"Machine Check Error" with large hard drive

[Guest]

I backed up about 90 Gb of information to a new, large hard drive, a Hitachi
Deskstar 7K250. Because it is larger than the 137 Gb limit, I made sure I
was using Windows XP SP2, and I used Hitachi's utility to partition and
format the drive. This utility installs what they call a Dynamic Drive
Overlay.

Once I had the data backed up to the drive, I rebuilt the computer using a
new Shuttle AN51R motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 processor, and did a fresh
install of Windows XP on a new boot drive.

Then I installed the Hitachi 250 Gb drive, and that is when the trouble
started. I got the BSOD, with a Machine Check Error. After lots of
troubleshooting, I'm guessing it is because the Dynamic Drive Overlay is
missing, and Windows XP is using 32 bit addressing on a drive that requires
48 bit addressing. Disconnecting the large hard drive clears up the problem.

I don't want to loose the 90GB of data on the large hard drive. Is their
any way to edit the registry to force Windows XP to use 48 bit addressing
for this particular drive?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I backed up about 90 Gb of information to a new, large hard drive, a
Hitachi Deskstar 7K250. Because it is larger than the 137 Gb limit,
I made sure I was using Windows XP SP2, and I used Hitachi's utility
to partition and format the drive. This utility installs what they
call a Dynamic Drive Overlay.

Once I had the data backed up to the drive, I rebuilt the computer
using a new Shuttle AN51R motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 processor,
and did a fresh install of Windows XP on a new boot drive.

Then I installed the Hitachi 250 Gb drive, and that is when the
trouble started. I got the BSOD, with a Machine Check Error. After
lots of troubleshooting, I'm guessing it is because the Dynamic Drive
Overlay is missing, and Windows XP is using 32 bit addressing on a
drive that requires 48 bit addressing. Disconnecting the large hard
drive clears up the problem.

I don't want to loose the 90GB of data on the large hard drive. Is
their any way to edit the registry to force Windows XP to use 48 bit
addressing for this particular drive?

You used a Dynamic Drive Overlay.. because you BIOS does not support the
drive size I suppose?
There is no other reason to do this and it is recommended you NEVER use
this - you are putting the entire contents of such a drive in the hands
of... software.

 

[Guest]

:

You used a Dynamic Drive Overlay.. because you BIOS does not support the
drive size I suppose?
There is no other reason to do this and it is recommended you NEVER use
this - you are putting the entire contents of such a drive in the hands
of... software.

Sir,

I used Dynamic Drive Overlay because that was part of the installation
routine for the Hitachi drive. I installed this same type of drive on a
different machine, and the drive wouldn't work until I used the Hitachi
installation routine. I suppose this could be like the PnP issues with
Win98---the Bios, OS, and device all had to support PnP for it to work. I
understand 32 bit Windows doesn't natively support 48 bit addressing. Could
that be the problem?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I backed up about 90 Gb of information to a new, large hard drive, a
Hitachi Deskstar 7K250. Because it is larger than the 137 Gb limit,
I made sure I was using Windows XP SP2, and I used Hitachi's utility
to partition and format the drive. This utility installs what they
call a Dynamic Drive Overlay.

Once I had the data backed up to the drive, I rebuilt the computer
using a new Shuttle AN51R motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 processor,
and did a fresh install of Windows XP on a new boot drive.

Then I installed the Hitachi 250 Gb drive, and that is when the
trouble started. I got the BSOD, with a Machine Check Error. After
lots of troubleshooting, I'm guessing it is because the Dynamic Drive
Overlay is missing, and Windows XP is using 32 bit addressing on a
drive that requires 48 bit addressing. Disconnecting the large hard
drive clears up the problem.

I don't want to loose the 90GB of data on the large hard drive. Is
their any way to edit the registry to force Windows XP to use 48 bit
addressing for this particular drive?

You used a Dynamic Drive Overlay.. because you BIOS does not support
the drive size I suppose?
There is no other reason to do this and it is recommended you NEVER
use this - you are putting the entire contents of such a drive in
the hands of... software.

I used Dynamic Drive Overlay because that was part of the installation
routine for the Hitachi drive. I installed this same type of drive
on a different machine, and the drive wouldn't work until I used the
Hitachi installation routine. I suppose this could be like the PnP
issues with Win98---the Bios, OS, and device all had to support PnP
for it to work. I understand 32 bit Windows doesn't natively support
48 bit addressing. Could that be the problem?

The problem is that the drive was setup using an Overlay. That overlay is
loaded before boot.. yet this drive is no longer booting and the commands
that would make it work as a secondary drive do not exist on the new
primary.

Drive Overlays are unecessary UNLESS you have a machine that cannot handle
the drive in question (via hardware - in the System BIOS) and you cannot
(for whatever reason) purchase a new mainboard/processor that can properly
use your new hard drive.

Windows XP SP1 and above natively supports drives above the 137GB limit - no
problem - as long as your hardware does.

 

[Guest]

The problem is that the drive was setup using an Overlay. That overlay is
loaded before boot.. yet this drive is no longer booting and the commands
that would make it work as a secondary drive do not exist on the new
primary.

Drive Overlays are unecessary UNLESS you have a machine that cannot handle
the drive in question (via hardware - in the System BIOS) and you cannot
(for whatever reason) purchase a new mainboard/processor that can properly
use your new hard drive.

Windows XP SP1 and above natively supports drives above the 137GB limit - no
problem - as long as your hardware does.

Sir,

The old machine was a PIII, and the Bios didn't support large hard drives.
The new machine has a modern processor and Bios, and supports large hard
drives. The drive was set up using the Dynamic Drive Overlay because that
was what the Hitachi installation routine used, and because that is how the
Hitachi installation routine seems to function. If I pop in the Hitachi
disk, it wants to repartision and reformat the drive, which I don't want. Is
their anything I can do, or is the data gone? (I've contacted Hitachi, but
they haven't responded.) The old Bios

 

[Shenan Stanley]

The problem is that the drive was setup using an Overlay. That
overlay is loaded before boot.. yet this drive is no longer booting
and the commands that would make it work as a secondary drive do not
exist on the new primary.

Drive Overlays are unecessary UNLESS you have a machine that cannot
handle the drive in question (via hardware - in the System BIOS) and
you cannot (for whatever reason) purchase a new mainboard/processor
that can properly use your new hard drive.

Windows XP SP1 and above natively supports drives above the 137GB
limit - no problem - as long as your hardware does.

The old machine was a PIII, and the Bios didn't support large hard
drives. The new machine has a modern processor and Bios, and supports
large hard drives. The drive was set up using the Dynamic Drive
Overlay because that was what the Hitachi installation routine used,
and because that is how the Hitachi installation routine seems to
function. If I pop in the Hitachi disk, it wants to repartision and
reformat the drive, which I don't want. Is their anything I can do,
or is the data gone? (I've contacted Hitachi, but they haven't
responded.) The old Bios

Still have the old machine?

Put the drive back in it. It needs to be back in the enviroment it was
originally for the Overlay to function. Get all of your stuff off of that
drive and find some other way (network crossover cable, for example) to get
your stuff to the new machine. Then install it in the new machine and
format it.