Where's the rest of my HD space?

reloaded

What's up peeps...got a question for yas. Awhile ago my 40 GB hard drive crashed and basically wiped out my main PC at home. I went and bought a 160 GB hard drive and formatted it into 4 partitions. Then I did a clean install of Windows XP and restored all my data from backup. Question is, I ended up with 4 partitions of 30 GB. Basically, I don't know where the other 40 GB went. Is there a limit or something for XP SP2 that it will only recognize 120 GB? I want my 40 GB back ! Thanks.

Sie

What is it formatted as FAT/FAT 32/NTFS ??

sprkymrk

What do you see in Disk Manager?
What does the bios see?

Olajuwon

Go into disk management
right-click my computer---> manage--> disk management

You will see the unpartioned space, right-click on it and format it, assign it a letter, kiss it and have s e x with it . There you have it. Your stolen space has been recovered.

reloaded

Thanks for the replies everyone. I went into Disk Management from Manage under My Computer and I saw the unallocated space in the lower portion of the window (the part that gives the color code for allocated space, unallocated, etc). It did say unallocated space, but when I right clicked, it only gave me the choice to partition it as a primary partition. Is it ok to partition it as a primary then format it? Windows did say I could have up to three primary partitions. Does it make a difference?

Olajuwon

reloaded wrote:

Thanks for the replies everyone. I went into Disk Management from Manage under My Computer and I saw the unallocated space in the lower portion of the window (the part that gives the color code for allocated space, unallocated, etc). It did say unallocated space, but when I right clicked, it only gave me the choice to partition it as a primary partition. Is it ok to partition it as a primary then format it? Windows did say I could have up to three primary partitions. Does it make a difference?

Yes

crabeater

MS does not like to admit it, but there are still limits to what the operating system, under FDisk, will see, even for NTFS (they have also instituted new limits for volume sizes). I think I read that it is 132GB

In these new limitation, NEW FAT32 partition is limited to 32GB. But will handle 2TB for pre-existing partitions.

It may be too late now [your system works], but always check the CD that comes with your new HW for drivers that will let you get it set up. The CD could get you around the limits.

Check out KB313348, and
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316505/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255867/EN-US/

[Some info from Exam Cram 2]

TheShadow

Assuming that you have an updated BIOS, service pack 2 removes the 132gb limit. Partition magic will gladly expand your partition after sp2 is installed. Disk manager will also make additional partitions. The 32GB limit under FAT32 is also a BIOS problem. Most all recent motherboard makers have new code to fix the problem.

Danman32

32 limit shouldn't be a BIOS problem. BIOS handles physical disk access and possibly partition access, but not on how data is organized by the OS. It wouldn't matter if it was FAT32 or NTFS.

There used to be a disk size limit in BIOSes and IDE because of how they addressed the cylinder/head/sector differently. This was fixed by addressing the sectors using absolute numbers, instead of CHS format.

Now some OS drivers could overcome the BiOS drive size limitation, but if the driver code was beyond the BIOS limitation, then it couldn't be reached to overcome the limitation. It's like a rope that can let you reach the other side of the chasm, but the rope is beyond the reach of your hand.

I would suggest though formatting using NTFS. It is more secure, more reliable, and handles larger drives better.

TheShadow

Danman32 wrote:

32 limit shouldn't be a BIOS problem. BIOS handles physical disk access and possibly partition access, but not on how data is organized by the OS. It wouldn't matter if it was FAT32 or NTFS.

While you are correct that it should not be a problem, I think you are missing the key point. Check the first knowledge base article that the poster that I replied to listed. Please note Method 2; It is the method that microsoft chose to implement as not being compatible. The problem is in the partition logic and appears to be a wrap around if you do not have a 48 bit BIOS. Unless your system is reasonably new 2003/2004 then you won't have one and the MS code does not do a good job of checking so you end up with wierd parameters in the MBR partition table. Microsofts solution initially was to say you can't create a fat32 partition greater than 32 gig until you fix your BIOS.

This was originally listed as the 137GB limit and was covered in KB article 305098 back in 2003 for window 2000. Win XP added 48 bit disk support in SP1 so an original XP disk installation will cause all sorts of problems with large disks even if your BIOS is up to date. I suspect it is at least one of the reasons that MS does not support plain vanilla XP installations for fixes and upgrades; to much busted programming logic.

For those more than mildly interested in what we are talking about here is a single page that describe the situation in less technical terms. With links for more detail.

http://www.48bitlba.com/overview.htm

Cheers

reloaded

Win XP added 48 bit disk support in SP1 so an original XP disk installation will cause all sorts of problems with large disks even if your BIOS is up to date.

Looks like that might've been my problem. The motherboard I have is pretty recent, a Gigabyte bought last year and I've flashed the BIOS recently. However, whenever I have to format and load WinXP onto a computer, I use the original XP then add SP2 after XP is installed (somehow I always have a HD go bad ). I did go into disk management and activate the space as a primary partition and formatted it; I got my 40 GB back. Definately some things to think about here. Thanks for the replies everyone and for the help!

TheShadow

Glad that you solved your problem. I normally carry a set of partition magic boot floppies, if I have to use an original disk and SP2 upgrade then expand the partition out to max size after the SP2 upgrade.

Danman32

I forgot about the 48 bit LBA.