After a lot of pains of installing into my Gateway DX desktop and getting it to show the correct size time, several months ago; now my 2nd internal hdd (Seagate 4TB) is acting up again. A few days ago, everything was fine and then it just didn't showed up on Windows 7 Home Premium. I restarted and booted into the BIOS and it comes up Now then I downloaded the Seagate Discwizard and tried to add the disc again through that but it caused the blue screen of death which caused me to do a wipe and restore. The second internal HDD comes up now but it only shows 2TB and not 4TB. Is there any other tools I can use?
2nd Internal HDD not showing correct size (showing 2TB, should be 4TB)
- Thread starter tjb122982
- Start date
So you did a "wipe and restore" using Disk Wizard. I don't know what you mean by "restore". But I suspect you mean you Initialized it - that is, Created a Primary Partition and Formatted it. Is that right?
If that is what happened, here's the thing you missed. The common (older style) way of Creating a Partition uses what's called an MBR type or Partition structure, and that has a limit of just over 2TB. That system cannot handle any HDD larger, so that is all it will allow you to use.
What you should do is wipe the HDD again and this time use the new GPT partitioning system. This allows MUCH larger Partitions to be created, so you can make ONE Primary Partition that includes ALL your space, and Format it. Then it will show up properly in My Computer where you can use it.
If that is what happened, here's the thing you missed. The common (older style) way of Creating a Partition uses what's called an MBR type or Partition structure, and that has a limit of just over 2TB. That system cannot handle any HDD larger, so that is all it will allow you to use.
What you should do is wipe the HDD again and this time use the new GPT partitioning system. This allows MUCH larger Partitions to be created, so you can make ONE Primary Partition that includes ALL your space, and Format it. Then it will show up properly in My Computer where you can use it.
Shaun o
Illustrious
- Oct 7, 2007
- 6,113
- 1
- 41,960
Two problems.
Depending on the age of the system, and it access and recognize a drive over a set size.
The bios firmware of an old computer will not be able to recognize a drive of a larger storage capacity if quiet old because of its limitation. What I mean is at the time the computer was made no 4Tb drives existed so the bios firmware was not programmed to map or see the overall drive capacity. And why it can only read its size even in the bios as a calculated 2Tb in size it simply cannot address the free volume space or size. of the partition above 2Tb.
Or it can be down to the type of format you chose for the drive.
Fat 32 format will only allow for 2TB of a drive to show in an OS.
Ntfs format can support a drive of up to 16Tb in size. per drive or partition.
Gpt format also supports format of larger drive or partition sizes.
If the drive in the bios reads as 4Tb then your limiting factor as to why it only shows 2Tb in windows is down to the way or file format of the drive you selected.
The type of OS used and its age, and its bit version is also a factor.
Depending on the age of the system, and it access and recognize a drive over a set size.
The bios firmware of an old computer will not be able to recognize a drive of a larger storage capacity if quiet old because of its limitation. What I mean is at the time the computer was made no 4Tb drives existed so the bios firmware was not programmed to map or see the overall drive capacity. And why it can only read its size even in the bios as a calculated 2Tb in size it simply cannot address the free volume space or size. of the partition above 2Tb.
Or it can be down to the type of format you chose for the drive.
Fat 32 format will only allow for 2TB of a drive to show in an OS.
Ntfs format can support a drive of up to 16Tb in size. per drive or partition.
Gpt format also supports format of larger drive or partition sizes.
If the drive in the bios reads as 4Tb then your limiting factor as to why it only shows 2Tb in windows is down to the way or file format of the drive you selected.
The type of OS used and its age, and its bit version is also a factor.
Let me clarify some mixed info there. But first, let me be sure I understand an important point in OP's initial post. I read it as saying that this 4 TB unit WAS installed in this computer and running successfully with its full capacity in use. But then recently, something went wrong and, in an effort to fix it, OP used Disk Wizard to wipe all data from the drive and "restore" it. So now it is working again, but with only 2 TB of space. Is that right?
Now regarding old computers' ability to recognize HDD's of larger sizes:
There was a size limit of 137 GB for "large" HDD's caused by the use of a feature known as "LBA Support" dating from the 1990's. The original LBA system used a binary address of 28 bits to specify which Sector of a HDD was to be used. Given the fixed length of 512 bytes in one Sector, this imposed a limit of 137,438,953,472 bytes on the HDD capacity - Windows calls this 128 GB because it defines "GB" differently. Beginning about year 2000 a new version of this was put into use called "48-bit LBA Support" which used a much larger address and completely eliminated this barrier. At first, not all IDE drive controllers used this so it was still a problem for "old" computers. BUT the new system has ALWAYS been part of the SATA drive systems, so ALL SATA drives escaped this limit. Still, the OS also needed to include 48-bit LBA Support and it was MISSING in the first version of Windows XP. It was added in SP1, and is in ALL Windows versions from then on.
FAT32 Formats have various limits depending on the details, but NTFS is almost always used in today's computers and that File System does not impose any important limit now.
GPT is NOT a format system. It is a Partitioning system, and THIS is where the limit is being hit today.
The older system for creating a set of Partitions was called MBR, and it had several limits. Two important ones are: it can only allow up to 4 Primary Partitions on any HDD unit; and, the maximum HDD size it can handle is just over 2 TB. That is because the way an MBR Partition Table is organized at the beginning of a HDD only uses a 32-bit address for the Sectors - it was deployed after the 28-bit LBA system was introduced, but before the new 48-bit system came along. The new GPT system for Partitioning has many improvements and a whole new Partition Table structure. Among the improvements are allowing more Partitions (I don't know the new limit) and allowing MUCH larger HDD sizes to be used. So that is how the "2 TB limit" is dealt with - by using GPT partitioning and NTFS Formatting.
Now, this next stuff is not a problem for OP, as I understand it. But using the new GPT system requires one or two important changes in hardware and OS software.
IF the HDD over 2 TB is to be used only for data, and NOT as a BOOT drive, then the OS must know how to do this. Among other things this means using slightly different addressing to access all the HDD space, and that means a different HDD device driver. Microsoft has provided drivers for GPT-partitioned HDD's ONLY for their 64-bit versions of recent Windows, and not for the 32-bit versions. OP says that is in place already in his/ her case.
However, if the user plans to use a GPT-Partitioned HDD as the BOOT device, that means that the mobo's BIOS also must have new code to enable it to read that new Partition Table structure. Mobos that have this feature are labelled as having UEFI support. (In fact, almost all mobos with this feature now have BOTH support for the older MBR system and UEFI support for the new GPT system. But you have to configure the BOIS to tell it which HDD type you are using.)
Now regarding old computers' ability to recognize HDD's of larger sizes:
There was a size limit of 137 GB for "large" HDD's caused by the use of a feature known as "LBA Support" dating from the 1990's. The original LBA system used a binary address of 28 bits to specify which Sector of a HDD was to be used. Given the fixed length of 512 bytes in one Sector, this imposed a limit of 137,438,953,472 bytes on the HDD capacity - Windows calls this 128 GB because it defines "GB" differently. Beginning about year 2000 a new version of this was put into use called "48-bit LBA Support" which used a much larger address and completely eliminated this barrier. At first, not all IDE drive controllers used this so it was still a problem for "old" computers. BUT the new system has ALWAYS been part of the SATA drive systems, so ALL SATA drives escaped this limit. Still, the OS also needed to include 48-bit LBA Support and it was MISSING in the first version of Windows XP. It was added in SP1, and is in ALL Windows versions from then on.
FAT32 Formats have various limits depending on the details, but NTFS is almost always used in today's computers and that File System does not impose any important limit now.
GPT is NOT a format system. It is a Partitioning system, and THIS is where the limit is being hit today.
The older system for creating a set of Partitions was called MBR, and it had several limits. Two important ones are: it can only allow up to 4 Primary Partitions on any HDD unit; and, the maximum HDD size it can handle is just over 2 TB. That is because the way an MBR Partition Table is organized at the beginning of a HDD only uses a 32-bit address for the Sectors - it was deployed after the 28-bit LBA system was introduced, but before the new 48-bit system came along. The new GPT system for Partitioning has many improvements and a whole new Partition Table structure. Among the improvements are allowing more Partitions (I don't know the new limit) and allowing MUCH larger HDD sizes to be used. So that is how the "2 TB limit" is dealt with - by using GPT partitioning and NTFS Formatting.
Now, this next stuff is not a problem for OP, as I understand it. But using the new GPT system requires one or two important changes in hardware and OS software.
IF the HDD over 2 TB is to be used only for data, and NOT as a BOOT drive, then the OS must know how to do this. Among other things this means using slightly different addressing to access all the HDD space, and that means a different HDD device driver. Microsoft has provided drivers for GPT-partitioned HDD's ONLY for their 64-bit versions of recent Windows, and not for the 32-bit versions. OP says that is in place already in his/ her case.
However, if the user plans to use a GPT-Partitioned HDD as the BOOT device, that means that the mobo's BIOS also must have new code to enable it to read that new Partition Table structure. Mobos that have this feature are labelled as having UEFI support. (In fact, almost all mobos with this feature now have BOTH support for the older MBR system and UEFI support for the new GPT system. But you have to configure the BOIS to tell it which HDD type you are using.)
On a completely separate thought: maybe you need to investigate why the HDD has "crashed" a few times. The HDD itself may have flaws, or you may have a problem with loose connecting cables. While the HDD is still empty, now is a good time to download from Seagate's site their disk diagnostics software suite, Seatools. Since you are booting and running from Windows already on another HDD unit, you could use the "for Windows" version. First, use Disk Wizard to Delete any and all existing Partitions on the 4 TB unit so it is empty. THEN use Seatools to test your 4 TB unit for errors. If you find any, write down the details and contact Seagate Tech Support for advice.
TRENDING THREADS
-
-
Question Can´t open BIOS because no keyboard input is received.
- Started by Blatscher
- Replies: 11
-
-
-
News US sanctions transform China into legacy chip production juggernaut — production jumped 40% in Q1 2024- Started by Admin
- Replies: 36
-
-
Question New pc build r9 7900x3d rtx 4080 super no post only ram rgb turns on- Started by Harvey Durward
- Replies: 4
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
Question What is the difference between the Pulsar Superglide vs Superglide 2?- Latest: Westley The questionnair.
-
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram