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**Praetor** · 03-31-2005, 02:20 PM

Section 4 -- Problems
I bought a #GB but when I look at it I don't have that much space!!!

You may be encountering a 127/137GB partition limit (see next question), or if you have a really old setup, smaller limitations.
If you are comparing the detected drive space to the number written on the box of the HDD realize that the definition of "gigabyte" on the box and reality differ. The box's definition will be 1E9 bytes while reality's definition is 2^30 (1073741824 bytes). This introduces a scaling factor of 1953125:2097152 or roughly 0.93; this means that the actual space is 93% of the advertised price
Older OSes cannot cope with drives bigger than 137GB. Also, older bioses (i.e., older computers) cannot handle large drive sizes without some form of trickery or BIOS updates.
For Windows XP, have a visit here
For Windows2000, have a visit here

One more quick guide on fixing your drive capacity

I'm using WindowsXP and I have a drive >137GB and the total size is read properly, but why cant I have a partition >137GB?
You'll need to upgrade to Service Pack 2.

I bought a second PATA Drive, installed it ... my one of my original drives is missing!
This is a class symptom of a master-slave conflict, ensure that your jumpers are in the following configuration (this picture is only a guide, see your actual documentation to see what jumper configuration you need)

(Copying Data Off My Optical Drive is so Slow!)(Watching DVDs Stutter)(Im getting buffer underrun errors even when I burn slow!)
Sounds like you the optical drive in question is set to operate in PIO mode. To correct this, goto Device Manager (Start --> Run --> Type devmgmt.msc --> Goto IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers --> Goto the Properties for the Primary/Secondary Channel --> Advanced Settings --> Make sure both boxes say "DMA if Available")

I installed my drive, partitioned it but I cant use the partitions!
You'll have to format the partition before you can use it. Goto My Computer, right click on the desired drive and select Format

Ive installed my drive, BIOS recognizes it but I cant see it in Windows!
You'll have to partition the drive first. Windows2000 and later come with a easy to use interface for this (older OSes use fdisk or similar):
1. Control Panel
2. Administrative Tools
3. Computer Management
4. Disk Management
5. Select Desired Drive and create a partition. Dont forget to format the partition afterwards

03-31-2005, 02:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
Praetor Administrator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Age: 24 Posts: 19,946	Section 4 -- Problems I bought a #GB but when I look at it I don't have that much space!!! You may be encountering a 127/137GB partition limit (see next question), or if you have a really old setup, smaller limitations. If you are comparing the detected drive space to the number written on the box of the HDD realize that the definition of "gigabyte" on the box and reality differ. The box's definition will be 1E9 bytes while reality's definition is 2^30 (1073741824 bytes). This introduces a scaling factor of 1953125:2097152 or roughly 0.93; this means that the actual space is 93% of the advertised price Older OSes cannot cope with drives bigger than 137GB. Also, older bioses (i.e., older computers) cannot handle large drive sizes without some form of trickery or BIOS updates. For Windows XP, have a visit here For Windows2000, have a visit here One more quick guide on fixing your drive capacity I'm using WindowsXP and I have a drive >137GB and the total size is read properly, but why cant I have a partition >137GB? You'll need to upgrade to Service Pack 2. I bought a second PATA Drive, installed it ... my one of my original drives is missing! This is a class symptom of a master-slave conflict, ensure that your jumpers are in the following configuration (this picture is only a guide, see your actual documentation to see what jumper configuration you need) (Copying Data Off My Optical Drive is so Slow!)(Watching DVDs Stutter)(Im getting buffer underrun errors even when I burn slow!) Sounds like you the optical drive in question is set to operate in PIO mode. To correct this, goto Device Manager (Start --> Run --> Type devmgmt.msc --> Goto IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers --> Goto the Properties for the Primary/Secondary Channel --> Advanced Settings --> Make sure both boxes say "DMA if Available") I installed my drive, partitioned it but I cant use the partitions! You'll have to format the partition before you can use it. Goto My Computer, right click on the desired drive and select Format Ive installed my drive, BIOS recognizes it but I cant see it in Windows! You'll have to partition the drive first. Windows2000 and later come with a easy to use interface for this (older OSes use fdisk or similar): 1. Control Panel 2. Administrative Tools 3. Computer Management 4. Disk Management 5. Select Desired Drive and create a partition. Dont forget to format the partition afterwards __________________ ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8 4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400 5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10 OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI Last edited by Praetor; 09-18-2005 at 08:27 PM.