How large of a USB HDD will Windows XP handle?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Opusita
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O

Opusita

A few years ago when HD's were starting to come down in price I bought a
80GB and a 120GB and installed them in external enclosures and accessed them
via USB. At that time while doing research about them I read, heard or
otherwise learned....or was left with a belief that XP...or my system could
handle only up to a 300GB HD. Now with prices still dropping I would buy a 1
or 2 of the 500GB self contained external enclosures.

Am I wrong regarding the 300GB limit?.......or how can I determine what my
system can handle?

Thanks,

O
 
Opusita said:
A few years ago when HD's were starting to come down in price I bought a
80GB and a 120GB and installed them in external enclosures and accessed
them via USB. At that time while doing research about them I read, heard or
otherwise learned....or was left with a belief that XP...or my system
could handle only up to a 300GB HD. Now with prices still dropping I would
buy a 1 or 2 of the 500GB self contained external enclosures.

Am I wrong regarding the 300GB limit?.......or how can I determine what my
system can handle?

Thanks,

O
Click to expand...

A limitation would be a reflection of the firmware/bios in the external
enclosure. Not your PC's bios limitation if it has one. You're good to go
with XP with SP1 or SP2.
Dave
 
Lil' Dave said:
A limitation would be a reflection of the firmware/bios in the external
enclosure. Not your PC's bios limitation if it has one. You're good to
go with XP with SP1 or SP2.
Dave
Click to expand...

I agree. My older USB enclosures can only handle 120 GB; I've used 300 GB
in my newer enclosures. I don't have any larger drives to test in the
enclosures. It sure would be nice if you could ask the enclosure what its
limits are. Same for PC's BIOS.

-Paul Randall
 
Opusita said:
A few years ago when HD's were starting to come down in price I bought a
80GB and a 120GB and installed them in external enclosures and accessed them
via USB. At that time while doing research about them I read, heard or
otherwise learned....or was left with a belief that XP...or my system could
handle only up to a 300GB HD. Now with prices still dropping I would buy a 1
or 2 of the 500GB self contained external enclosures.

Am I wrong regarding the 300GB limit?.......or how can I determine what my
system can handle?
Click to expand...

Put XP2 on to fix your problem.
 
A few years ago when HD's were starting to come down in price I bought a
80GB and a 120GB and installed them in external enclosures and accessed them
via USB. At that time while doing research about them I read, heard or
otherwise learned....or was left with a belief that XP...or my system could
handle only up to a 300GB HD. Now with prices still dropping I would buy a 1
or 2 of the 500GB self contained external enclosures.

Am I wrong regarding the 300GB limit?
Click to expand...


Yes. I run 400s here.

.......or how can I determine what my
system can handle?
Click to expand...



Assuming that you are running at least SP1 of Windows XP, and assuming
that your motherboard handles 48-bit LBA (unless it's several years
old, it almost certainly does), you can handle any drive made today,
and any that are likely to be made for the next several years.
 
Paul Randall said:
I agree. My older USB enclosures can only handle 120 GB; I've used 300 GB
in my newer enclosures. I don't have any larger drives to test in the
enclosures. It sure would be nice if you could ask the enclosure what its
limits are. Same for PC's BIOS.

-Paul Randall
Click to expand...

Some external case manufacturers list the maximum capacity hard drive that
can be handled as part of specifications. If it don't say, don't buy it.
Dave
 
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