WD Gold 6TB, How do I test this new drive?

Jul 24, 2018
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Okay, I'm going to type out what I've done so far.....how do I test this new drive?

I bought a new WD Gold 6 TB drive and am not able to test it. I'm using a ASUS motherboard that supports UEFI and Windows 7. I started by using the DOS version of WD's data

lifeguard diagnostics by booting on to a rufus made flashdrive (32 gb, brand new) that uses FreeDOS. I boot to to the flashdrive and see this result in the error messages:
Drive is too large to handle, using only 1st 8 GB...drive 81 heads 16 sectors 63 , total=0xbaa0f4b0-00000002 illegal partition table - drive 01 sector 0..." and it fills the
screen with similar responses. It finally loads with Freecom version 0.84-pre2 XMS_Swap [Aug 28 2006]. From here, I run the executable: "DOSDLG.exe". I get an error code
"120" which according to WD is "NO DRIVE FOUND".

I opened the computer, checked all connections, and tried again. Same error code. Third try - same result.

I stopped, re-formatted the flashdrive and can't match the steps provided by WD and here: https://community.wd.com/t/testing-a-new-wd-drive-6tb/218141.

I can't match the steps WD gave because 4096 bytes (mentioned by WD in their instructions) is not an option in this version (3.1) of Rufus, so I use 16 kilobytes for the cluster size, but the drive gets formatted to FAT 32 and MBR. The file is: "DOSDLG" and not "DLGDIAG5" like WD wrote.

I formatted the internal hard drive, installed Windows 7 and opened disk management. I saw a 2 TB partition and couldn't access about 3.5 TB in unallocated space. I entered disk management and tried to right-click on the area to the left of the drive to "convert to GPT". The option was not available.

I installed GSmartControl to start testing the drive but noticed only 2 TB was visible and not the entire 5.5 TB. I cancelled the test. The quick test passed. I wanted the extended test with the entire drive.

I booted to the Windows 7 dvd and on the "Where do you want to install Windows" screen, tried to use format/new to make two partitions or otherwise extend one. Not working.

I "shift+F10" and use diskpart to "clean" the drive and "convert to GPT". Success. This worked. But it doesn't solve the problem of trying to start testing the new drive.

I converted to GPT using DOS and Diskpart but back on the "Where do you want to install Windows" screen, I can't allocate/format the 3541.0 in GB of space. I understand this

is a limitation of NTFS and I need GPT, but every time I boot from the dvd, I am booting into legacy BIOS, and not UEFI.

I went into my BIOS and chose UEFI but it won't boot into it. (Advanced > Boot > Secure Boot)

I disabled CSM in the BIOS, but "The current BIOS setting do not fully support the boot device" was the result, so I re-enabled it.

I'm confirming I'm booting into BIOS and not UEFI on the command line during the Windows installation.

In the BIOS, I see the entire 6 TB drive. It also shows in diskpart.

What am I missing here? How do I do an extended test on this new 6 TB drive?
 
Solution
Windows7 by default uses Legacy mode and, therefore, a MBR partition (max size 2TB)

A Windows7 DVD does not have the required UEFI boot files to install onto a GPT partition.

If you change the BIOS to UEFI, the Windows7 will not boot.

Windows7 32-bit cannot be installed on a GPT partition.


If you have a Windows7 64-bit version, here is what you can do:

1. install Windows7 in Legacy BIOS mode. (might have to convert drive back to MBR)
2. follow these steps to create a Windows7 UEFI USB installation stick.
http://woshub.com/how-to-create-uefi-bootable-usb-drive-to-install-windows-7/
3. Change BIOS to UEFI and install Windows7 using the USB stick. (might have to convert drive back to GPT)
Windows7 by default uses Legacy mode and, therefore, a MBR partition (max size 2TB)

A Windows7 DVD does not have the required UEFI boot files to install onto a GPT partition.

If you change the BIOS to UEFI, the Windows7 will not boot.

Windows7 32-bit cannot be installed on a GPT partition.


If you have a Windows7 64-bit version, here is what you can do:

1. install Windows7 in Legacy BIOS mode. (might have to convert drive back to MBR)
2. follow these steps to create a Windows7 UEFI USB installation stick.
http://woshub.com/how-to-create-uefi-bootable-usb-drive-to-install-windows-7/
3. Change BIOS to UEFI and install Windows7 using the USB stick. (might have to convert drive back to GPT)
 
Solution