Thanks for the info...

HH wrote:

48-bit LBA applies only to Hard drives larger than 127GB. Even if your
Presario does not support 48-bit LBA, it should accept a 120GB drive just
fine.
HH

"K. Wing Wong" wrote in message
...

Hello I have a Compaq Presario 4410CA, with a 40GB hard drive running
windows XP home. I have thinking of adding another hard drive to
the machine. I am thinking of another 40GB or 80 GB. I have been
searching the web for models and pricing etc. At the moment I am
leaning towards a Western Digital 80GB JB, because of its 8MB
buffer. But looking at the specs it says something about 48-bit LBA
addressing, and in one article that I read, you will need a
separate controller for those motherboards that don't have native
LBA support:

http://www.storagereview.com/article...D2000xB_1.html

The above review is for a 200GB drive, but the specs should be
similar for an 80GB drive. I reason that I favour this drive, is
because of its price (approx CAN $110), and my needs.

So I emailed Compaq support for advice. I got a response from them
saying that my PC can only support a total of 60GB, and they provided
part numbers for 20GB disk drives.

I find this quite strange, as the OS should only care about space on
a particular drive, or a drive partition. I don't understand why there
should be a limit on the total amount of drive space.

I understand LBA is only necessary for OS/MB that don't support a drive
larger than 137 GB.

Can anyone tell me if I can safely add an 80GB drive to my PC?

Thanks.

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kwong (at) nbnet (dot) nb (dot) ca
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