Reformat of 160GB Hard Drive

[Guest]

I have two 160GB hard drives that were formatted and partioned with Win98. When I upgraded to WinXP, I noticed that the drives were only formatted to 130GB each. I use these drives for data only with no operating system files on them. I would like to re-partition and format them to their real capacity. When I go to reformat in XP, it says they are only 128GB drives. How do I remove the partition and format without fdisk? The drives were originally partitioned as one partition on each drive. What is the best way to accomplish this feat? The data is backed up, so there is no problem with data-loss.

 

[Mario]

Hi Howie,

The best way to deal with partitions is to use the software called Partition
Magic.
It allows you to create, resize, copy and merge disk partitions.
Partition Magic doesn't need to delete data to resize partitions, saving
backup and restore time.
Everything works on a nice graphic windows application; no more black and
white fdisk and command line stuff.
http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/

If you dont want Partition Magic, then I suggest you go the old fashion way.
Get a Windows 98 startup floppy disk and boot your computer with it.
Use fdisk to delete the partitions, create new, and format them (FAT32).
Be carefull when using fdisk not to delete data you need and that may not be
backed up.

Regards,
Mario

I have two 160GB hard drives that were formatted and partioned with Win98.

When I upgraded to WinXP, I noticed that the drives were only formatted to
130GB each. I use these drives for data only with no operating system files
on them. I would like to re-partition and format them to their real
capacity. When I go to reformat in XP, it says they are only 128GB drives.
How do I remove the partition and format without fdisk? The drives were
originally partitioned as one partition on each drive. What is the best way
to accomplish this feat? The data is backed up, so there is no problem with
data-loss.

 

[Jerry]

First, your motherboard's BIOS must support drives larger than 137Gb.

Second, you must have SP1 installed.

Third, you must have 48-bit LBA turned on.

Then, XP will see and recognize the whole 160Gb.

I have two 160GB hard drives that were formatted and partioned with Win98.

When I upgraded to WinXP, I noticed that the drives were only formatted to
130GB each. I use these drives for data only with no operating system files
on them. I would like to re-partition and format them to their real
capacity. When I go to reformat in XP, it says they are only 128GB drives.
How do I remove the partition and format without fdisk? The drives were
originally partitioned as one partition on each drive. What is the best way
to accomplish this feat? The data is backed up, so there is no problem with
data-loss.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have two 160GB hard drives that were formatted and partioned with Win98. When I upgraded to WinXP, I noticed that the drives were only formatted to 130GB each. I use these drives for data only with no operating system files on them. I would like to re-partition and format them to their real capacity. When I go to reformat in XP, it says they are only 128GB drives. How do I remove the partition and format without fdisk?

To use more than 128 GB you need 48 bit LBA in use. For that you need
an appropriate controller/BIOS on the machine, and WinXP with SP1. If
you have that, Control Panel - Admin Tools - Computer Management, select
Disk Management and look lower right for the graphic of the drive.
R-click in partitions and delete partition. For this case I would next
reboot, and then in the same place r-click in Unallocated space and
create partition

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

I have two 160GB hard drives that were formatted and partioned with
Win98. When I upgraded to WinXP, I noticed that the drives were only
formatted to 130GB each. I use these drives for data only with no
operating system files on them. I would like to re-partition and
format them to their real capacity. When I go to reformat in XP, it
says they are only 128GB drives. How do I remove the partition and
format without fdisk? The drives were originally partitioned as one
partition on each drive. What is the best way to accomplish this
feat? The data is backed up, so there is no problem with

data-loss.


Alex already answered your question with regard to 48-bit LBA. I
just wanted to add one comment. The drive manufacturer calls
1,000,000,000 bytes a gigabyte, while Windows calls 1,073,741,824
bytes (2**30) a gigabyte. So Windows will, at the most report
149GB, not 160.

 

[Guest]

Jerry,
I meet all the criteria that you specified, but it still only sees 127GB. I went ahead and reformatted the drive, but it still says it is only 127GB. Any new ideas?

 

[Plato]

I meet all the criteria that you specified, but it still only sees 127GB. I went ahead and reformatted the drive, but it still says it is only 127GB. Any new ideas?

You -may- have a 132 gig bios limit. See if there is a bios upgrade that
addresses that. Also you need to be running sp1a.

 

[Guest]

I am running sp1a, I assume, since the version info says I am. Let me give a little more info.
My mobo is an asus p4c800 deluxe, with a pentium 4 2.8 gig processor. The os sees the drives as scsi even though they are ide since they are accessed through the onboard Promise SATA378 IDE controller. Hope this helps.

 

[bole2cant]

You aren't trying to format using the DOS command "format d:" are you?

My experience doing this, once (several months ago) was that I had to use the
Disk Management pane to do the formatting. Could have been a fluke, but Format
didn't get the job done!?

-Doug

=======================

I am running sp1a, I assume, since the version info says I am. Let me give a little more info.
My mobo is an asus p4c800 deluxe, with a pentium 4 2.8 gig processor. The os

sees the drives as scsi even though they are ide since they are accessed
through the onboard Promise SATA378 IDE controller. Hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

I tried to reformat through the XP disk management pane and that is where I am at. Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[Guest]

Alex,
For some unknown reason, it was only today that your reply to my plea for help was displayed on my system. I had been trying to format usin the my computer pane and never thought of using admin tools. DUMB!! As I write this , I am formatting my drive to 156.86GB and am happy as a clam in a new saltwater pond. Many thanks for the kick in the memory and , also, thanks to all who responded. This old EE learned an awful lot in a short time. Knowing me, I will probably be calling again. TTFN

 

[Alex Nichol]

For some unknown reason, it was only today that your reply to my plea for help was displayed on my system. I had been trying to format usin the my computer pane and never thought of using admin tools. DUMB!! As I write this , I am formatting my drive to 156.86GB and am happy as a clam in a new saltwater pond.

Good to hear. Sorry it took so long to see. . .picking up responses on
the Web interface has been a big problem. There is a new version
coming out that should ease that, but I'd suggest that really you get on
better using Outlook Express and setting up a News account to use the
server
msnews.microsoft.com
(no logon is needed). Then select and subscribe to useful groups