Second time a HD is missing space.

[landsavage]

First I tried a 250gb on a AMD build. Only read 127gb.

Then I tried my new 750gb WD caviar black on my trusty intel, and even switched it to a new system, it only reads 131gb.

I am convinced the drives aren't bad now. Anyone know how to fix this. Windows XP Pro 32bit

 

[jsc]

How old is the computer? Older computers have BIOS limitations when addressing large hard drives.

Do you have the WinXP service packs installed? If I recall correctly, the original WinXP also had problems addressing large hard drives.

"Then I tried my new 750gb WD caviar black on my trusty intel, and even switched it to a new system, it only reads 131gb. "

"Trusty intel" implies old system. If yo installed the drive there first, then transferred the drive to a newer system, you transferred a drive already partitioned to 128 GB.

Install the 750 into the newer system. Use storage management to reove the old partition. Then repartition and format.

 

[cjl]

Try adding SP1 (add SP2 and SP3 too, while you're at it) to your XP system. Pre service pack 1, it couldn't fully address 48 bit LBAs, giving it a limit of right around 127GB.

 

[landsavage]

No actually by trusty, I meant I haven't had problems with it since I built it.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz (@3.6ghz 400x9 default VCore 1.25 I believe)
-MASSCOOL 8WA741 92mm Ball CPU Cooler
Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM
SAPPHIRE 100265HDMI Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3
ULTRA III 500watt PSU
Antec 900 case

I don't know how old those Ultra Durable 3 boards are. I don't think they are ancient. I mean this system should recognize a 750gb HD. I am pretty sure I have SP3 for XP Pro32bit. Maybe I can get 3.5? I mean it just seems as if it should be dated to use it by now though. Maybe I need to see if I can get a BIOS update. Only reason I haven't is that it always worked fine, and it gives me some warning message before I update about possible board damage and warranty void, and it wouldn't be their fault (not sure exactly) so I just never did it.

If anyone thinks that will solve the issue though, I will try that tonight.

 

[Paperdoc]

Most certainly your problem is in some failure to use the newer "48-bit LBA Support" necessary to use a HDD volume larger than 130 GB. To make this work you need three things:
1. The HDD must support it. Obviously any unit made over 130 GB does, so that's not your problem.
2. The HDD controller (usually in your mobo chipset) must support it. That means the BIOS needs to support it. Now, most mobo BIOS's since around 2000 already have that built in. In your case, I see the mobo has lots of support for SATA disks. SATA came out after 48-bit LBA, so ALL SATA HDD's and their controller systems have 48-bit LBA support, so that's also not your problem.
3. The OS must include it. Windows XP original did not include it, but from SP1 on it is there. So if you have SP3 installed in your OS you have the final piece of the puzzle.

Well, almost. You still are running into the limit. There are two other tricks to this.
4. At the time that the HDD in question is first Partitioned and Formatted, the OS you are using must already have SP1 or higher installed. Partitioning and installing Win XP without a service pack, and then upgrading the OS later, will fix the OS but will NOT re-partition the HDD. So you'd still have the 130GB size you always had. If this is your situation you need to back up any stuff on that drive that you need, then repartition and format it from a system that has SP1 or higher already installed.
5. When you buy a new drive you often get a CD with utilities to help you set it up and start using. Or if it did not come with the drive, you can download from the manufacturer's website. The utility system normally will carry out for you the operations of Partitioning and Formatting. When I did that on new Seagate drives I discovered an important trick. I ran the software directly from the CD. When run this way the software has no knowledge of the status of the Windows OS already installed on the boot drive, so it makes an assumption that you do NOT have support for 48-bit LBA and it refuses to make a large partition you might not be able to use. It limits you to a 130 GB partition. The solution is to INSTALL that utility package on your C: drive that is already running Windows with a Service Pack installed. Then run the utility from the C: drive. This way it does know what your OS can do and will agree to make any Partition size you want, up to the entire large drive in one volume.

There is one other option for you if you do have your XP updated. IF the large drive you are trying to make bigger is NOT your C: boot drive, you can use Windows' own utility to expand the existing 130 GB volume to add in all the Unallocated Space on that HDD unit. Look in Windows Disk Manager for this. However, if the unit in question is your C: boot drive, Windows will not do this job for you. There are, however, third party utilities that will, such as Partition Magic.