3T Hard drive problem.

Padraic · Oct 30, 2013

I bought 3T hard drive for Foxconn 975x7ab MB
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/ProductDetail.aspx?T=Motherboard&U=en-us0000184
with windows xp 32 bit. The BIOS recognises it as 3T but windows only sees 746Gbytes. (Latest BIOS and other drivers)
I had already bought another 775 cpu socket Asrock G31M-GS R2.0 MB which is Windows 7 compatible but also doesn't have UEFI.
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/G31M-GS%20R2.0/

On the box of this MB it says Windows 7 compatible even though the website does not list Windows 7 or 8.

If i upgrade to windows 8 would that solve the problem? I was unaware of all these problems with large Hard drives.

So my questions are does windows 7 or 8 32bit automatically support 3T hard drive or does it have to be 64 bit?
Apparently the Paragon GPT loader can solve all of this i don't want to buy it if i can avoid it.
If i don't buy the Paragon GPT loader would i have to have a UEFI MB?

I want to upgrade to windows 8 and i am going to buy windows 8 anyway in a few weeks or so and try and install on this Foxconn or Asrock MB.

PyjamasCat · Oct 30, 2013

You need to format the drive partition as a GPT not MBR. Windows should be able to do this for you. If not, you can use EasUs Partition manager.

Padraic · Oct 30, 2013

Thanks but i can't do that now with windows xp 32 bit? The Easus website says i would have to at least have XP professional x64 edition to be able to use the disk for storage after creating a GPT partition. I installed Easus but it only sees a 746Gbye disk instead of 3T.
Do i need a 64 bit cpu for a 64 bit system? I saw a while ago a mention of a 64 bit cpu for a 64bit system. I never heard of that before.
A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing and it has already cost me buying that Asrock MB which may not take Windows 8 or 7 for that matter. My head is spinning with this, reading different things on different sites.

Would i have to buy windows 8 x64 in order to use the 3T hard drive?

PyjamasCat · Oct 30, 2013

Okay, so after a little research, I have found you can use 32bit win xp as long as your BIOS supports it, but only in two partitions, one 2TB and another 1TB (or any combination I guess, so long as one partition does not go over 2TB) and only as MBR because apparently, XP does not support GPT.

Purchasing Win7 64bit or higher would solve this issue and allow for the full 3TB partition, but it is still usable on XP as two smaller partitions.

Can you see an option anywhere to format as GPT? If not I would say it is cheaper to partition as two drives, while upgrading the OS would provide a few more benefits and allow for the full single 3TB.

lp231 · Oct 30, 2013

To boot from a 3TB HDD, it must have following
1. A motherboard with UEFI support
2. A 64bit OS , 32bit only supports data storage, not booting
3. Hard drive must be partition as GPT to use the whole drive. Set as MBR and it will automatically create 2 partitions, leaving about 746GB in locked unusable space. This can be unlocked with disk utilities, if the motherboard website provides it.

Got a Asrock board? Try this utility

fzabkar · Oct 31, 2013

Seagate supplies DiscWizard (OEM Acronis True Image) to enable Windows XP 32bit to use all 3TB of a Seagate drive.

Hitachi supplies a free OEM version of Paragon's GPT loader for its 3TB drives.

Padraic · Oct 31, 2013

Thank you all very much for all the info. I understand the problems now much better. I'll also have to get a new graphics card for windows 8. So thanks again.

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