XP with 120GB HD

[Guest]

I have one of the first versions of XP. I have been using it just fine with
a 40GB HD every since I bought it. However, my drive recently crashed and so
I upgraded to a 120GB HD.

XP will not see my HD beyond 32GB. I have done all the things I can think
of, and here is everything I have tried.

1) Verify that the BIOS see's the drive properly. It does (114+GB)
2) Updated the BIOS just incase there might have been an issue. There wasn't
3) Tried using the Over lay program that came with the WD HD. Did not work.
4) removed the overlay. Still not working
5) Tried formatting the drive with FAT32. Does not work
6) Formatted the drive using NTFS. Does not work
7) Installed XP on a 1.5GB HD I had laying around. Once the drive was
loaded, I formatted the new drive with XP. Then shut down the system, set up
the drive to be the master and then rebooted with the CD as the boot device.
Not working
8) Re-formatted the drive, so it would be clean. Installed ME (WITH NO
ISSUES AT ALL). Then updated ME with all the updates on Microsofts web page.
Tried to install XP again. No luck

The closest I got was with item number 8. But then when the XP window
begins loading and trying to do something with the drive I get the following
error message: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

Besides buying a new XP version, is there anything I can do? I DO NOT want
to partition the drive to something that will make XP work. It is CLEARLY an
issue with XP, but how can I get it to install short of what I mentioned
above?

Regards,

Brad

 

[Yves Leclerc]

32Gb is the limit on setting up a FAT32 with XP. You need to use NTFS.

Also, you will need to create a new XP install CD with Service Pack 1, or
2, slipstreamed into the new CD. This will give you the large drive support
with the format command.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

You need to check and see if your motherboard is capable
of supporting a hard drive of that size.

How to enable 48-bit Logical Block Addressing support for
ATAPI disk drives in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303013

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"BradEpp" wrote:

| I have one of the first versions of XP. I have been using it just fine with
| a 40GB HD every since I bought it. However, my drive recently crashed and so
| I upgraded to a 120GB HD.
|
| XP will not see my HD beyond 32GB. I have done all the things I can think
| of, and here is everything I have tried.
|
| 1) Verify that the BIOS see's the drive properly. It does (114+GB)
| 2) Updated the BIOS just incase there might have been an issue. There wasn't
| 3) Tried using the Over lay program that came with the WD HD. Did not work.
| 4) removed the overlay. Still not working
| 5) Tried formatting the drive with FAT32. Does not work
| 6) Formatted the drive using NTFS. Does not work
| 7) Installed XP on a 1.5GB HD I had laying around. Once the drive was
| loaded, I formatted the new drive with XP. Then shut down the system, set up
| the drive to be the master and then rebooted with the CD as the boot device.
| Not working
| 8) Re-formatted the drive, so it would be clean. Installed ME (WITH NO
| ISSUES AT ALL). Then updated ME with all the updates on Microsofts web page.
| Tried to install XP again. No luck
|
| The closest I got was with item number 8. But then when the XP window
| begins loading and trying to do something with the drive I get the following
| error message: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
|
| Besides buying a new XP version, is there anything I can do? I DO NOT want
| to partition the drive to something that will make XP work. It is CLEARLY an
| issue with XP, but how can I get it to install short of what I mentioned
| above?
|
| Regards,
|
| Brad

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the information, but I don't think that you read my post
completely.

First, I used XP to format my 40GB HD and it formatted all 40GB not just 32GB.

Second, refer to Item 6)

How do I get the SP's onto a disk and install them when XP WILL NOT boot
from the drive even when formatted (ITEM 6) with NTFS?

Any suggestions?

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply, but see ITEM's 1 and 2. If it was the BIOS, then ME
would not be capable of installing and reading the full capacity of the drive
as well.

Do you have any other suggestions?

 

[Kelly]

Install XP-SP2.

--
All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[Alex Nichol]

8) Re-formatted the drive, so it would be clean. Installed ME (WITH NO
ISSUES AT ALL). Then updated ME with all the updates on Microsofts web page.
Tried to install XP again. No luck

The closest I got was with item number 8. But then when the XP window
begins loading and trying to do something with the drive I get the following
error message: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

Reinstall XP this way: Boot the XP CD direct. Enter Setup, and after
the license agreement take New Install. When it asks you to confirm
where, hit ESC; select and delete the current partitions and make a new
RAW one to be formatted at the next stage

Personally I would not use a 120 GB drive as a single partition - make
one say 20 GB for system and programs, then from XP make the rest into
another. Control Panel - Admin Tools - Computer Management, select Disk
Management and look lower right for the graphic of the drive. R-click
Unallocated space, Create partition

The important point is the delete. Without that it will try to reuse
whatever is there,

 

[Andy]

I have one of the first versions of XP. I have been using it just fine with
a 40GB HD every since I bought it. However, my drive recently crashed and so
I upgraded to a 120GB HD.

XP will not see my HD beyond 32GB. I have done all the things I can think
of, and here is everything I have tried.

1) Verify that the BIOS see's the drive properly. It does (114+GB)

The BIOS is set to AUTO detect, AUTO mode? (=> LBA mode)

2) Updated the BIOS just incase there might have been an issue. There wasn't
3) Tried using the Over lay program that came with the WD HD. Did not work.
4) removed the overlay. Still not working
5) Tried formatting the drive with FAT32. Does not work
6) Formatted the drive using NTFS. Does not work
7) Installed XP on a 1.5GB HD I had laying around. Once the drive was
loaded, I formatted the new drive with XP. Then shut down the system, set up
the drive to be the master and then rebooted with the CD as the boot device.
Not working

You partitioned the new drive as a 120GB primary partition, formatted
NTFS? Then when you ran XP setup, it showed the drive capacity as
32GB, but the partition showed as 120GB?

8) Re-formatted the drive, so it would be clean. Installed ME (WITH NO
ISSUES AT ALL). Then updated ME with all the updates on Microsofts web page.
Tried to install XP again. No luck

The closest I got was with item number 8. But then when the XP window
begins loading and trying to do something with the drive I get the following
error message: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

Besides buying a new XP version, is there anything I can do? I DO NOT want
to partition the drive to something that will make XP work. It is CLEARLY an
issue with XP, but how can I get it to install short of what I mentioned
above?

Try using one of these setup diskette sets: