utility
: and use it to perform all tests and perform a zero-write wipe. This will
: ensure the drive is in full working order.
:
: Then boot with Your Windows XP CD with at least SP1a integrated and use it
: to partition the drive. You should see *when you are partitioning* how
much
: space you are going to get - long before Windows XP is ever fully
installed.
: Shenan Stanley
: MS-MVP

I can't boot with the Win XP CD unless I put Windows ME on the HD first.
Does that make a difference? Also, I don't recall that I was given the
option to partition when I installed my XP upgrade after I installed Win ME.

 

[Don Begezda]

I just checked my XP CD. It includes SP1 version 2002.
Is this all I need?

: Don Begezda wrote:
: > When I tried to load XP from my XP update CD onto my clean drive it
: > wouldn't allow me to do it because it asked for a valid version of
: > another Windows OS to be the operating system so I could update to
: > XP.
:
: If you have Windows ME/98 installed now - how did you install it? Via an
: installation CD?
:
: If so - you can easily perform a clean installation with the Windows XP CD
: using the previous Windows version CD to provide the necessary proof of an
: upgradable version being owned by you. It will ask during the install for
: you to insert the prior windows version CD.
:
: --
: Shenan Stanley
: MS-MVP
: --
: How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
:
:
:

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I just checked my XP CD. It includes SP1 version 2002.
Is this all I need?

: Don Begezda wrote:
: > When I tried to load XP from my XP update CD onto my clean drive it
: > wouldn't allow me to do it because it asked for a valid version of
: > another Windows OS to be the operating system so I could update to
: > XP.
:
: If you have Windows ME/98 installed now - how did you install it? Via
an
: installation CD?
:
: If so - you can easily perform a clean installation with the Windows XP
CD
: using the previous Windows version CD to provide the necessary proof of
an
: upgradable version being owned by you. It will ask during the install
for
: you to insert the prior windows version CD.
:
: --
: Shenan Stanley
: MS-MVP
: --
: How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
:
:
:

Boot from the XP CD

When asked for proof of a previous OS, place the ME/98/98SE CD in the CD
drive

Follow on screen instructions

When XP finally boots up, connect to the Internet and do ALL of the
updates..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[Don Begezda]

"Mike Hall - MVP" : Boot from the XP CD
:
: When asked for proof of a previous OS, place the ME/98/98SE CD in the CD
: drive

I tried that first. When I placed the OE system recovery disk from HP the XP
program did not recognize the WindowsME program on the CD. I then installed
the ME first followed by the XP which resulted in the problem I have with
Windows only recognizing 3GB out of 100GB.
I reverted back to installing just ME to see what happens and it also only
recognizes 3GB.
Any suggestions?
TIA

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

"Mike Hall - MVP" : Boot from the XP CD
:
: When asked for proof of a previous OS, place the ME/98/98SE CD in the CD
: drive

I tried that first. When I placed the OE system recovery disk from HP the
XP
program did not recognize the WindowsME program on the CD. I then
installed
the ME first followed by the XP which resulted in the problem I have with
Windows only recognizing 3GB out of 100GB.
I reverted back to installing just ME to see what happens and it also only
recognizes 3GB.
Any suggestions?
TIA

An OEM recovery CD can't be used as proof.

Presently, you have no choice but to install ME from the recovery CD, and
then do the upgrade to XP.

Follow the instructions for installing ME from the website below

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=573&page=1

Pay particular attention to the part where you have to decide what
partitions you want.

During FDISK, you will need to delete ALL partitions, and then just create
the largest partition possible.

Alternatively, if you know anybody who has an original regular Windows
98/98SE/ME CD (NOT a recovery CD), borrow it, and use it as proof of a
previous OS.

--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[AJR]

Your problem evidently began with FDISK - it is important to know that if
you convert the hard disk drive to FAT32 (from FAT16) and did not select
large disk support (not a default selection), it will only convert the 2gig
partition and not enable the hard disk drive to see over 2GIG. In order to
see the complete hard disk drive you must run fdisk and delete and recreate
all partitions and select "large disk" support.

 

[Lil' Dave]

"Mike Hall - MVP" : Boot from the XP CD
:
: When asked for proof of a previous OS, place the ME/98/98SE CD in the CD
: drive

I tried that first. When I placed the OE system recovery disk from HP the
XP
program did not recognize the WindowsME program on the CD. I then
installed
the ME first followed by the XP which resulted in the problem I have with
Windows only recognizing 3GB out of 100GB.
I reverted back to installing just ME to see what happens and it also only
recognizes 3GB.
Any suggestions?
TIA

Just curious as to why you're using fdisk. The system recovery should
recreate the original sized partition and install Windows Millenium on the
larger hard drive. After you're all done with XP SP1, you can use the
remainder of the hard disk with another partition installation on the
remaining space in NTFS format. Without a retail or OEM generic Millenium
installation CD as a qualifier, you have to overwrite the installed version
of Millenium with the XP UPGRADE installation.

 

[Don Begezda]

I downloaded a Windows version of Western Digitals diagnostic hard drive
program. It refused to wipe my drive clean because I was running Windows.
(Why would they even have the option to wipe a drive in a Windows program,
and then tell you they can't wipe it because Windows is running?) Anyway, I
downloded a DOS version and created a 3.5'' floppydisk that I booted to and
was able to wipe the disk clean. I did a clean install of Win XP and when it
asked for a disk of a previous version of Windows, I found an old Win 98
disk I had.
The install went well and I added SP3 that I have on disk. The drive is now
fully recognized. Thanks again to all who helped.
Don

: Your problem evidently began with FDISK - it is important to know that if
: you convert the hard disk drive to FAT32 (from FAT16) and did not select
: large disk support (not a default selection), it will only convert the
2gig
: partition and not enable the hard disk drive to see over 2GIG. In order to
: see the complete hard disk drive you must run fdisk and delete and
recreate
: all partitions and select "large disk" support.
:

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have an old HP pavillion desktop that had originally a 60GB IDE
HD with Windows ME. I upgraded it to Windows XP Pro and everything
worked fine until the HD crashed.

I found a new 100 GB IDE HD that was blank.
I installed it and ran the FDISK command. I accepted all the
default choices and finally installed ME then XP Pro. When I looked
at the disk size in My Computer it shows that it is only 3 GB. When
I go to "Setup" by pressing F1 ahile booting, it shows a full 100
GB.

XP does not run, so I reinstalled WIN ME. I tried the FDISK command
at the DOS prompt command and it wouldn't allow me to erase anything

I tried the FORMAT C: command at the DOS prompt and it would not
allow it because Windows was in use.

Any ideas of how to get the whole HD recognized and XP back on the
machine properly??

You should utilize a Windows XP CD with SP1 or above integrated.
You can create such a CD yourself given you have the original CD
and an Internet connection and a CD burner. You seem to have at
least two of those. ;-)

You should download the hard disk drive manufacturer's diagnostics
utility and use it to perform all tests and perform a zero-write
wipe. This will ensure the drive is in full working order.

Then boot with Your Windows XP CD with at least SP1a integrated and
use it to partition the drive. You should see *when you are
partitioning* how much space you are going to get - long before
Windows XP is ever fully installed.

If you have Windows ME/98 installed now - how did you install it?
Via an installation CD?

If so - you can easily perform a clean installation with the
Windows XP CD using the previous Windows version CD to provide the
necessary proof of an upgradable version being owned by you. It
will ask during the install for you to insert the prior windows
version CD.

I downloaded a Windows version of Western Digitals diagnostic hard
drive program. It refused to wipe my drive clean because I was
running Windows. (Why would they even have the option to wipe a
drive in a Windows program, and then tell you they can't wipe it
because Windows is running?) Anyway, I downloded a DOS version and
created a 3.5'' floppydisk that I booted to and was able to wipe
the disk clean. I did a clean install of Win XP and when it asked
for a disk of a previous version of Windows, I found an old Win 98
disk I had.
The install went well and I added SP3 that I have on disk. The
drive is now fully recognized. Thanks again to all who helped.

Glad to hear it all worked out well for you!

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I downloaded a Windows version of Western Digitals diagnostic hard drive
program. It refused to wipe my drive clean because I was running Windows.
(Why would they even have the option to wipe a drive in a Windows program,
and then tell you they can't wipe it because Windows is running?) Anyway,
I
downloded a DOS version and created a 3.5'' floppydisk that I booted to
and
was able to wipe the disk clean. I did a clean install of Win XP and when
it
asked for a disk of a previous version of Windows, I found an old Win 98
disk I had.
The install went well and I added SP3 that I have on disk. The drive is
now
fully recognized. Thanks again to all who helped.
Don

: Your problem evidently began with FDISK - it is important to know that
if
: you convert the hard disk drive to FAT32 (from FAT16) and did not select
: large disk support (not a default selection), it will only convert the
2gig
: partition and not enable the hard disk drive to see over 2GIG. In order
to
: see the complete hard disk drive you must run fdisk and delete and
recreate
: all partitions and select "large disk" support.
:

Way to go..

--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[Jim]

I downloaded a Windows version of Western Digitals diagnostic hard drive
program. It refused to wipe my drive clean because I was running Windows.
(Why would they even have the option to wipe a drive in a Windows program,
and then tell you they can't wipe it because Windows is running?) Anyway,
I
downloded a DOS version and created a 3.5'' floppydisk that I booted to
and
was able to wipe the disk clean. I did a clean install of Win XP and when
it
asked for a disk of a previous version of Windows, I found an old Win 98
disk I had.
The install went well and I added SP3 that I have on disk. The drive is
now
fully recognized. Thanks again to all who helped.
Don

The message meant that you cannot use the program on the disk which contains
the running operating system.
Jim