hard drive problem

[Guest]

I have windows xp home edition. I have a problem with it not detecting the
right size of my hard drive, I bought a 300 gigs hard drive and it detects
only 127.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Charlie Tame]

I have windows xp home edition. I have a problem with it not detecting the
right size of my hard drive, I bought a 300 gigs hard drive and it detects
only 127.
Any help would be appreciated.

The drive should have come with a utility CD that contains an "Overlay" for
systems with hardware that cannot support 300 G of storage. Most older
systems hit a 137 G limit. Have you got Windows installed on this drive or
is it an additional drive for storage?

Maxtor provided some useful info here...

https://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...lh_adp.php?p_faqid=344&p_sid=Ut7KNkbi&p_lva=#

https://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin...lh_adp.php?p_faqid=960&p_sid=Ut7KNkbi&p_lva=#

One "Catch" with using the software method is that if you choose to
reinstall the OS in the future the big drive may not be recognized and as
Windows installs it may scan the drive, think it is corrupt and try to fix
it, thus corrupting any data above the 137 G limit and possibly all of it.
If you go software maybe setting a first partition of 120 or 130 G would be
a good idea... or make 3 partitions of (Say) 100 G each. Keep essential
stuff on the first and use the others for backups or stuff that you
definitely have backed up somewhere else. See what others think but in the
light of experience (And because I change things quite often) I think buying
the controller card might be the safest option.

On the subject of drives by the way if it's a Western Digital you got cheap
then take the opportunity to get a refund and or swap for a smaller unit or
whatever, it will most likely be dead in < 6 months anyway.

Good luck,

Charlie

 

[S.Sengupta]

Check your BIOS.What do you see there?

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

 

[LVTravel]

If your bios shows the full size of the drive (300 GB or thereabouts) then
the 2nd paragraph applies. If it shows around 127 GB size then you need to
purchase an add-in card with the proper bios to allow the computer to see
the full size or use the Overlay program (NOT RECOMMENDED) that Charlie T
stated.

If you have Windows XP SP1 or later installed on the C: drive and the drive
is a second drive installed in the system, it should see the full size of
the drive when partitioning and formatting the drive. If you don't have SP1
or later installed, install it and then format and partition the drive.

If your 300 GB drive is the Windows boot drive, you will need 3rd party
software, similar to Partition Magic, to enable the boot drive to be taken
out (expanded) to the full 300 gb (after installing SP1 or later (preferably
SP2).)

 

[Anna]

I have windows xp home edition. I have a problem with it not detecting the
right size of my hard drive, I bought a 300 gigs hard drive and it detects
only 127.
Any help would be appreciated.

Elvi:
The likelihood is you've run up against the 137 GB (about 127 GB binary)
"barrier" inherent in the original version of the XP operating system.

There are two basic requirements for your system to recognize the full
capacity of your HD...
1. The motherboard's BIOS must support large-capacity disks. Virtually every
motherboard manufactured over the past four years or so has this capability.
If your motherboard is older and doesn't have this capability, frequently
there's a BIOS upgrade from the motherboard's manufacturer to provide it.
2. The XP OS must include SP1 and/or SP2.

I would guess that your present XP OS does *not* include either SP1 or SP2.
Is that right?

If that is the case, install SP2 and the full capacity of the HD will be
recognized (again assuming it's supported by your motherboard's BIOS as
noted above). The additional disk capacity above your present 127 GB will be
considered "unallocated" disk space - which you can partition-format using
XP's Disk Management utility.

BTW, the total disk capacity of your 300 GB advertised HD will be reflected
by the OS as somewhat smaller since it's measured in binary terms.
Anna

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have windows xp home edition. I have a problem with it not
detecting the right size of my hard drive, I bought a 300 gigs hard
drive and it detects only 127.

You need two things to support a drive that large:

1. A motherboard with a BIOS and controller that supports 48-bit LBA (or
alternatively, an add-in controller card that does).

2. At least SP1 of Windows XP.

 

[Guest]

I have tried to reformat my hard drive but now windows will not let me
install it again becouse it says it has been istalled too many times?

 

[Guest]

thanks for the suggestion my bios says 300 but windows is still saying 127,
any suggestions?

Check your BIOS.What do you see there?

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

I have windows xp home edition. I have a problem with it not detecting the
right size of my hard drive, I bought a 300 gigs hard drive and it detects
only 127.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

thanks for the suggestion my bios says 300 but windows is still
saying 127, any suggestions?

What Service Pack level is Windows XP at? If you're not running at least
SP1, there's no support for larger drives.


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

Check your BIOS.What do you see there?

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

I have windows xp home edition. I have a problem with it not
detecting the right size of my hard drive, I bought a 300 gigs hard
drive and it detects only 127.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Rock]

I have heard that it might be possible once you set up with the 137 gig
barrier & then install all your WINDOWS & UPDATES (including & must have
service pack #2) then there is a way to unlock the barrier & utilize the
large capacity of the drive -- also, you can update your BIOS (which I
have
already done) if, you know how (cause, this can screw your computer up if,
you make any mistake) -- I am now just trying to see if, anyone knows for
sure that although you set the new hard drive to the 137 limit that it is
indeed possible to unlock the other 120 once you have WINDOWS XP installed
with service pack 2

<snip>

See your other post.

 

[Misslead]

Elvi:
The likelihood is you've run up against the 137 GB (about 127 GB binary)
"barrier" inherent in the original version of the XP operating system.

There are two basic requirements for your system to recognize the full
capacity of your HD...
1. The motherboard's BIOS must support large-capacity disks. Virtually every
motherboard manufactured over the past four years or so has this capability.
If your motherboard is older and doesn't have this capability, frequently
there's a BIOS upgrade from the motherboard's manufacturer to provide it.
2. The XP OS must include SP1 and/or SP2.

I would guess that your present XP OS does *not* include either SP1 or SP2.
Is that right?

If that is the case, install SP2 and the full capacity of the HD will be
recognized (again assuming it's supported by your motherboard's BIOS as
noted above). The additional disk capacity above your present 127 GB will be
considered "unallocated" disk space - which you can partition-format using
XP's Disk Management utility.

BTW, the total disk capacity of your 300 GB advertised HD will be reflected
by the OS as somewhat smaller since it's measured in binary terms.
Anna

 

[Misslead]

I have this problem with my hard drive.
I have XP Pro -SP2
New Mother board, New Serial ATA Seagate 320 GB HD,
When I formated it it saw 305 GB and now I only see 127 GB.
Hard drive manager show the 127 and 170 unallocted.
The mother board make say its a OS problem that the Bois ok.
SO how do I get the 170 GB so I can use it and can I have it as one drive?
and not two partitions.

 

[Xandros]

How did you initially format the drive?