Help XP won't see the entire HDD

alazeer

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I got the win32/rootkit virus, tried to reinstall XP pro and had a tons of problems now when I try to install xp all it will see is 132GB of my 500GB drive. I have two 500MB drives and for whatever reason it will only see 132GB or either drive.

WHat can I do to get XP to see the entire 500GB so I can reformat the HDD's and start all over from scratch? I've tried and tried and treid but I can't get XP to see the whold hard drive and now I'm at a complete loss as to what I can do next?

Is there some kind of program I can download that will restore my hard drives to new condition with nothing on them so I can reinstall XP from scratch so it will see both hard drives and all 500GB of each drive?

Thanks in advance
 

MrLinux

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If the XP Build you are installing is Pre-SP1 it won't see more than 137Gig...
If you search on this forum for 48-Bit LBA you will see <insert big number here> post on the same problem.

What I do is install XP on a smaller partition, then either access the rest as another drive (after using Windows Update) or use a 3rd party partition manager (Like PartedMagic) to expand the partition (after updating to SP3).
 

alazeer

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You know, after In got both drives scrubbed (4+ hrs) I reinstalled XP, then upgrade to SP2 & finally Sp3 I rebooted and wala, same crap only seeing 132GB on one drive and can't see the other drive at all this time?

I finished doing all of the updates to XP and it still didn't see the the 1 HDD's as a 500GB drive, or see the 2nd drive, so I said to hell with it and got a copy of Easeus Partition Master and within 4 minutes I had XP seeing the entire 500GB of both HDD's. System seems to be running very good again. No virii and it boots right off of the Hard Drive like it should.

I still don't know why XP wouldn't see the drives for what they were? I can remember when I built the system it didn't have that problem? Anyone care to take a stab at this one and tell me what you think the problem was?

Thanks
 

alazeer

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I probably would have used the program you reccomended (Nliteos), but at the time I was rushed and wasn't able to take a good look at it to see how it works and what it does. I was trying to get my system up and running well as soon as I could and I pretty much had tunnel vision. Now that my system is up and working good again (knock on wood) I will take another look and see if it's something I can use in the future.

I try to use as much free software (Easeus for example) as possible so I don't have my wife yelling at me for spending more money on "that damn computer" :). thanks again for the help.

BTW I know this is not really part of this thread but what do you guys think of buying a key for Windows 7 home premium then downloading the software over the internet and burning it on to a cd? You can get them off of Ebay and they also will provide a link for the download. Think it will work OK or should save the money and hassle and buy a OEM copy? I hear that windows 7 really does run games and other things very good and better and easier then XP Pro does? is this true?

Should i have started a new thread with these questions?

BTW what is up with the web site? Tons of lag lately making it very hard to read and respond to posts! Only site I've been having trouble with.
 
Glad to hear it's running fine now.

This is your thread, you can ask away. We just try to keep other posters from hijacking and getting the thread away from the original poster's question(s).

I do like windows 7. It's sleek, quick, it's what Vista was supposed to be. I don't like the idea of downloading windows. If you purchase a legit key, there's nothing wrong with it, but I don't have much faith in a lot of those Ebay sellers.

The site does get laggy on occasion. It's not just you.