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question about the max HDD size an os can see and use

Tags:
  • Windows 7
  • Storage
  • Hewlett Packard
  • Hard Drives
Last response: in Storage
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October 9, 2014 7:22:25 PM

hello i have an hp elitebook 8530P and i want to upgrade to a bigger hard drive my os is windows 7 64 bit how do i tell how big the max size hard drive i can use in my laptop as i dont wanna buy a bigger size if it wont work i was thinking 2TB or maybe 3TB but idk im confused

More about : question max hdd size

a b $ Windows 7
a b G Storage
October 9, 2014 7:26:10 PM

Well if you wanted a hdd thats's bigger than 2.1 / 2.2 TB for a laptop (if they exist), you would have to format it in GPT..

Since thats the limit for mbr formatted hdd's. If you dont format it in GPT, (if it's over 2.2 TB), you wont be able to use all of the hdd.

And you may have to format it before you use it on something else. So you could install windows on it
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October 9, 2014 7:29:41 PM

whats gpt?
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Related resources
a b $ Windows 7
a b G Storage
a b α HP
October 9, 2014 7:29:53 PM

Any single drive will work - if the drive is 2TB or less, normal formatting works. For over 2TB, you need GPT parition and EUFI BIOS.
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a b $ Windows 7
a b G Storage
October 9, 2014 7:31:52 PM

Kaitlin Kaschak459 said:
whats gpt?


Its the way you partition it and as Ron said you'll need a UEFI BIOS based system

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October 9, 2014 8:11:44 PM

Doncha just looove abbreviations? I read your question "What is GPT" and you get more geekspeak. Not what I would be looking for ;) 
Here's what Googs says;
GPT

Short for GUID Partition Table, GPT is a part of the EFI standard that defines the layout of the partition table on a hard drive. GPT is meant as a replacement to hard drives using a MBR partition table, which have a 2.20TB size limitation and extends upon UEFI. Using GPT a drive could support between 8 and 9.4 ZB depending on the sector size.

If you're using a version of Windows that supports GPT while setting up a drive in Disk Management you will receive a prompt similar to the example below. Selecting GPT and clicking Ok will initialize the disk as a GPT partition style.
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October 9, 2014 8:12:42 PM

Hope that helps, and cheers from New Zealand
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!