Unallocated space: What's wrong?

  • Thread starter Thread starter aether
  • Start date Start date
A

aether

I've installed a 200 GB hard drive, but it's capacity is listed as 131
GB. However, I went to device manager and checked it's properties, and
it states that there exists 63 GB worth of 'unallocated space'. What's
this mean, exactly? Can it be recovered? If so, how?
 
aether said:
I've installed a 200 GB hard drive, but it's capacity is listed as 131
GB. However, I went to device manager and checked it's properties, and
it states that there exists 63 GB worth of 'unallocated space'. What's
this mean, exactly? Can it be recovered? If so, how?
Click to expand...


We are supposed to guess what operating system you are using? If it is
Windows XP then you need Service Pack 1 at a minimum patch level. You
might also need to visit your mobo maker's web site to get their latest
BIOS flash update to upgrade the onboard IDE controller to support
48-bit addressing mode (to get past the 128GB boundary).
 
Giuseppe said:
Update your bios.
Click to expand...


Hi, Giuseppe

I just updated the BIOS, but Windows still doesn't properly recognize
the drive. This is a strange problem. You'd think Microsoft would've
fixed it by now as quite a few people have had this problem. Who knows
how many have unknowingly lost disk space.
 
aether said:
Hi, Giuseppe

I just updated the BIOS, but Windows still doesn't properly recognize
the drive. This is a strange problem. You'd think Microsoft would've
fixed it by now as quite a few people have had this problem. Who knows
how many have unknowingly lost disk space.
Click to expand...

Did you reformat the disc after updating the BIOS? Maybe use an old Win98
boot disk and use fdisk to remove the partition if the XP disk does not work
(it should).

Dave
 
I just updated the BIOS, but Windows still doesn't properly recognize
the drive. This is a strange problem. You'd think Microsoft would've
fixed it by now as quite a few people have had this problem. Who knows
how many have unknowingly lost disk space.
Click to expand...

Convert the disk to NTFS.
 
Dave said:
Did you reformat the disc after updating the BIOS? Maybe use an old Win98
boot disk and use fdisk to remove the partition if the XP disk does not work
(it should).

Dave
Click to expand...

I prefer to use the HD manufacturers utility boot disk to do a Low Level
format.. Gets rid of ALL the leftover nasties on the drive..
 
There's nothing wrong. If your OS is the original XP (pre-SPx, as it sounds
from a later comment), it doesn't know about bigger disks than 131GB until
SP1 (included in SP2). You can use of the 'unallocated space' as another
partition, just Start->Run diskmgmt.msc, right click on the unallocated
space and "New partition..". Then format it, and voilá, you have a new
"disk", most likely labeled E: (if C: =system disk and D: =CD/DVD)



Or use a 3rd party program, like Symantec/Norton PartitionMagic or Ramish
PartitionManager, to resize the current partition to available space, ie.
the whole HD



--
Tumppi
Reply to group
=================================================
Most learned on nntp://news.mircosoft.com
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(translations from FI/SE not always accurate)
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aether said:
It's Windows XP. I downloaded quite a few updates, and then service
pack 2.
Click to expand...


Well, then the other part of my advice of getting the BIOS flash update
to upgrade the firmware used by your IDE controller will be required so
it support 48-bit addressing mode to get past the 128GB boundary. You
didn't mention the brand and model of your motherboard. Go to the
motherboard maker's web site to get the flash update for BIOS.
 
aether said:
Hi, Giuseppe

I just updated the BIOS, but Windows still doesn't properly recognize
the drive. This is a strange problem. You'd think Microsoft would've
fixed it by now as quite a few people have had this problem. Who knows
how many have unknowingly lost disk space.
Click to expand...


Because the geometric translation needed for the larger disk capacity
won't match what got used before.

Drives over 128GB were not in mass production when your version of
Windows got released. Sorry, but Microsoft isn't a soothsayer, either.
They cannot write software for every piece of hardware that might appear
sometime later. That is why LATER updates and service packs will modify
the OS so it would then support hardware that appears AFTER the release
of a software product. It's not Microsoft's fault that the motherboard
maker didn't provide an IDE controller that allows 48-bit addressing.
Did the BIOS flash update actually specify that it support 48-bit
addressing mode? Your motherboard - which you did not identify - might
not be capable of supporting drives over 128GB in size.

First determine if your motherboard actually will support drives over
128GB in size. That may require a BIOS flash update. You said that you
already did the latest update but firmware updates cannot magically
alter hardware that is still incapable of changing its addressing width.
Could be you grabbed the wrong update, too. If the motherboard cannot
be made to support large drives, your choices are to install the overlay
manager program from the drive maker (this replaces the bootstrap
program in the MBR, so any other program that uses the MBR bootstrap
area, like Goback or a multiboot manager, cannot be used), or get an IDE
controller card whose BIOS and controller do support large drives. For
awhile, Western Digital drives used to include their own controller
cards because the motherboards and OS were not yet capable (many then
got sold off on eBay and that's how I got one for an old host that could
not be upgraded to support large drives).
 
Just create a second partition in that unallocated partition and format
a filesystem on it. It should show up as an alternative drive letter in
Windows. It won't be the whole drive as one drive letter, but it will
be the whole drive as two drive letters.

Yousuf Khan
 
aether said:
Hi, Giuseppe

I just updated the BIOS, but Windows still doesn't properly
recognize the drive. This is a strange problem.
Click to expand...

It isn't strange at all, it's perfectly easy to explain.
You'd think Microsoft would've fixed it by now as quite a few
people have had this problem.
Click to expand...

Microsoft *have* fixed it, or, to put it another way, they've done as much
as they can. Unfortunately, some things have to be left down to the user.
Who knows how many have unknowingly lost disk space.
Click to expand...

Anyone ignorant/dumb enough not to know whether the usable capacity of their
drives matches what they've actually got probably won't notice the
difference. Either way, your scenario is relatively uncommon, as most PC
buyers purchase OEM boxes, and in these cases, your particular set of
circumstances wouldn't occur.

Your scenario is quite a unique one, in that you originally partitioned and
formatted this drive on a vanilla copy of Windows XP that didn't include 48
bit LBA support. You have since upgraded the OS, and at that point the
"extra" capacity of your drive magically became available.

As has been said elsewhere, the easiest (and arguably best) option is simply
to create another partition with the spare capacity and create another
logical drive in it.

If you do want your entire drive formatted and available as C:\, you will
need to use Partition Magic, or some similar third party tool.

Incidentally, as others have said, for future reference it'd be far easier
to help you if you gave us the pertinent info in your original post, rather
than leaving us to assume/guess/ask.
--


Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
(replace nospam with pipex in reply address)

The UK's leading technology reseller www.dabs.com
 
Your motherboard is probably a slightly older one and it's BIOS cannot
recognize a harddrive beyond 137 GB. Only the newer motherboards can.
 
DaveW said:
Your motherboard is probably a slightly older one and it's BIOS cannot
recognize a harddrive beyond 137 GB. Only the newer motherboards can.
Click to expand...

You also need to have at least SP1 installed for Windows XP
to recognize it all. Try partitioning it so that no partition is
greater than 137GB. You can do that by Disk Management.
 
I've installed a 200 GB hard drive, but it's capacity is listed as 131
GB. However, I went to device manager and checked it's properties, and
it states that there exists 63 GB worth of 'unallocated space'. What's
this mean, exactly? Can it be recovered? If so, how?
Click to expand...

Did you install an original (non/early service pack) release Windows
(2K or XP) onto this drive? If so, it's normal. Unless you slipstream
and reinstall or have partition magic, you are stuck with this. Unlike
what everyone's saying, it looks like your BIOS is OK since Windows
sees the extra space (after SP4 for W2K and SP2 for XP, I believe) so
easiest thing you can do is to simply create a new partition in the
unused space. *Check* that 48bit addressing is enabled first (I don't
know the registry key off the top of my head, just google for
"BigLBA", I think) and also *back up* first if you have personal data
on that disk, just in case I am mistaken about the BIOS and and
Windows happily cycles back and overwrites the start of your drive
while trying to format the rest.
 
The motherboard is an Abit AN8. ('Fatal1ty') The hard drive is a Maxtor
6B200M0. Strangely enough, the hard drive I ordered (L01M200) wasn't
the one I received -- and it was a 'retail' purchase. The company
must've packaged the wrong hard drive into the wrong box. Since these
two hard drives are hardly different (one's a Diamondmax 10 (6B200M0)
and the other's a Diamondmax 9 (L01M200), I decided against sending it
back. (already had a big problem with another order..)

Now, if I partition this 'unallocated space', will it diminish in speed
or anything of the sort? (as I type it's formatting..)

I greatly appreciate all of the advice I've received.
 
No, just open your Disk Management Console and create a new partition in the
unallocated space, format it, and you're set. It will work like a second
hard drive, but physically be the leftover portion of your hard drive.
Alternately you could do all the stuff required to get the entire 200MB as
your C drive, but is it really worth it? Personally I like to have my drive
partitioned into at least 2 if not 3 or more 'virtual' drives, that way I
can reformat my system partition ( the partition with Windows and all of my
software installed on it, a.k.a. C: ) without losing any of my data on D:
or, as I frequently have, my Linux system partition, Linux swap partition,
and/or whatever other operating systems I am messing around with ( under the
auspices of 'testing' ;p ).

In fact, it actually makes things run more smoothly as things don't get as
fragmented as quickly.

( things is an official term, or so says the latest SA&D text I have dragged
myself through for some inane, unfathomable reason ;p )
 
Under XP use can use the DISKPART command to extend partitions into adjacent
free space.

Look in Windows Help (Start / Help) for details on how to use this command.

It is not recommended to use this on a system disk, but it works.

As soon as the command completes, I would run a scandisk on the C: drive as
this will ensure that the boundaries of the partition are correct etc and
fix any anomolies - I have never had any anomlies...
 
I've installed a 200 GB hard drive, but it's capacity is listed as 131
GB. However, I went to device manager and checked it's properties, and
it states that there exists 63 GB worth of 'unallocated space'. What's
this mean, exactly? Can it be recovered? If so, how?
Click to expand...


See
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305098

-------------------------------------------------
48bitlba.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Parameters]
"EnableBigLba"=dword:00000001
 
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