127 Gb problem

[sm0ke]

I re-installed windows xp and my 250gb HD said it only had 127Gb's. this happend with my other HD too, anyone know what the problem may be? Thanks in advanced

 

[sub mesa]

You will need a Windows XP SP1 or higher CD; the original XP does not support drives larger than 128GiB/137GB.

You can slipstream you existing XP cd with a service pack so it is integrated; or just install the service pack and then expand your current C: drive to use the additional space. This can be done in the Start->right click My Computer->Manage->Disk Management screen and should be done after having installed SP1 or higher and rebooted.

 

[foscooter]

Been there, done that!

What is your motherboard? Seeing that you re-installed Windows XP, I think this is the issue.

Motherboards made before 01/01/2003(?) do not support the 48-bit LBA, to reconize hard drives larger than the 137GB limit:
http://www.48bitlba.com/overview.htm

Some manufacters have a BIOS update, that would then support larger hard drives.

You did not partition is as such, right? Just lost 123GB?

You have some choices:

1. Leave it as it is. Loose all the extra space.

2. Some hard drive manufactures have a "patch" (i.e. Western Digital Smart Drive) to overcome this limit. I used this on my old 486DX machine in the 90's that would only support up to 2.1GB, and I had a 2.5GB drive. It just partioned the drive into 2150MB and 400MB. (This is a software fix, for a hardware problem.)
3. Get a new motherboard, to support large hard drives, and your current CPU. ($$)

4. Get an add-on drive controller card to support larger hard drives. I think these can overcome the motherboard onboard controller limit. (Research it, via online retailers.)

4. My suggestion: Get a 120GB hard drive, for now. ($$).

BUT, having just "bing-ed" the 48-bit LBA, I found this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303013

Did you install Windows XP SP1 or higher? That is what the site is getting too.

GO there first!

 

[sm0ke]

Yes i installed my XP cd that didnt have sp1. Installed all SP's and sub mesa's suggestion worked for me. Thanks guys!!
Motherboard, Gigabyte 6-quad series/S-series Ultra durable 2

 

[foscooter]

Well, even I learned something here!

I did not know about the GB limit on Windows XP, until SP1!

Great info sub mesa! Again!