Bios Hard Drive Support

[njrich2]

Hi
I have an Epox MVP3C-2 baby AT motherboard and want to buy a larger hard drive. Epox's web site no longer lists this information and I sent an e-mail to Epox support regarding how large a drive would be supported by the current bios upgrade (seems to be the last). In my note I mentioned that I currently have a 40gb IBM hard drive. They responded that it accepts only an 32. Does anyone know how large a hd it will really support, maybe from experience. Thanks. -njrich2

 

[stevewm]

Does windows see the entire 40GB?

Right click on your C: drive in My Computer and pick properties, what does it say for Capacity? If its below 32GB then your motherboard currently only supports drives 32GB and smaller. If it says around 38GB then you'll be fine with a hardrive up to 137GB in size. (28-bit LBA limit)

Alternatively you could just get a PCI IDE controller card. Your motherboard's limitations no longer apply when using a drive on a PCI IDE card.

 

[njrich2]

Sorry for thanking you so late (thanks), I've been away on business.
I have 3 partitions adding up to 38.1gb, so I guess I'm okay. Good thing,
as I'm running out of PCI slots.
Thanks again. -njrich2

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

I bought a Western Digital 80 GB 7200 RPM drive at samsclub.com for $100 new. It comes with a nice software floppy that can install what it calls "EZ BIOS" automatically for you. This BIOS is compatible with any very large drive. Also the floppy had software to easily copy all the contents of my old drive to one of the partitions on the new drive eliminating the need to reinstall the OS/back everything up/reinstall every game individually. Speaking of partitions it lets you create them as well when you go through the install. I can't find the drive on samsclub.com anymore, but I highly reccomend a WD drive due to the good software included on the floppy and good install documentation.