WD 400GB Hard Drive

hmadhoon · Post by **hmadhoon** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 10:56 pm

i got new WD 400GB HDD and installed it into my new pc, while formating it showed me only 127GB while it suppose to be 400GB....

what is the problem?? is it that it can see only 127gb and i have to format the remaining into partiones of 127gb as maximum? and if it's so, how to do it?

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:05 pm

Is this drive going through a USB or Firewire cable by chance?

The 400GB drive might have come with with DiscWizard for Windows. DiscWizard must be run no less than three times to partition and format the drive beyond 127GB without overlay drivers, at least in Windows XP Home. The first time you have to settle for 127GB, which is a bummer if you're replacing a larger boot drive and copying all of your files. Then you reboot. The second time you have to confirm that you want to enable large disk drive access, then reboot. On the third boot, you can specify the larger / new partition(s).

I also found this comment:

Question:
Why is the full capacity of EIDE drives larger than 137GB (128GB binary) not recognized in Windows 2000/XP?

Cause:
The Windows Operating System, Motherboard BIOS, or PCI IDE controller BIOS does not currently support 48-bit LBA (Logical Block Addressing).

Resolution:
48-bit LBA support is necessary for drives larger than 137GB (128GB binary). The following conditions are necessary for the correct functioning of 48-bit LBA support in Windows 2000/XP:

Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) must be installed for Windows or a registry key must be manually added to Windows' Registry. For information about Windows XP Service Pack 1, see Microsoft Article 322389 or for Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, see Microsoft Article 320853.

* The system must have a 48-bit LBA-compatible Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) installed. This includes EIDE controller card BIOSs. Please determine with the computer, motherboard, or PCI IDE controller manufacturer if this hardware supports 48-bit LBA.

So it recommended updating the 1) Motherboard BIOS, 2) installing at least SP1 , 3) and updating the IDE controller.

hmadhoon · Post by **hmadhoon** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:07 pm

it's using the new SATA 2, with 16mb buffer

hmadhoon · Post by **hmadhoon** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:10 pm

infact it's internal disc.... and it came with no cd's.... plus it got already the OS installed on it which is win xp pro... what do u think i can do??

Post by **Apoptosis** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:10 pm

What motherboard and what OS patches are you running? SP1 or SP2?

hmadhoon · Post by **hmadhoon** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:18 pm

i got Intel D975XBX, and when i installed win xp pro, i have runed win updates... so i think it's sp2

Post by **Apoptosis** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:40 pm

I'm not sure if you tried all that i said!

Immortal · Post by **Immortal** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 4:01 pm

why does it come with XP pre-installed?

You cant just move your windows installation to another computer, you gotta restart over cause inhrerent stability issues will arise.