5Gb Dsk reports as 1.8Gb

  • Thread starter Thread starter Si.
  • Start date Start date
S

Si.

I've been helping my friend update her PC.

She has a 5Gb drive (to be used for backups).

When I FDISK the drive (using a Win98 Start-up Disk) and format it - it
formats to the correct size of 5Gb.

When Win XP boots up - this drive is reported as 1.8Gb.

If I use "Disk Management" in Administrative Tools if I delete partition and
re-partition the drive it only partitions back to a 1.8Gb drive - not the
full 5Gb.

Anyone know why this is and how I can resolve this problem? I want to be
able to use the full 5Gb.

TIA

Si.
 
Since the drive was formatted using a Windows 9x disk, the drive was more than likely formatted into the FAT32 file system. XP by default uses the NTFS system, although it can support FAT32, it's typically not recommended. XP has a habit of reporting incorrect volume sizes with drives that are formatted with FAT32. Using the command prompt you can switch the file system of the drive to NTFS and then it should report the correct volume size. To find the exact command line, search for "FAT32 to NTFS" on the MS website and it will detail how to do so.

----- Si. wrote: -----

I've been helping my friend update her PC.

She has a 5Gb drive (to be used for backups).

When I FDISK the drive (using a Win98 Start-up Disk) and format it - it
formats to the correct size of 5Gb.

When Win XP boots up - this drive is reported as 1.8Gb.

If I use "Disk Management" in Administrative Tools if I delete partition and
re-partition the drive it only partitions back to a 1.8Gb drive - not the
full 5Gb.

Anyone know why this is and how I can resolve this problem? I want to be
able to use the full 5Gb.

TIA

Si.
 
Thanks JMJ

Even when I format it using NTFS it still reports 1.8Gb


JMJ said:
Since the drive was formatted using a Windows 9x disk, the drive was more
Click to expand...
than likely formatted into the FAT32 file system. XP by default uses the
NTFS system, although it can support FAT32, it's typically not recommended.
XP has a habit of reporting incorrect volume sizes with drives that are
formatted with FAT32. Using the command prompt you can switch the file
system of the drive to NTFS and then it should report the correct volume
size. To find the exact command line, search for "FAT32 to NTFS" on the MS
website and it will detail how to do so.
 
Does the bios correctly identify it?

Si. said:
Thanks JMJ

Even when I format it using NTFS it still reports 1.8Gb


more
than likely formatted into the FAT32 file system. XP by default uses the
NTFS system, although it can support FAT32, it's typically not recommended.
XP has a habit of reporting incorrect volume sizes with drives that are
formatted with FAT32. Using the command prompt you can switch the file
system of the drive to NTFS and then it should report the correct volume
size. To find the exact command line, search for "FAT32 to NTFS" on the MS
website and it will detail how to do so. it -
it not to
Click to expand...
 
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