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#1
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
Hi Guys,
Is there any way of determining the maximum size of HDD I can use on my PC? Is it determined by the mainboard, the bios or the OS? Finally, if the size if a HDD exceeds the maximum, can I work around it by having partitions equal to that limit? Best regards, Steve |
#2
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
Partitions work fine.
johns |
#3
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
"Steve Wade" wrote...
Hi Guys, Is there any way of determining the maximum size of HDD I can use on my PC? Is it determined by the mainboard, the bios or the OS? All 3, to some extent... If the computer is within 2 years old, it likely is NOT limited to 135 GB as were the previous generation. If a bit older, there may be a BIOS update available to recognize 135 GB. I don't know about Win 9x, but XP recognizes large HDs and partitions without problem. However, I have an external 3.5" HD enclosure that will not recognize 135 GB on the HD, regardless of partitioning. I had to buy a new enclosure for my 300 GB HD. |
#4
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
The motherboard and its BIOS determine the maximum capacityof harddrive that
they can recognize. And, NO, changing the partition size will not fool it into accepting a larger drive capacity. -- DaveW ---------------- "Steve Wade" wrote in message ... Hi Guys, Is there any way of determining the maximum size of HDD I can use on my PC? Is it determined by the mainboard, the bios or the OS? Finally, if the size if a HDD exceeds the maximum, can I work around it by having partitions equal to that limit? Best regards, Steve |
#5
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
Steve Wade wrote:
Hi Guys, Is there any way of determining the maximum size of HDD I can use on my PC? The motherboard/BIOS documentation. Is it determined by the mainboard, the bios or the OS? First by the BIOS. Secondly the O.S. must support it. Finally, if the size if a HDD exceeds the maximum, can I work around it by having partitions equal to that limit? No. You can't put a partition 'there---' on the hard drive if the motherboard doesn't know how to talk to the hard drive 'there---' Multiple partitions can be used to overcome an O.S. file system limit, however. The limit for NTFS is large enough (2.2 terabytes) to not currently matter on home PCs but earlier file systems had lower partition limits. FAT16, for example, has a DOS limit of 2GB so you'd give a 4GB drive two 2GB partitions (if the motherboard BIOS supports a drive that large). Best regards, Steve |
#6
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
If you are using Windows XP SP1 or later, the OS will recognize the full
size of the drive (any size available now) and be able to partition and format it with no problem. This is regardless of how the bios/motherboard recognizes it. "Steve Wade" wrote in message ... Hi Guys, Is there any way of determining the maximum size of HDD I can use on my PC? Is it determined by the mainboard, the bios or the OS? Finally, if the size if a HDD exceeds the maximum, can I work around it by having partitions equal to that limit? Best regards, Steve |
#7
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
Tweek wrote:
If you are using Windows XP SP1 or later, the OS will recognize the full size of the drive (any size available now) and be able to partition and format it with no problem. This is regardless of how the bios/motherboard recognizes it. Things may appear to work but if the motherboard doesn't support the drive it won't work. "Steve Wade" wrote in message ... Hi Guys, Is there any way of determining the maximum size of HDD I can use on my PC? Is it determined by the mainboard, the bios or the OS? Finally, if the size if a HDD exceeds the maximum, can I work around it by having partitions equal to that limit? Best regards, Steve |
#8
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
Can you get around this by installing a new controller card
in a slot? "Steve Wade" wrote in message ... Hi Guys, Is there any way of determining the maximum size of HDD I can use on my PC? Is it determined by the mainboard, the bios or the OS? Finally, if the size if a HDD exceeds the maximum, can I work around it by having partitions equal to that limit? Best regards, Steve |
#9
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Hard Drive Size Limitations?
Very clear explanation of all options he
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/tp/137gb.pdf Can you get around this by installing a new controller card in a slot? "Steve Wade" wrote in message ... Hi Guys, Is there any way of determining the maximum size of HDD I can use on my PC? Is it determined by the mainboard, the bios or the OS? Finally, if the size if a HDD exceeds the maximum, can I work around it by having partitions equal to that limit? Best regards, Steve |
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