Can I make my boot volume bigger (got 1TB External Hard Drive)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Calif-Biker
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Calif-Biker

Hi! I just installed a Samsung HD103UJ 1TB SATA drive into my system. But I
think I'm running across some Windows limitations.

At first, when I format with the Windows XP Pro boot disk, it only showed me
a 128GB partition. I installed Windows anyway and upgraded to Windows XP
SP2. Now I can see more of the hard drive (803GB unallocated) in addition to
the 128GB boot partition.

Is there any way for me to make the boot partition larger?

Thank you very much in advance!
 
Calif-Biker said:
Hi! I just installed a Samsung HD103UJ 1TB SATA drive into my
system. But I think I'm running across some Windows limitations.

At first, when I format with the Windows XP Pro boot disk, it only
showed me a 128GB partition. I installed Windows anyway and
upgraded to Windows XP SP2. Now I can see more of the hard drive
(803GB unallocated) in addition to the 128GB boot partition.

Is there any way for me to make the boot partition larger?

Thank you very much in advance!
Click to expand...

Your post in its entirety is confusing.

You state in the subject that you got a 1TB external hard disk drive.
However - your message body seems to point to you having an internal 1TB
hard disk drive. Was one a typo or mistake?

Assuming the subject line has nothing to do with the message body is what I
will do.

First - in order to use a drive above a certain size with Windows XP (clean
install in particular) - you need a couple of things to be true.

- Your hardware (motherboard chipset/BIOS/controller) must support drives of
that size.
- You should have Windows XP installation media of SP1 or greater to take
advantage of the extra space from the beginning (better if you have Windows
XP with SP3 integratded for many other reasons.)

Given what you have - it is likely easier *(and possibly better in the long
run) if you integrate SP3 into your installation media, create a new
bootable version of your installation media (use something like nLite) and
use that to format and install Windows XP w/SP3 clean from the get-go -
giving you exactly what you want in the cleanest way possible.

Barring that - you will need a third party software product to expand your C
partition to the size you want - XP has no such native tools. Partition
Magic, etc.
 
Create a "Slipstreamed CD" of your original Windows XP CD
Use the Slipstreamed CD to install XP. You should not have any
problems creating a larger partition with that 1TB now. This assumes
that your PC supports 48Bit LBA (drivers larger than 137GB).
Most PC made from 2003 or later do support 48Bit LBA. One
particular model (Dell 2350) which was still being sold in 2003
I know does not support 48Bit LBA.

There are two good utilities for creating a "SlipStreamed" CD
1) Autostreamer - Easy to use.
2) nLite - which is more complex but you can integrate
your PCI card drivers and more. http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html
nLite Guide: http://www.nliteos.com/guides.html

I use AutoStreamer, it's easy to use and for the most part self explanatory

Auto Streamer Guide and Download Sites:
http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/using_autostreamer/using_autostreamer.shtml
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/1092632287/1

Windows SP2 Download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...be-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&DisplayLang=en

Where to download SP3
SP3 file download:
(File is large but will only install components that you PC requires)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...a8-5e76-401f-be08-1e1555d4f3d4&DisplayLang=en

How to get a free SP3 CD
(You pay only the shipping charge)
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsxp/sp3/default.mspx

Create a Slip Stream version of Windows XP using SP2
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/slipstream.htm
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm

Create a Slip Stream version of Windows XP using SP3
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/slipstream.htm (Using AutoStreamer)
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp3_cd_final.htm
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/xpsp3_slipstream.asp

The slipstreamed CD you create will not include any specific drivers
for your motherboard, audio, video, network, etc. Those you will
need to download from your PC manufacture's or motherboard's
web site.
 
Thank you to JS and Shenan for your helpful posts!
I'm going to try some of those solutions. I'm really looking forward to not
running out of room in my C: drive for a long, long time! :-)

Calif-Biker

P.S. The subject was a typo -- sorry --- I shall try to change it if the
forum will allow me.
 
Calif-Biker said:
Hi! I just installed a Samsung HD103UJ 1TB SATA drive into my system. But I
think I'm running across some Windows limitations.

At first, when I format with the Windows XP Pro boot disk, it only showed me
a 128GB partition. I installed Windows anyway and upgraded to Windows XP
SP2. Now I can see more of the hard drive (803GB unallocated) in addition to
the 128GB boot partition.

Is there any way for me to make the boot partition larger?

Thank you very much in advance!
Click to expand...
 
Perhaps you should consider making a second (or even a third) partition on
the internal hard drive, instead of simply making one big C:\ drive?
This can be done from with XP by its disk management tool. If you point the
mouse at the unallocated space and right-click, one of the options is to
make a new partition.

Note that separating your personal data from XP and programs is often a good
idea, since you can then use different backup strategies for XP+programs vs
your data. Personal data can be copied using Windows Explorer or the
command line tool XCOPY. XP itself and programs need to be backed-up with
specialized software, such as Norton GHOST or Acronis True Image. Other
backup/restore options can be found at:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads3.html

But, if you really want to make C:\ larger, then a third-party program like
Partition Magic is the way to go. However, it is unclear whether that old
program (formerly by PowerQuest, now by Symantec/Norton) can handle a disk
as large as you have. I have version 8.01 and its help says "Support for
partitions up to 160 GB, containing up to 145 GB of data." But, other
programs, such as Acronis Disk Director and Easeus Partition Manager, can
handle 1T disks.

Finally, are you sure that the controller on your motherboard can handle a
disk that large? Just because it seems to function when you are writing to
the first 128 Gig does not mean that it will work on the last bit of the
1000 Gig. Try some web searches, or contact the PC maker (or motherboard
maker). I am sensitive to controller limitations, since I recently upgraded
an circa 2003 PC from 120 Gig to 500 Gig. I also added an eSATA-PCI card.
(Much faster than USB2!) While doing research on what card to get I found
information that many add-in cards were limited to 1T, and some could not
even handle that.
 
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