C: Partition Size & BIOS 1024 Cylinder Limit

[Alan C. Brown]

I have a Toshiba Satellite 5105-S702 with Win XP Pro (NTFS), and a 60 GB HDD
that I re-partitioned into 4 partitions using Partition Magic 7 . The
current status of the partitions is :

Total Used Unused
GB GB GB
C: OS ------------------ 10.23 6.56 3.67
D : Apps--------------- 10.00 0.83 9.17
E: Data&Dowloads -- 9.99 6.12 3.87
F: BackUps----------- 27.01 5.25 21.76

I was just about to resize all the partitions, mainly to increase the size
of the C: partition, but also so that all partitions would give a better a
better reflection of actual space usage.

Total
C: OS ---------------- 20 GB
D : Apps --------------- 7.2 GB
E: Data&Dowloads - 15 GB
F: BackUps ------------15 GB


However, when I was about to resize the C: partition in order to increase it
to 20 GB, the PM7 Resize/Move Partition Box gave the message - "This
partition crosses the 1024 cylinder boundary and may not be bootable".
And that was at current partition size of 10.23 GB.

The PM7 disk map bar diagram shows the C: Partition starting before the 1024
BIOS limit, but ending after it. PM7 shows the 1024 BIOS limit to be at 8GB
on the C: partition disk map bar diagram, with the partition ending at 10.23
GB; that is 2.23 GB over the 8GB limit.

This came as a bit of a shock, because I had assumed that since the laptop
came with Win XP Pro pre-installed with C: as the only partition on a
60GB HDD, then there should not be a BIOS 1,024 limit for virtually any C:
partition size up to approx. 60GB.

Ques - is my assumption incorrect ? If so, why ?

Ques - with reference to the PM7 help file notes below, does the Satellite
5105-S702 have the INT 13 BIOS extensions ? What, if any, bearing does this
have on my problem ?

Ques - finally, will I have any problems if I increase the C: partition size
to 20GB ?

Thank you

Alan C. Brown

PS- The info in the PM7 help File notes on the BIOS 1024 Cylinder Limit, is
given below :
=====================================================================
The Partition Magic 7 help File says, quote :

"The BIOS 1024 cylinder limitation exists because the start and end cylinder
values in the partition table (and some BIOSs) have a maximum value of 1024.
Because some operating systems such as DOS 6.22 use the CHS (Cylinder, Head,
and Sector) values to address sectors on the disk, they cannot access
sectors beyond the 1024 cylinder. When you start your computer the BIOS
boots the operating system using the CHS values to locate the first sector
of the bootable partition. If the partition starts past the 1024 cylinder,
the BIOS may not be able to boot it because it cannot address a cylinder
number higher than 1024.

With PartitionMagic, you can safely partition any drive, regardless of the
number of cylinders on the drive. In fact, to prevent you from performing
partition operations that might cause problems, PartitionMagic is careful to
observe the BIOS 1,024 cylinder limit on computer systems where one or more
of the following applies:

· The hard disk has a capacity 504 MB or more and the BIOS translation mode
is set to Normal or CHS.

· The hard disk has a capacity 504 MB or more and the BIOS was manufactured
prior to 1994 (approximately).

· The hard disk has a capacity 8 GB or more.

If you have such a computer system and you use only DOS, neither the DOS
FDISK utility nor PartitionMagic lets you see cylinders beyond the 1,024th
cylinder or include them in any partition. Space beyond the 1,024th cylinder
always remains invisible.
Even if the BIOS 1,024 cylinder limit applies to your system, you can use
PartitionMagic without difficulty. The only instance where you may encounter
a problem is if all the following criteria apply:

· You use DOS and another OS.

· The other OS can "see" and use disk space past the first 1,024 cylinders
on the disk.

· You use PartitionMagic or the FDISK utility of the other OS to create a
partition extending beyond the 1,024th cylinder.

· You then run the DOS PartitionMagic executable.

When you run the DOS PartitionMagic executable, you may or may not be able
to see the newly-created partition that extends beyond the 1,024 cylinder
limit. Even if you can see the partition, you cannot use the DOS
PartitionMagic executable to perform any operations on that partition. This
restriction applies to both primary and extended partitions that contain
space beyond the 1,024th cylinder. If an extended partition exceeds the
cylinder limit, you cannot perform operations on any one of the contained
logical partitions, even if the logical partition itself does not extend
past the 1,024th cylinder.

The disk map in the PartitionMagic main window displays an arrow indicator
at the 1024 cylinder boundary (and the 2 GB boot boundary), so you can see
where your partitions are located relative to the 1024 cylinder limit. Be
sure that all OS partitions on a disk start prior to cylinder 1024. This
ensures that you can boot the OS. Also, use caution when moving a bootable
partition; if the partition is moved beyond cylinder 1024 it may no longer
be bootable. To fix this problem you can move the partition below the 1024
cylinder marker.

Tips

· If you use DOS, but your system has the INT 13 BIOS extensions,
PartitionMagic lets you see cylinders past the normal 1,024 limit and
perform operations on partitions extending beyond this boundary.

Copyright © 1994-2001 PowerQuest Corporation. All rights reserved." - end
quote
======================================================================

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

That's an old limitation that applied to NT systems pre-Win2000. It should
not have any bearing on what you are planning to do. In other words, you
should not have a problem - at least not related to that. Keep in mind that
there are inherent dangers in any partitition work, so backing up critical
data to removable media is still important. The warning is basically a
leftover from those days. I haven't spec'd the system you have, but I am
fairly sure the int-13 extensions are supported as a laptop that included
WinXP would have to be a recent build.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Alan C. Brown]

Rick

Thanks for the good news. I needed that.
I purchased the Toshiba Satellite 5105-S702 in Aug 2002, just after it came
out in the US.

Alan C. Brown

---------------

Hi,

That's an old limitation that applied to NT systems pre-Win2000. It should
not have any bearing on what you are planning to do. In other words, you
should not have a problem - at least not related to that. Keep in mind that
there are inherent dangers in any partitition work, so backing up critical
data to removable media is still important. The warning is basically a
leftover from those days. I haven't spec'd the system you have, but I am
fairly sure the int-13 extensions are supported as a laptop that included
WinXP would have to be a recent build.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone




I have a Toshiba Satellite 5105-S702 with Win XP Pro (NTFS), and a 60 GB HDD
that I re-partitioned into 4 partitions using Partition Magic 7
However, when I was about to resize the C: partition in order to increase it
to 20 GB, the PM7 Resize/Move Partition Box gave the message - "This
partition crosses the 1024 cylinder boundary and may not be bootable".
And that was at current partition size of 10.23 GB.
This came as a bit of a shock, because I had assumed that since the laptop
came with Win XP Pro pre-installed with C: as the only partition on a
60GB HDD, then there should not be a BIOS 1,024 limit for virtually any C:
partition size up to approx. 60GB.

Ques - is my assumption incorrect ? If so, why ?

Ques - with reference to the PM7 help file notes below, does the Satellite
5105-S702 have the INT 13 BIOS extensions ? What, if any, bearing does this
have on my problem ?

Ques - finally, will I have any problems if I increase the C: partition

size
to 20GB ?

 

[Jim Macklin]

BTW, PM 8 is the current version and it "knows" about XP and
NTFS.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


| Rick
|
| Thanks for the good news. I needed that.
| I purchased the Toshiba Satellite 5105-S702 in Aug 2002,
just after it came
| out in the US.
|
| Alan C. Brown
|
| ---------------
| | > Hi,
| >
| > That's an old limitation that applied to NT systems
pre-Win2000. It should
| > not have any bearing on what you are planning to do. In
other words, you
| > should not have a problem - at least not related to
that. Keep in mind
| that
| > there are inherent dangers in any partitition work, so
backing up critical
| > data to removable media is still important. The warning
is basically a
| > leftover from those days. I haven't spec'd the system
you have, but I am
| > fairly sure the int-13 extensions are supported as a
laptop that included
| > WinXP would have to be a recent build.
| >
| > --
| > Best of Luck,
| >
| > Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
| > Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!
| >
| > Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
| >
| >
| >
| > | > >
| >I have a Toshiba Satellite 5105-S702 with Win XP Pro
(NTFS), and a 60 GB
| HDD
| >that I re-partitioned into 4 partitions using Partition
Magic 7
| >>>>
| >>>>
| >However, when I was about to resize the C: partition in
order to increase
| it
| >to 20 GB, the PM7 Resize/Move Partition Box gave the
message - "This
| >partition crosses the 1024 cylinder boundary and may not
be bootable".
| >And that was at current partition size of 10.23 GB.
| >>>>
| >This came as a bit of a shock, because I had assumed that
since the laptop
| >came with Win XP Pro pre-installed with C: as the only
partition on a
| >60GB HDD, then there should not be a BIOS 1,024 limit for
virtually any C:
| >partition size up to approx. 60GB.
|
| >Ques - is my assumption incorrect ? If so, why ?
|
| >Ques - with reference to the PM7 help file notes below,
does the Satellite
| >5105-S702 have the INT 13 BIOS extensions ? What, if
any, bearing does
| this
| >have on my problem ?
|
| >Ques - finally, will I have any problems if I increase
the C: partition
| size
| to 20GB ?
|
| >Thank you
|
| >Alan C. Brown
|
| >>>
| >>>
|
|

 

[dglock]

i wouldn't use partition magic 7 with xp. get the update
to version 8,it supports xp.
don

 

[Alex Nichol]

However, when I was about to resize the C: partition in order to increase it
to 20 GB, the PM7 Resize/Move Partition Box gave the message - "This
partition crosses the 1024 cylinder boundary and may not be bootable".
And that was at current partition size of 10.23 GB.

As long as the partition *starts* before the boundary, and has the
needed boot files within that area, if should give no trouble.
Extending a partition that is working now to use more space should be
fine

 

[Alan C. Brown]

Do you have Partition Magic 8 ?
Any significant improvements over PM7

Do you know of any good Partition Magic newsgroups / forums where you you
can get the sort of quality of advice and support that you get in the MS
newsgroups ?

Unfortunately Symantec have taken over Partition Magic from Power Quest, and
are not providing any personalised customer support for PM7.

I have a problem concerning the compatibility of PM7 with the ABSplus Backup
software, which prevents the ABSplus software from making a bootable backups
of my laptop HDD, and I want to to post a message concerning a possible
solution.

Alan C. Brown