Large Partitions and Explorer

[Oldster]

I have a large partition (162Gb) as a logical partition with 3 other
smaller partitions on a disc drive. Although the "Computer Management"
window can see all four partitions, Explorer fails to see the large one. Is
there a maximum size of partition for Explorer, or is there a "BIOS"
problem??

 

[Squire]

Is your partition formatted in Fat32 ?
I seem to remember it is restricted to 132 GB.
There is no limit when formatted in NTFS.

 

[JS]

I sounds like your PC does not support 48Bit LBA. Check vendor for a BIOS
update. You will also need SP1 or SP2 for Windows XP installed.

Also see MS article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303013&Product=winxp

JS

 

[Tim Slattery]

Is your partition formatted in Fat32 ?
I seem to remember it is restricted to 132 GB.

Nope. WinXP won't create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB. It will
use much larger FAT32 partitions created elsewhere - like with Win98
or WinME. The maximum theoretical size for a FAT32 partition is
something like 2 terabytes, but in practice it doesn't really scale
all that well. NTFS is a much better choice for huge partitions,
that's why XP won't create a huge FAT32 partition.

There is no limit when formatted in NTFS.

There is, in fact, a maximum size for an NTFS partition. It's bigger
than any disk available today.

 

[Squire]

Thanks, Tim,
I couldn't remember the sizes.