This is Driving Me Nuts!!! Please Help Setting Up New 200GB Drive!!!

[rpr]

I am no idiot (well maybe I am), but I can not figure out how to setup a new 200GB drive to be recognized as one large 200GB drive (no partitions).

My BIOS supports large drives (Asus P4C800-E Deluxe). I have formatted the drive using Windows XP (as my boot drive), updated to XP SP2 after the initial install, installed the Maxtor big drive enabler registry patch, and I still only see 137GB.

Can someone please walk me through this, step by step?

 

[airfoil]

If you haven't already, start by downloading and installing the latest BIOS from this page.

You'd also want to give this PDF a read.

 

[slurmsmackenzie]

happened to me...

mine was a matter of installing SP 1. did you have 1 already installed, or did you go straight to 2? try uninstalling 2, install 1, then your HDD, then 2.

 

[LTC8K6]

Have you gone into disk management to see if you can delete the partition and make one big one?

 

[jackschmittusa]

You need to change the registry to enable 48 bit addressing. Maxtor has a little utility that does this called "Big Drive Enabler". It is a free download on their site. I have used it for a 300gb Maxtor drive. I have heard that who makes your drive is unimportant, as it is a gereric change in Windows.

 

[rpr]

jack: already did that.

LTC: You may be onto something. I now see the other 63GB in Disk Management, but it shows up as unallocated space. So how do I get the 137GB and 63GB to play nice as one big happy drive???

 

[LTC8K6]

I think you need to delete the 137GB drive and partition. I think you will then have 200GB unallocated space. You should then be able to create a new 200GB partition if all goes well.

 

[rpr]

Airfoil:

Good article. Looks like my problem is that the only way to get the 200GB on a single drive/partition (since my Windows XP CD is the original version without LBA support), is to create/burn a "slipstreamed" new Windows XP installation CD (with SP2 morphed into it) or to use a third party partitioning software program.

What a bummer. I must say though, this is really my first major disappointment with the capabilities of Windows XP.

 

[rpr]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
I think you need to delete the 137GB drive and partition. I think you will then have 200GB unallocated space. You should then be able to create a new 200GB partition if all goes well.

In Disk Management??? Without losing everything on the 137GB (like my OS)???

 

[LTC8K6]

Didn't think it was that drive, thought it was just a new drive you were trying to get working. XP won't allow you to make that error anyway.

You could possibly copy the 137GB partition to another hard drive using the drive mfgs tools. Then delete your 137GB partition, format the new drive out to 200GB, and copy the drive back over.

 

[rpr]

I'll keep that in my back pocket. I'm off to try to create a slipstreamed bootable Windows XP SP2 CD!

Thanks for all the help.

 

[fireontheway]

Partition magic might help.

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: rpr

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
I think you need to delete the 137GB drive and partition. I think you will then have 200GB unallocated space. You should then be able to create a new 200GB partition if all goes well.

In Disk Management??? Without losing everything on the 137GB (like my OS)???

I couldn't imagine defraging a 200 Gb hard drive.

I always create a partition of 30 gigs or so for my OS, and then separate partitions for my programs and backup.

This way, when it is time to reinstall your OS, you have all your saved data and so on left untouched.

 

[pm]

I installed a new WD 200GB drive on my Asus P4C800-E a few days ago. I imaged my 120GB drive onto the 250GB using Actonis True Image 8.0. Worked without any issues. One 250GB partition with all of the data from the 120GB on it. I bought True Image from Newegg in download form for $33.

As far as defragging, imaging drives automatically defrags them. About once every couple of weeks, I image the drives back and forth. I used to use an 80GB and a 120GB drive, but when I hit more than 80GB, I had to upgrade, so with a budget of about $100 I went to 200GB.

 

[qbek]

Originally posted by: rpr
I now see the other 63GB in Disk Management, but it shows up as unallocated space. So how do I get the 137GB and 63GB to play nice as one big happy drive???

You should be able to fix that without reformatting/reinstalling WinXP with a partitioning tool like Partition Magic. Just extend the boundary of the existing partition over the unallocated space.
Also, I did it a couple of times using ntfsprogs (if you are not afraid of command line Linux). Use at least version 1.9.0. Detailed instructions and downloads can be found here.

 

[Insidious]

Originally posted by: pm
I installed a new WD 200GB drive on my Asus P4C800-E a few days ago. I imaged my 120GB drive onto the 250GB using Actonis True Image 8.0. Worked without any issues. One 250GB partition with all of the data from the 120GB on it. I bought True Image from Newegg in download form for $33.

As far as defragging, imaging drives automatically defrags them. About once every couple of weeks, I image the drives back and forth. I used to use an 80GB and a 120GB drive, but when I hit more than 80GB, I had to upgrade, so with a budget of about $100 I went to 200GB.

I did the same thing here except I used Ghost (2003). If you have the imaging tool (and a spare HD), this is the easiest way.

-Sid

edit: When I image, it appears my frags. stay as they are??? I'll look closer next time.

 

[aplefka]

I thought this was just a thing that Windows XP couldn't do? Because I've upgraded mine and I just have to go with 120/40 for my 160 gig hard drive.

 

[Insidious]

If you don't have an SP1 or SP2 install disk, the format will only give you 137. But once you have the install finished and update to SP1 (or 2) then the entire disk size is recognized in disk management, but the partition is still set to 137 from the install. You can then use Partition Magic to partition the newly recognized space, then merge the partitions into one if you like. Or you can move your image from your old HD to your new larger one with a tool like Ghost or Actonis and it will make one partition the full size of your disk. (Still need SP1 or > to recognize it)

-Sid

 

[rpr]

Or you can create a "slipstreamed" Windows XP install disk by merging your original install disk that does not have SP1 or SP2 with the downloadable network version of SP2. Instructions are on the net. Check out: L=[http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp]http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp[/L]]http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp[/L]).

That's what I just did and it worked great.