8 GB HDD Limitation

[YZ12569]

I have a friend who bought a 20 gig hard drive however his computers bios is to old and we were unable to find a bios update for it.
If we buy an ATA 100 controller card will the bios on that card see all 20 gigs or will we have the same problem?

Thanks

 

[Bleep]

Is this the 20 gigger that staples just had on sale?
If it is just install the hard drive and boot with the disk that came with the hard drive. It will put a overlay program on the hard drive that will let you use it with a old bios> a lot of people will tell you not to do this but it works just be sure you dont lose the disk because you might want to take the overlay off sometime. If you did not send in the bar code off the box and just sent in a copy for the rebate you can get the maxtor controller card for 49.95 with a 50 buck rebate if you send in both product codes and the rebate for the adapter card. It has its own bios and will allow up to 180 GB hard drives.
Bleep

 

[rommel]

no it wont work....if your bios does not recognize more then 8.4 gigs then the system doesnt support "interrupt 13 extensions" INT13 allows the use of 1024 cylinders. you can use an intallation utility to use the entire drive...did the hdd come with a disc setup utility?

 

[rommel]

bleep da man...lol

 

[Bleep]

ROMMEL::
Are you laughing at my Sig?
Bleep

 

[bacillus]

<< If we buy an ATA 100 controller card will the bios on that card see all 20 gigs or will we have the same problem? >>


the promise ata 100 controller card has a bios limitation of 128Gb so it will see all your drive &amp; will work!

 

[GregMal]

I agree. The controller cards have their own BIOS and will recognize
HD's up to 128 gigs. I'd rather spend the $20 (Promise 66) than use
an overlay........Greg

 

[DaddyG]

Sofware overlays do work but they can be a pain in the ass. You need the overlay on any boot floppy you use. Most of the overlays modify the Master Boot Record which sometimes looks like a virus to scanning software. But the big drwa back is that you'll be using the drive at ATA33 at best. The controller will provide the INT13 extensions and support for the higher ATA interface, its worth the $$$s.

 

[dalfollo]

i have a Micron XKU (AL440lx Intel MB) that has the same 'problem'...double check that there aren't 'new' (or newer) BIOS that do support larger HDs...probably he will just have to update the BIOS...most older boards have a BIOS that will support larger drives...

 

[YZ12569]

I thought that was the case but wanted to make sure

THANKS ALL!

 

[oldfart]

I'm a liitle late here, but just to chime in. I HATE THOSE OVERLAYS. Get a Promise U66 or U100 card and your problem will be gone. You will have better performance to boot.