Can't format my new 3TB Seagate as a storage drive

Z-Licious · Jul 18, 2013

Hey guys I am kind of a noob. This is my first PC build and my first PC ever. I am resourceful but I am getting stumped on how to get this drive formatted and useable. I will try and give you all as much detail as I can. Anyway I am using Windows 7 Pro 64 bit for sure and I have an Asus KGPE-D16 MOBO. When I open the Disk Manger I have three disks listed even though I only have 2 installed.

Disk0
Basic
2048.00 GB
Online

to the right of that a Blue bar section that reads: System Reserved 100 MB NTFS Healthy(System, Active, Primary Partition).
To the right of that a black bar that reads : 2047.90 GB Unallocated

Disk 1 this is my C: drive and it is functioning normal. A Samsung 840 pro 128 SSD so I will spare the details unless someone thinks it's important

Disk2
Basic
746.39 GB
Online

to the right of that a black bar section that reads: 746.39 GB Unallocated

Disk 0 and Disk 2 are the same drive, a seagate 3TB drive. yesterday they read as one disk with different partition but today it is split. All I want to do is use this as a single extra storage drive on my system. I have done some research and people are saying you need a EFI or UEFI BiOS. I don't know what that is or how to check for that. I would assume it is because I have an external 3TB Seagate drive that was previously formated as NTFS and it is recognized and appears perfect. 2.7TBs of usable space. I have never initially formatted this drive.

I appreciate all the help!

Tradesman1 · Jul 18, 2013

First do you have the latest BIOS? may need it to support drive size...Looks like it is allocating 2GB to Disk 0 and the remainder 746 to disk 2...Latest BIOS might allow support for the full drive (less the 240 or so it is reserved/using), if not will just have to use as 2 separate drive

Z-Licious · Jul 18, 2013

Tradesman1 :

How do I know if I have the latest? Sorry I know that is a super noob question, I have thought of that but I don't know how to check. Also is there a risk in updating the bios if needed? Should I clean install the OS after the update?

Tradesman1 · Jul 18, 2013

Go into the BIOS and on the main page it should show the version, then go to the mobo website and check for updates, if the latest is newer than yours, simply download and follow the directions on the web site.........BIOS updates these days are relatively easy, and no nothing you need to do as far a a cleanup

Z-Licious · Jul 18, 2013

Tradesman1 :

Ok I do infact have the latest BIOS

Tradesman1 · Jul 18, 2013

Can contact the mobo maker and see if they have plans to offer support for 3TB or a driver in the owrks, till then may just need to use as 2 HDs

Z-Licious · Jul 19, 2013

Tradesman1 :

They told me it does support 3TB drives. but even if I don't believe them why can my external 3TB usb drive appear fine? Is it wrong to make the assumption that if my external drive is fine then my internal one should be able to do the same thing?

Tradesman1 · Jul 19, 2013

Might see if you can Span the the two, delete both partitions, may have come from the factory that way

Z-Licious · Jul 19, 2013

Tradesman1 :

How do I do that? I am not familiar with the term spanning? would that make the drive act any differently than expected?

Tradesman1 · Jul 19, 2013

Just try deleting both partitions, boot and see if it comes up as a single drive when you do go back to drive manager

Shaun o · Jul 19, 2013

It will depend on how you formatted the drive.
If the board supports up to 3 TB hard drive sizes then it would have to be formatted in GPT mode.

I think the max size a Ntfs format can do is 2 Tb.

Hawkeye22 · Jul 19, 2013

Did you create the partitions as GPT? It sounds like you created them using MBR. Delete the two partitions and create a new 3TB partition using GPT. This is done in disk management. You only need a UEFI motherboard if you will be booting from this drive.

Z-Licious · Jul 19, 2013

Hawkeye22 :

I have tried to create the partitions as GPT, but have been unable to format them at all. the options are greyed out to create the volume using GPT. IS there anyway to "reset" the drive back to factory settings? Also I will not be using this disk as a boot drive. So I have since reinstalled windows in hopes that something may have changed. Well it has, doesn't necessarily look like for the better but changed none the less.

Now in disk management DISK 0 reads

Disk 0
Basic 2794.52 GB
Online

to the right the first partition is blue bar and reads "System Reserved - 100 MB NTFS - Healthy (System, Active, Primary Partition"

then another blue bar partition reads "(D: ) - 2047.90 GB RAW - Healthy (Primary Partition)"

then to the right a black bar partition that reads "746.52 GB Unallocated"

If I right click on the the black bar partition (The 746.52 one) All that I am allowed to select are Properties, and Help

If I right click on the main partition of Disk 0, the 2047.90 section, I have the following options. Open - Explore - Mark Partition as Active - Change Drive Letter and Paths - Format - Extend Volume - Shrink Volume - Delete Volume - Properties - Help

I really appreciate all the input

Z-Licious · Aug 26, 2013

Found out for sure this MOBO does NOT support drives over 3TB as one partition

Hawkeye22 · Aug 27, 2013

Check to see if the motherboard manufacturer released updated firmware.

Search

Can't format my new 3TB Seagate as a storage drive

Z-Licious

Honorable

Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum

Z-Licious

Honorable

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum

Z-Licious

Honorable

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum

Z-Licious

Honorable

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum

Z-Licious

Honorable

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum

Shaun o

Illustrious

Hawkeye22

Glorious

Z-Licious

Honorable

Z-Licious

Honorable

Hawkeye22

Glorious

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page