3TB HDD - Seagate Disk Wizard - Windows Native Capacity inaccessible (RAW)

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Orama7

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Dec 2, 2014
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Seagate 3TB HDD
Model: ST3000DM001-1CH166, Serial: Z1F2Z545, Firmware: CC26

1st Computer: Windows XP, 32bit, SP3
2nd Computer: Windows 7, 64bit, SP1

I bought a Seagate 3TB HDD on April 2013 and installed it on my Windows XP SP3 system as a data disk (non-bootable), using Seagate DiscWizard v13, Extended Capacity Manager.
The HDD was working perfectly (full capacity of 3TB used by Windows XP) until at some point I disconnected it (power and SATA cable) to connect another HDD (a Seagate 4TB HDD) because my motherboard had not enough free SATA ports.

After a few months I reconnected the 3TB HDD but Windows XP could not recognize and use the full capacity of the drive.
I couldn't solve the problem but didn't take any action to change anything and I disconnected it again.

Two weeks ago I bought a new computer, with Windows 7, 64 bit, SP1 installed.
I also installed Seagate DiscWizard v13, to be able to use my previous HDDs.
I connected both the 3TB and 4TB HDDs. The 4TB HDD was working fine after using Extended Capacity Manager to access it, but the 3TB HDD had the same problem again:

In Seagate Disk Wizard, Extended Capacity Manager, it shows 2 parts:
1st part: Windows Native Capacity = 2TB (G: 0.73TB) (Unallocated 1.27TB).
2nd part: Extended Capacity = 0.73TB (Unallocated 1.27TB).

Windows Disk Management shows G: 746.52 GB RAW, and I: 746.51 GB NTFS.

Windows Explorer can only access the 2nd part: I: 746.51 GB NTFS (the Extended Capacity part)

The 1st part: 2TB (Windows Native Capacity) is inaccessible.

How can I solve the problem, without losing any data already written on the disk?
 
Solution
F
R-click the Primary (A) FAT (04) partition and select Remove the Partition.

Then r-click each of the Titan partitions and select Insert the Partition (Undelete).

You may need to select Edit -> Edit Mode beforehand.

Then select Drive -> Apply Changes.

You may need to reboot for the changes to take effect.

It appears that neither DMDE nor PF&M can see the Extended Volume, but Acronis (aka DiscWizard) should still be able to locate it and mount it.
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jimmysmitty

jimmysmitty

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Oct 5, 2007
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You need to go into the Windows Disk Manager and change the drive to GPT as it sounds to me like it is set to MBR hence the limit of 2TB on one partition and the rest as another partition. MBR has a limit of up to 2TB per partition. The Seagate utility should be setting it to GPT but the disk is being seen as empty and new and was set to MBR.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725671.aspx

The only downside is that you wont be able to keep any data that is on it as the volume needs to be deleted in order to go from MBR to GPT.
 
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Orama7

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jimmysmitty:

Thanks for your answer, but I already knew that. I don't want to change MBR to GPT until I can access the inaccessible part and copy the data to another disc.

As i stated in my original post:

How can I solve the problem, without losing any data already written on the disk?

 
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fzabkar

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Sep 22, 2010
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The 746GiB capacity is symptomatic of a 32-bit LBA limitation. This could be the result of switching to a different driver and then re-initialising the drive.

Can you see the missing partition with Partition Find and Mount?

http://findandmount.com

If so, then it may be possible to repair the partition table using DMDE (a freeware disc editor).

http://dmde.com

Could you show us DMDE's partitions window?

Alternatively, in Windows XP you could capture the partition information using Microsoft's Sector Inspector.

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/SecInspect.zip

If you extract the above archive to the one folder and execute the SIrun.bat file, then this will generate a report file named SIout.txt.
 
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Orama7

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fzabkar:

I used Partition Find and Mount (Free edition) firstly.

Partition Find and Mount - Scan results (for the inaccessible 2TB):

Visible partitions:
No visible partitions found

Found partitions:
Partition 1, 1.099 GB, NTFS, not mount
Partition 2, 1.099 GB, NTFS, not mount

I have mounted the 2 partitions successfully and it seems that all contained data is accessible and intact.
I suppose I can copy the data from the mounted partitions to another disk, but it will take a long time because the free edition of "Partition Find and Mount" sets a transfer speed limit of 512 KB/s.

Next, I used DMDE (DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery 2.10.0.560 Free Edition).

Here is the partitions window:



What is the next step?


 
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fzabkar

Judicious
Sep 22, 2010
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36,390
R-click the Primary (A) FAT (04) partition and select Remove the Partition.

Then r-click each of the Titan partitions and select Insert the Partition (Undelete).

You may need to select Edit -> Edit Mode beforehand.

Then select Drive -> Apply Changes.

You may need to reboot for the changes to take effect.

It appears that neither DMDE nor PF&M can see the Extended Volume, but Acronis (aka DiscWizard) should still be able to locate it and mount it.
 
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Solution
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Orama7

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Dec 2, 2014
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fzabkar:

It worked like a dream! :bounce:
Such a good feeling! :wahoo::pt1cable::wahoo:
I am really grateful for your help. :love:

I wish you the best and may you somehow get rewarded for your assistance. :)

Note: Both DMDE and PF&M can see the Extended Volume, just shows as different unit, and I didn't mention it because I can already access it, there's no problem there.
 
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