I purchased a 4TB HD my windows 7 it see 2TB what can I do to use whole drive?
- Thread starter OleDude
- Start date
Solution
Vexillarius
Reputable
- Aug 23, 2014
- 1,434
- 0
- 5,960
Go to Disk Management (search for it in the start menu's search bar, it'll show up as Create and format hard disk partitions) and reformat the drive as GPT. That should solve it. Keep in mind that you will lose all data currently on the drive, so back up anything important.
If the 4TB drive also has your OS on it things get complicated because you can't format the drive you're currently booting from. That's getting into the territory of booting a Parted Magic disk or something and doing it from there. If your OS is on this drive let me know and I'll write out the steps to get it done.
EDIT: This assumes you have at least Windows Vista (64-bit version and a UEFI capable motherboard if you're using the drive as a boot drive).
If the 4TB drive also has your OS on it things get complicated because you can't format the drive you're currently booting from. That's getting into the territory of booting a Parted Magic disk or something and doing it from there. If your OS is on this drive let me know and I'll write out the steps to get it done.
EDIT: This assumes you have at least Windows Vista (64-bit version and a UEFI capable motherboard if you're using the drive as a boot drive).
Tom Tancredi
Judicious
- May 9, 2013
- 4,999
- 0
- 32,960
you know you should try GOOGLE sometime, it magically can provide posts from YEARS ago answering the SAME QUESTION if you tak e amoment.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1896692/4tb-external-hard-drive-work-windows.html
To Quote Phillip the Mod here
Whoever told you that Windows 7 can't handle a 4TB hard drive is half-right. It can't unless you prepare the drive correctly to overcome the 2.2TB limit that the traditional partitioning scheme (MBR) imposes.
Drives over 2.2TB have to be initialised using the GPT partitioning scheme which the manufacturer may or may not already have done for you. If the manufacturer hasn't done it, you can do it with Windows Computer Management: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2581408
You can scroll down past all the technical stuff if you prefer, the procedure is explained with screenshots lower down.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1896692/4tb-external-hard-drive-work-windows.html
To Quote Phillip the Mod here
Whoever told you that Windows 7 can't handle a 4TB hard drive is half-right. It can't unless you prepare the drive correctly to overcome the 2.2TB limit that the traditional partitioning scheme (MBR) imposes.
Drives over 2.2TB have to be initialised using the GPT partitioning scheme which the manufacturer may or may not already have done for you. If the manufacturer hasn't done it, you can do it with Windows Computer Management: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2581408
You can scroll down past all the technical stuff if you prefer, the procedure is explained with screenshots lower down.
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