View Full Version : hard drive trouble?
mrnuke
07-26-2005, 05:06 PM
Hey, i bought a SATA 320GB hd from Western Digital and whenever i'm trying to format it for windows, its only reading it as a 130 GB's, although in bios, it reads as a 320gb drive. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Ugly n Grey
07-26-2005, 05:09 PM
change the drive type in BIOS from CHS or auto to "large". Should help
freak22
07-26-2005, 08:11 PM
change the drive type in BIOS from CHS or auto to "large". Should help
or you could take a hammer to it. :D
mrnuke
07-26-2005, 08:36 PM
i thought about the hammer, but then realized i am a college student and that wouldn't be cost effective. Ugly n Grey, thanks for always replying to my threads, although i feel semi retarded for not being able to figure them out on my own. BTW, i have to delete the partition that is made for the large drive mode to take place right?
freak22
07-27-2005, 04:43 AM
no you shouldn't have to. just change the setting in the bios
Ugly n Grey
07-27-2005, 05:15 AM
You may have to delete the partition, yes, by changing the drive type in BIOS, you change the way Windows sees the geometry.
freak22
07-27-2005, 08:18 AM
You may have to delete the partition, yes, by changing the drive type in BIOS, you change the way Windows sees the geometry.
not disagreeing with you on this one but i thought i have done it before without deleting the paratition. could be mistaken though. i would at least try to change the bios first and see what it does before deleting it.
Ugly n Grey
07-27-2005, 08:28 AM
not disagreeing with you on this one but i thought i have done it before without deleting the paratition. could be mistaken though. i would at least try to change the bios first and see what it does before deleting it.
Sometimes it works, yes. But the results are unpredictable in my experience. The actual partition size may change when changing the BIOS settings. I have also noticed speed decreases when I change just the BIOS and not the partition to match. Backing up and restoring is so easy and a stable hard drive so desireable, I would tend to go this route, but of course, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. I'm just sharing my experiences over the years.
:toast:
mrnuke
07-27-2005, 10:32 AM
i tried it and it won't boot up on the origional partition. I get a disk error. I will try backing everything up and see if it reads it correctly. Thanks again guys
freak22
07-27-2005, 10:48 AM
well there ya go ugly. you were correct!!!
mrnuke
08-12-2005, 02:04 PM
alright, i tried to correct the problem............ (yeah, took me a while to get everythign worked out and i've been busy) But i switched it to large, reformatted and its still only reading it as 130gb HD.......... I was wondering if it is the copy of xp pro that might limit the HD size (i've heard rumor of that) I'm simply clueless........ thanks in advance!
Ugly n Grey
08-12-2005, 02:07 PM
OK, what drive controller do you have it attached to? and what is the BIOS saying about the drive?
ImportantAwareness89
08-12-2005, 02:50 PM
This is a common error.
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/137_winxp.html
Ugly n Grey
08-12-2005, 02:52 PM
Huh there you go, I never get that because I slipstream SP2 into my install CD.... I was wondering where all this was coming from... so there's your answer, slipstream SP2 onto your install CD and make a new CD, problem disappears
mrnuke
08-12-2005, 05:05 PM
alright, thanks again guys........ as i suspected, and old copy..........