formatting WD 3TB HDD

[mortuck]

my wd 3tb hdd only show 746gb, even with updated intel rts 10.1, even when choosing gpt, and my computer has the UEFI in the bios, UEFI may not be the correct acroynom. I understand that the MBR will only see 2.2 but I don't see that either, Seagate has a program out call disc wizard, but you must have a Seagate drive to use it. I looked for a similar program on WD site didn't find one...any suggestions out there

 

[N3rdR4ge]

THE FOLLOWING WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE. BACK UP.

1) open command prompt and type the following:

diskpart

2) in the new cmd window type

list disk

3) type

select disk # (where # is the number of your disk) (you can also find the disk number in windows disk management if unsure)

4) type

clean

5) type

convert gpt

5) You may now open windows disk management. The disk should now show full size as unallocated. you can right click it and create a new simple volume with NTFS file system. just follow the wizard.

 

[mortuck]

well I tried the command prompt way, but that didn't work, still can only see 746gb, but I learned something so thanks

 

[Jones2112]

The YT video below may help...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKywNYMoe2M

 

[RolandJS]

I think booting a usb or dvd MiniTool Partition Wizard version 9 or anything similar may be easier to use.

 

[mortuck]

did all that, ok so I have an asus rog20 gaming computer, Mobo supports UEFI, however my WD 3tb hdd shows up as 746gb. I updated the intel rst to 10.1. I tried formatting GPT but that only show 746gb, but I don't want that since my asus only has room for 1 hdd, I need to be able to boot from it. you can't boot from a GPT formatted hdd, I would except the 2.2tb that mbr could format, but that does not appear in disk manager either. I went to the prompt command and did all the diskpart stuff, and even did the disk volume stuff clear readonly attr. cause some where along the way my hdd went into a write protect mode. after clearing at that stuff. I formatted the 3tb hdd for 1tb, just to make sure that the drive was not damage and that I could write to it. of course that's a complete waste of a 3tb hdd. could not find any help with this problem at the WD support site. Only thing I could find was that segate has a program called disk wizard that would allow you to partition a Seagate hdd into several partition that would utilize your 3tb hdd that would be find if WD did that, but they don't as far as I can find out....So I am still looking for a solution to my western digital wd30ezrz 3tb hdd only see 746GB's, my OS 8.1

 

[RolandJS]

Just for testing purposes, is it possible to partition and NTFS-4096 format this WD into 3 1TB partitions, for now? Thanks for your very thorough explanation! I'm learning what you're going through.

 

[Jones2112]

did all that, ok so I have an asus rog20 gaming computer, Mobo supports UEFI, however my WD 3tb hdd shows up as 746gb. I updated the intel rst to 10.1. I tried formatting GPT but that only show 745gb, buy I don't want that since my asus only has room for 1 hdd, I need to be able to boot from it. you can't boot from a GPT formatted hdd, I would except the 2.2tb that mbr could format, but that does not appear in disk manager either. I went to the prompt command and did all the diskpart stuff, and even did the disk volume stuff clear readonly attr. cause some where along the way my hdd went into a write protect mode. after clearing at that stuff. I formatted the 3tb hdd for 1tb, just to make sure that the drive was not damage and that I could write to it. of course that's a complete waste of a 3tb hdd. could not find any help with this problem at the WD support site. Only thing I could find was that segate has a program called disk wizard that would allow you to partition a Seagate hdd into several partition that would utilize your 3tb hdd that would be find if WD did that, but they don't as far as I can find out....So I am still looking for a solution to my western digital wd30ezrz 3tb hdd only see 746GB's, my OS 8.1

Is it 32 or 64 bit?

W8 32 bit does NOT support GPT format on drives that are 2tb or larger.

W8 64 bit DOES support GPT format on drives 2tb or larger but you need UEFI

MS documentation about drives that are larger than 2tb

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2581408/windows-support-for-hard-disks-that-are-larger-than-2-tb

Since you have W8 I suggest reading the below article as well...

http://www.disk-partition.com/gpt-mbr/mbr-2tb-partition-limit-1004.html

See ASUS support page below...select your OS from the drop down menu>look down the list and click on SATA> chose the one for your system.

https://www.asus.com/us/support/Download/1/45/6/1/ic9YbXVua78KEzSH/40/

 

[ArtPog]

It's a possibility - a possibility, but NOT definitive - that the problem can be resolved by downloading/installing a late version of Intel’s Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) driver.
The latest version is here...https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26730/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-?product=55005

BUT BEFORE YOU DO...first check with the OEM if you're using a OEM machine or your motherboard's manufacturer to determine if they recommend an updated IRST driver.

If you do install another IRST driver it would be helpful if you report success or failure.

 

[mortuck]

ok, my system is 64 bit, I down loaded the IRST driver but haven't installed it yet.....got to take a break for this mind is rattling, eyes are bulge sleep sleep sleep. lol. I'll let you know later...thanks all for info and another idea..