hard drive capacity....

[Guest]

My pc was just recently reformatted and now instead of seeing the total
amount of hard drive space in the C drive properties window I only see half.
I am running (2) 160gb drives, but only see 1/2 the capacity....any
suggestions?

 

[M and D]

There can only be one C: drive in a computer and it can only exist on one hard disk. So if you have two hard disks, each having a total capacity of 160GB, the largest possible size for your C: drive is 160GB. Your C: drive will be that size if it occupies an entire hard disk. If the disk has more than one partition, or if less than the full capacity of the disk was partitioned, your C: drive will be smaller than 160GB.

Keep in mind also that disk capacity is expressed in decimal notation, but your computer works in binary notation. A disk with a capacity of 160 billion bytes (160GB) in decimal notation - which is house hard disks are sold - has a capacity of about 149GB in binary.

Steven

 

[Bob Harris]

Did you reformat, or delete/recreate partitions, and using what software

A simple reformatting should not have changed partition size.

A delete/recreate partition could have done almost anything. For example,
some older versions of FDISK were limitedd to about 64 Gig.

Also, depending on the age of the PC, the BIOS might have some limit on disk
size that was cleverly overcome by software installed during the original
disk preparation. Such software is commonly offerred by the makers of hard
drives. This is often called overlay software. Try using the original
drive maker's software to mprepare and partition and format the disk.

I assume that this is a single physical disk, not two smaller disks in a
RAID array? Those can be trickier.

Try running a hradware diagnostic routine to see what you really have inside
the box. For example, AIDA16, which runs from a bootable floppy:

http://shinobiresources.com/downloads.htm AIDA16 is a few pages down on
this webpage

Or, Consider getting the free Ultimate Boot CD:
http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/

This is a large download (209 Meg) as an ISO file that you burn to CD via an
option like "burn from disk" from within Nero or Easy CD Creator. The
standard XP CD writing routines are probably not enough to convert the
download into a CD.

It contains several hardware diagnostic programs, including those form the
major disk makers.

 

[Hash]

Hello

I have a similar question on ide hdd. I hope I am in the right place.

The motherboard ide controller of my system supports maximum 120gb ide hdd.

If for example I purchase a 320gb ide hdd and install it in my system as a
second drive and not bootable ( ie C:\ with xp home o/s on it ).

Then would my system first recognise that hdd and second would it only read
and write upto 120gb data ? What adjustments do I need to make in the BIOS?

Getting a larger capacity disk will enable me to install it in a new pc if
and when I change to one. Bob you mention Ultimate Boot CD - what does this
CD contain and help it can give. I beleive Everest Home Edition has been
discontinued. Is there a freeware software for system diagnosis and
benchmarking solution ? Thank you.

Regards
Hash

 

[Anna]

Hello

I have a similar question on ide hdd. I hope I am in the right place.

If for example I purchase a 320gb ide hdd and install it in my system as a
second drive and not bootable ( ie C:\ with xp home o/s on it ).

Then would my system first recognise that hdd and second would it only
read and write upto 120gb data ? What adjustments do I need to make in
the BIOS?

Getting a larger capacity disk will enable me to install it in a new pc if
and when I change to one. Bob you mention Ultimate Boot CD - what does
this CD contain and help it can give. I beleive Everest Home Edition has
been discontinued. Is there a freeware software for system diagnosis and
benchmarking solution ? Thank you.

Regards
Hash

(The OP raised the same query in his post with the subject "Re: ide hdd")

Hash:
First of all, whether the HD contains the OS and is bootable or is just
being used as a storage or backup device is of no import re whether the
system will recognize large-capacity disks, i.e., disks > 137 GB (about).

Please understand that there are two basic requirements for the XP operating
system to recognize these large-capacity hard drives...
1. The motherboard's BIOS must support large-capacity disks. Virtually every
motherboard manufactured during the past four years or so provides this
support. If your motherboard lacks this support, there is frequently a BIOS
upgrade available from the manufacturer to provide this support.
2. The XP OS must contain SP1 and/or SP2 at the time the large-capacity HD
is installed.

And that's all there is to it. So if your BIOS does not support these
large-capacity drives or if it does and SP1 and/or SP2 has not been
installed, then when you install that 300+ GB HD only the first 137 GB
(actually about 128 GB) of the drive will be recognized and which you can
use.

I believe one responder to your query suggested that you download & install
a software program from the hard drive's manufacturer to provide this
support in the event your BIOS does not. I would strongly recommend
*against* this approach in an XP environment. These so-called "drive
overlay" programs modify the MBR in proprietary non-standard ways and
they're nearly always sure to cause you problems down the line. We always
recommend against their use except under very rare circumstances.

So if your BIOS does not provide this support, see if a BIOS upgrade is
available from the motherboard's manufacturer. Another option would be to
purchase a PCI controller card that would provide this large-capacity disk
support. They run about $25 - $30. Still another option would be to purchase
a more up-to-date motherboard.
Anna

 

[Hash]

Thank you Anna for your reply. I now have understood something on the large
capacity ide hdd.

What would be the proper technical name for the PCI controller card and are
there different versions in it ? Thank you.

Regards
Hash

 

[Anna]

Thank you Anna for your reply. I now have understood something on the
large capacity ide hdd.

What would be the proper technical name for the PCI controller card and
are > there different versions in it ? Thank you.

Regards
Hash

Hash:
The controller card we generally recommend is the Promise Ultra 133 TX2.
It's a tried & true device in our experience and although it generally costs
(about $40) somewhat more than similar cards, we believe its reliability is
worth the slight additional cost. It's generally available from the usual
online vendors.
Anna

 

[Admiral Q]

Steven or M and D - partially correct - their can be only one volume named
C:, but it can be made up of many physical drives. For example, my PC has 4
136GB 15k SCSI drives, and depending on how I setup the drives depends on
how many named drives or what size those drives have. Right now, I have 2
RAID-0 Arrays, Array-0 is made of drives 0 and 2, Array-1 is made of drives
1 and 3, each having 272GB capacity, Array-0 is the C: drive and Array-1 is
the D: drive. But, I could have easily had 1 drive, in RAID-0 for 564GB
capacity, or one drive in RAID-10 for 136GB, or 2 drives in RAID-1
configuration at 136GB or just 4 136GB drives or combination of RAID0,
RAID1 - just depends on how I configure it. But without more information,
the OP could have had 2 drives in RAID-0 for 320GB if he/she has SATA or
SCSI drives and the hardware controller supports RAID configuration. The
second go round, it could have been configured RAID-1 instead of RAID-0
which would account for half the space, but would be mirrored for redundancy
instead of stripped for speed. RAID 5 is a step up from RAID1 redundancy
adding more speed, RAID-10 is actually RAID-1+0 giving both stripping
(speed) and mirroring (redundancy) where RAID-50 is RAID-5+0, having the
redundancy of RAID-5 but the speed of RAID-0.

--

Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your service!
Google is your friend!
http://www.google.com


There can only be one C: drive in a computer and it can only exist on one
hard disk. So if you have two hard disks, each having a total capacity of
160GB, the largest possible size for your C: drive is 160GB. Your C: drive
will be that size if it occupies an entire hard disk. If the disk has more
than one partition, or if less than the full capacity of the disk was
partitioned, your C: drive will be smaller than 160GB.

Keep in mind also that disk capacity is expressed in decimal notation, but
your computer works in binary notation. A disk with a capacity of 160
billion bytes (160GB) in decimal notation - which is house hard disks are
sold - has a capacity of about 149GB in binary.

Steven

 

[M and D]

Admiral:

"M and D" stands for "Mom and Dad". Steven - that's me - is Dad.

Thank you for your illustration.

If the OP had a similar RAID configuration - or any RAID configuration at all - I think he would have mentioned it.

When I (try to) answer someone's question, I'm not usually considering the untypical situation you describe. I nonetheless see your point and wish you good sailing. -)

Steven