Recognizing 250GB HD with SP1

Upgrade to SP2. Yes there are work around drive overlay programs out there; but seriously! Just upgrade to SP2. It's not going to eat your computer. It doesn't cause compatibility issues. If you don't like the Windows Firewall, turn it off. If you've got an illegit copy of Windows and therefore cannot download SP2 from the Microsoft website, find the installer on bittorrent.

Hi mp33,
WinXP SP1 or SP2 both recognize large volumes - you should be able to easily create one 250GB partition from within Windows.
Do this from Disk Management (Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management).
Consider Slipstreaming your WinXP CD to SP2 (it's a good thing),
Regards

Both XP SP1 and SP2 support LBA (Logic Block Addressing) which allows the computer to support hard drives larger than 127GB. The software is not the problem. I just made a server with XP Pro SP1 and have 2x250GB SATA's in RAID1, and it works no problem. My guess is that your motherboard doesn't support LBA. Since its not SATA, and its IDE ATA 100, my guess is that the motherboard is a bit on the older side, and it doesn't support LBA which has a limit of 127GB. You can do one of a few things:

1. Check for a BIOS update for your motherboard
2. But a IDE Controller Card which will allow you to see the full size
3. Or, partition the drive into 2 partitions.

My System:
http://amdgamingrig.dyndns.org

Try partition your hd using partitioning software (acronis/partitionmagic etc...)...or you can google for *ahem* :wink: Hiren's bootcd...you have to burn it on a cd though....good luck