How to fix 127GB problem with service pack 3

[Guest]

I need answers to a question. A couple days ago I hooked up a 3rd HHD and formatted it. After I was done I turned of the computer and turned it back on after unplugging the HDD. Now my storage drive says 127GB instead of 320GB? My Bios and Manager both recogonize it as 320 but windows itself does not? I have beeen looking on the net for 6 hours and I cannot figure it out and nothing is working. Should I do a data recovery or what? Or can I fix this and recover my information on the drive? Please help me fix my problem??

 

[sminlal]

You need to be running Windows XP SP1 or later in order to use disks larger than 137GB. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP#Service_Pack_1

 

[Guest]

I have sp3

 

[sminlal]

What exactly is it that says "127GB"? Is it Explorer? Is it Disk Manager? If it's Disk Manager, is it the disk size or the partition size?

 

[Guest]

What exactly is it that says "127GB"? Is it Explorer? Is it Disk Manager? If it's Disk Manager, is it the disk size or the partition size?

I understand that......I posted another one that is better detailed read that one please.

 

[Guest]

What exactly is it that says "127GB"? Is it Explorer? Is it Disk Manager? If it's Disk Manager, is it the disk size or the partition size?

Everything recognizes it except my actual windows program. BIOS 289.06 Disk Manager 289.06. But if you go to my computer and check it it says 127GB not 127.33 not 127. 48 but a flat 127GB??

I am so lost and you sound knowledgable enough to help me.

 

[sminlal]

OK, so when you look at "My Computer", right-click the "E:" drive and choose "Properties". What does it show for the "Used space" and the "Free space"?

And - is your problem just that the size seems wrong, or have you actually lost any files?

 

[Guest]

Exactly right. The only place that says it is 127 is Windows. It says free space 127GB and it is a 320GB it says it is a empty 127GB. I don't know if I lost information. When I put in my Western Digital disc it said it had to enable something to allow over 127GB drives so I think the problem is in my registery or I need to enable something. I hope my fils are still there.

 

[sminlal]

I asked you for both the "Free" space and the "Used" space. Does it say 0GB "Used Space" in the drive properties window?

If it's really 0GB used space, then presumably there are no files on the drive - it should be pretty obvious if you're missing files. Are there any files on the drive?

Right-click the "My Computer" Icon, select "Manage", and click the "Disk Management" legend in the left-hand pane. You should see the information for your drives in the right-hand pane. Look in the lower section and tell me exactly what it shows for the drive in question. For example, at the left it could say something like "Disk 2" / "Basic" / "320GB" / "Online", and to the right of that it should show one or more boxes (one for each partition on the drive) that could say something like "Local Disk ( E: )" / "127GB NTFS" / "Healthy".

Please don't paraphrase or interpret - look at the window and tell me exactly what they say. Sorry to insist on this, but without actually being able to see your computer it's just way, way too easy to make mistaken assumptions unless you're precise.

 

[Guest]

On the left it says
Basic
298.09 GB
Online
and on the right it says
(E
298.09GB NTFS
Healthy.


Everything is recoginizing it as a 320 (298) except my windows My computer and there is a RECYCLER file inside the drive window when the drive is open.

 

[sminlal]

OK, so you have a disk that Windows recognizes as being ~300GB (the difference is accounted for by the fact that the drive itself measures 1GB = 1,000,000,000 while Windows treats 1GB = 1024 x 1024 x 1024) and a partition that's also ~300GB.

You still haven't told me how much "Used" space the drive shows in the "Drive Properties" dialogue box (double-click "My Computer" to see all the drives, right-click on the drive in question and select "Properties"). Please tell me exactly what it says in that dialog box for both "Free" and "Used" space (ie, 127,012,321 bytes). Those two numbers should add up exactly to the "Capacity" shown just below them, and judging from what you saw in "Disk Manager" it looks like the capacity should show as about 300GB.

It's normal for every drive to have a Recycler folder. There will be a recycler folder even on a brand new drive that has never had any files put onto it (as long as the drive is formatted as NTFS as yours is). You don't normally need to look inside that folder directly - instead you normally click the "Recycle Bin" on your desktop to see if there are any files in it for any of your drives.

 

[Guest]

Used Space 72,134,656 or 68.7MB
Free Space 137,366,814,720 or 127GB

Not totally the 298.09 I am suppose to have and had a 1/2/hour before I plugged that 3rd drive in. Everything when funny when I turned of the computer and unhooked the 3rd drive and I turn the PC back on. That is when I found this problem. Everything recognizes it at a 298.09 EXCEPT Windows program. I know the information is still on the drive and I know the drive did not get formatted. And the files are not in the recycle bin. All I need to do is get Windows to recognize the drive as a 298.09 and I will be golden.

 

[sminlal]

That's certainly odd. What does the "Capacity" say in the Drive Properties dialogue box?

 

[Guest]

It also says 127. Like I said only the windows program is not recognizing it.

 

[Guest]

I think something has to be enabled. And it was so how accidently disabled. And I think it is in my BIOS even though my BIOS says it is 298.09 (320GB) HDD

 

[sminlal]

I think you're right. Look for a BIOS setting that has something to do with "LBA" (Logical Block Addressing). Older systems had a limit of 28 bits for LBA addresses, which limits the disk size to 137GB. Newer systems allow 48 bits for LBA addresses, which removes that limitation.

 

[Guest]

My BIOS was fine before the J drive format. SO how do I get to that in my BIOS??

 

[sminlal]

Check your motherboard manual. You usually have to press F2 or DEL or some other similar key as the system is doing it's power-on self-test.

 

[highcommander]

A quick way to solve this "issue" is to format the harddrive again, erasing the partitions and start from scratch with the drive. It sounds like you have more than one harddrive on your PC. SO do these steps:

#1. Copy any files you wish to save from the harddrive you are going to format.
#2. Make a boot disc or find your Windows CD. (if you cannot find the CD or do not know how to make a boot disc you can goto Bootdisk.com for one)
#3. Restart your PC and go into your BIOS
#4. Set the floppy disk as the first boot device (or CD as the first boot device if you wish to boot off the CD instead of a disk)
#5. Restart your computer with the boot disk in the drive (or CD).
#6. Choose to "boot your computer using CD ROM support."

Now here are the steps to reset the partition on the harddrive and format it. BE CAREFUL NOT TO FORMAT THE WRONG HARDDRIVE!!!

#7. Type the following command "fdisk" without the quotes
#8. Select "Y" to enable large disk support
#9. Use this program to create a partition
#10. SET THE PARTITION TO ACTIVE!
#11. When the partitioning is done reboot the PC with the boot disk again.
#12. Type in the following command "Format d:" USE "d" IF C IS THE HARDDRIVE you just partitioned.
#13. Type "y" to accept.

Remove the disk or the CD and reboot the PC when the formatting is done.

Then if all went well, windows should now recognize the disk as the right size.