smlunatick said:
It seems that you might be attempting to repair a XP with at least SP1
installed, with an older XP (no Service Pack or older Service Pack
installed) install CD. It might not be able to read the larger
(greater than 128GB) partition correctly and will attempt to create
new partition. DO NOT PROCEED!
Look for the steps on how to "install" the latest service pack (SP3)
onto your install CD (known as slipstreaming.)
There is a tool for slipstreaming here. A downloaded Service Pack plus
the original CD, run through the slipstreaming program, gives you
the materials to make a new CD. The more capable Service Pack will include
immediate and proper support for >128GB drives.
http://www.nliteos.com/guide/part1.html
You can download a standalone version of a Service Pack. This is SP3.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en
Or even SP2 is still available (but not really supported)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...be-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&DisplayLang=en
In the past, I used a program called Autostreamer, to make a Win2K SP4
CD, based on a Microsoft Win2K CD and a download of SP4 for Win2K. That
is what I used the last time I made a CD.
*******
Support for >128GB drives is mentioned here (page 2). This archive site
saves no longer available info.
http://web.archive.org/*/http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/tp/137gb.pdf
"Operating System Solutions for Windows XP and 2000
The only current Windows operating systems that natively support
the full capacity of ATA drives larger than 137GB are:
Windows XP Home Service Pack 1 (SP1) or higher
Windows XP Professional SP1 or higher
Windows 2000 Professional SP3 or higher
Windows 2000 Server SP3 or higher"
Failure to use the correct OS, can result in corruption. For example,
if you dual boot OSes. Say you have WinXP and Win2K as your OS choices.
Your WinXP was at SP3 (meaning OK with large disks). Your Win2K Professional
was unpatched. Then if you boot Win2K and start doing stuff to the large disk,
it could get corrupted. So when you use large disks, you have to make sure the
environment you're using them in is safe. Even reinstalling, with an inferior
Service Pack level, can lead to problems. You have to keep your wits
about you, when using large disks... An error in procedure, can lead to
trouble.
For a while, I mixed a safe and an unsafe OS together. I used 160GB IDE disks,
but was careful to keep partitions below the 128GB mark. That worked fine.
When I wanted to stretch the last partition, to be able to use all the way
up to the end of the disk, I had to install the Service Pack for the
unsafe OS, in order that both OSes would be safe and not corrupt it.
So I didn't get stung by screwing around.
*******
A note on units.
The limit is 137,438,953,472 bytes. That is 128 * (1024*1024*1024) or 128GB
in binary. The disk manufacturers divide by (1000*1000*1000) for their gigabytes,
so the number for them ends up being 137.4GB. The limit is based on the
register capacity to hold a binary number (the LBA address). And that is
why it is related to 2**37. 2**28 sectors times 2**9 or 512 bytes per sector
is 2**37. The old register size was 28 bits and the new one is 48 bits for LBA.
This is the hardware proposal document, for moving above the limit and going to
48bit LBA. It shows how they modified the interface to the disk, to support sending
more bits to it when selecting a sector. Good if you're a history major perhaps.
http://www.t10.org/t13/technical/e00101r6.pdf
HTH,
Paul
