160 gb hard drive

[Guest]

I have just put in to my Hp Pavillian 320 a 160gb hard drive.My pc says it is
working but it doesn't show up in the My Computer window. Can anyone tell me
what I have done wrong please?

 

[Sleepless in Seattle]

Maybe you could format the drive before you become permanently retarded.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

It just means you haven't partitioned it yet. Right-click "My Computer" and
select manage. Under storage, click on disk management. Right click on the
free space (unallocated) for the disk you just installed, then choose "new
partition". Follow the prompts. For partitions larger than 32GB, you will
only be able to choose NTFS.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

and how can i do that before i become fully retarded!

 

[ByTor]

Hi,

It just means you haven't partitioned it yet. Right-click "My Computer" and
select manage. Under storage, click on disk management. Right click on the
free space (unallocated) for the disk you just installed, then choose "new
partition". Follow the prompts. For partitions larger than 32GB, you will
only be able to choose NTFS.

Hey Rick....Quick question.

I've never used windows to format, it actually forces NTFS after 32?
Just curious, if you know, why would XP do that when other partitioning
software allows FAT32 for an entire drive like that? Is it just a
limitation from "within" windows or is it something just designed that's
done for simplicity for the average user in mind?

 

[Austin M. Horst]

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_cycz.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp
http://www.mcmcse.com/windows_xp/guides/filesystems.shtml
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310525


Austin M. Horst

 

[ByTor]

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_cycz.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp
http://www.mcmcse.com/windows_xp/guides/filesystems.shtml
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310525


Austin M. Horst

Thank You Austin.....But, I do understand formatting, I'm just trying to
understand why XP in itself would limit it's capability to 32gb when in
essence FAT32 formatting can be done up to 2 terabytes........Maybe I
missed something somewhere in the info you posted?

 

[Anna]

Hey Rick....Quick question.

I've never used windows to format, it actually forces NTFS after 32?
Just curious, if you know, why would XP do that when other partitioning
software allows FAT32 for an entire drive like that? Is it just a
limitation from "within" windows or is it something just designed that's
done for simplicity for the average user in mind?

ByTor:
To my knowledge there has never been a clear explanation from Microsoft as
to why they've imposed that 32 GB FAT32 partitioning/formatting limitation
in Windows XP. As far as I'm aware, there's no fundamental technical
restriction in the basic construction of XP that would prevent that OS from
overcoming that 32 GB barrier. It would seem that this was simply a built-in
limitation imposed on that OS by design. Perhaps it was Microsoft's way to
discourage the use of the FAT32 file system rather than the NTFS file
system.

As you know, one can still use a Win9x/Me Startup Disk or other bootable DOS
floppy disk or CD containing the FDISK/FORMAT commands to partition/format a
drive of any size in FAT32. And there's even a simple way that I learned a
few months ago to do this from *within* the XP environment! If you, or
anyone is interested in this, please so indicate.
Anna

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Thank You Austin.....But, I do understand formatting, I'm just
trying
to understand why XP in itself would limit it's capability to
32gb
when in essence FAT32 formatting can be done up to 2
terabytes........

Microsoft feels (and most of us agree) that FAT32 is OK for
smaller drives, but a poor choice for larger ones. So rather than
giving you the choice with larger drives, and having you run the
risk of making what it considers a "mistake," it takes away the
option and insists on NTFS for drives over 32GB.

I don't recommend it, but if you want to override Microsoft's
restriction here, you can do so easily: just partition and format
the drive externally, for example with a Windows Me boot
diskette. Windows XP will be happy to use a large FAT32 drive; it
just won't create one itself.

 

[Tim Slattery]

ByTor:
To my knowledge there has never been a clear explanation from Microsoft as
to why they've imposed that 32 GB FAT32 partitioning/formatting limitation
in Windows XP.

It's simply because NTFS is available, and that file system is a
*much* better choice for very large partitions.

As far as I'm aware, there's no fundamental technical
restriction in the basic construction of XP that would prevent that OS from
overcoming that 32 GB barrier.

No there isn't. And XP can use a FAT32 partition of any size. It just
won't create one larger than 32GB.

 

[ByTor]

ByTor:
To my knowledge there has never been a clear explanation from Microsoft as
to why they've imposed that 32 GB FAT32 partitioning/formatting limitation
in Windows XP. As far as I'm aware, there's no fundamental technical
restriction in the basic construction of XP that would prevent that OS from
overcoming that 32 GB barrier. It would seem that this was simply a built-in
limitation imposed on that OS by design. Perhaps it was Microsoft's way to
discourage the use of the FAT32 file system rather than the NTFS file
system.

As you know, one can still use a Win9x/Me Startup Disk or other bootable DOS
floppy disk or CD containing the FDISK/FORMAT commands to partition/format a
drive of any size in FAT32. And there's even a simple way that I learned a
few months ago to do this from *within* the XP environment! If you, or
anyone is interested in this, please so indicate.
Anna

Thank You Anna, very well put....just about what I was seeking,
especially the last sentence in your 1st paragraph....Makes sense. Ever
since XP came out I assume all proprietery machines are pre-imaged with
NTFS anyway so why not keep it consistent.........

I have PartitionMagic on all my machines so basically I can manipulate
PT's any way I like from XP, 2K, anywhere just about.....But I'd still
like to know your little secret..... ;0)

 

[ByTor]

In


Microsoft feels (and most of us agree) that FAT32 is OK for
smaller drives, but a poor choice for larger ones. So rather than
giving you the choice with larger drives, and having you run the
risk of making what it considers a "mistake," it takes away the
option and insists on NTFS for drives over 32GB.

I don't recommend it, but if you want to override Microsoft's
restriction here, you can do so easily: just partition and format
the drive externally, for example with a Windows Me boot
diskette. Windows XP will be happy to use a large FAT32 drive; it
just won't create one itself.

Thank You Ken, sound explanation......Makes sense to keep it simple. I
on the other hand still insist on FAT32 on all my data & OS drives...You
make valid points about NTFS but I'm a creature of habit and have
**NEVER** had issues with FAT32.....But anyway thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Thank You Ken, sound explanation......Makes sense to keep it
simple. I
on the other hand still insist on FAT32 on all my data & OS
drives...You make valid points about NTFS but I'm a creature of
habit
and have **NEVER** had issues with FAT32.....But anyway thanks
for
the thoughts.

Your choice, of course. To me, almost the only reason for using
FAT32 instead of NTFS would be if you had to dual-boot with an
operating-system that wasn't NTFS-aware.

NTFS has many advantages over FAT32, and they don't all manifest
themselves as "issues." To mention just one, with large hard
drives, you waste much less space to slack wih NTFS.

And of coures, if you were as much a creature of habit as you
say, you would be running an older operating system, and not XP.
;-)

 

[Ron Martell]

Hey Rick....Quick question.

I've never used windows to format, it actually forces NTFS after 32?
Just curious, if you know, why would XP do that when other partitioning
software allows FAT32 for an entire drive like that? Is it just a
limitation from "within" windows or is it something just designed that's
done for simplicity for the average user in mind?

In actual fact the practical limit for FAT32 partitions is 128 binary
gb (137 billion bytes). That results in 4.1 million total clusters
with a cluster size of 32kb.

32kb is the largest cluster size that can be used with FAT32, and when
a FAT32 drive has more than 4.1 million clusters the disk maintenance
utilities, such as scandisk and defrag in Windows 9x, will not
operate.

And cluster size is often sufficient reason in itself for using NTFS.
When you consider the space usage efficiency of at least 14 kb average
per file for NTFS with 4 kb clusters compared to NTFS with 32 kb
clusters the total saving can be substantial, especially with smaller
files.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[ByTor]

In


Your choice, of course. To me, almost the only reason for using
FAT32 instead of NTFS would be if you had to dual-boot with an
operating-system that wasn't NTFS-aware.

I dual boot......If I had all NTFS partitions I'd use Winternals to for
access to the NTFS partitions from 98.....Very simple.

NTFS has many advantages over FAT32, and they don't all manifest
themselves as "issues." To mention just one, with large hard
drives, you waste much less space to slack wih NTFS.

Not concerned about space, and don't care or need it's better security,
really doesn't have any advantages to me to use it.....I'm also not
worried about a 4gig file limit either, not making any movie images. ;0)

And of coures, if you were as much a creature of habit as you
say, you would be running an older operating system, and not XP.
;-)

Actually I am, I use Windows 2000(SP4) on **all** my machines.....My
XP's are in test partitions slowly, slowly building to "maybe" a future
transition......Wanna make sure it satisfies "MY" needs and let MS
crease out the probs...........Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing XP, I
take my time, no big rush to migrate to a new OS.......

Thanks for your thoughts............

 

[Plato]

I have just put in to my Hp Pavillian 320 a 160gb hard drive.My pc says it is
working but it doesn't show up in the My Computer window. Can anyone tell me
what I have done wrong please?

It wont show up in My Computer until you partition it.

 

[Plato]

I've never used windows to format, it actually forces NTFS after 32?
Correct.

Just curious, if you know, why would XP do that when other partitioning
software allows FAT32 for an entire drive like that? Is it just a

NTFS results in way smaller cluster sizes.

limitation from "within" windows or is it something just designed that's
done for simplicity for the average user in mind?

Pretty much.