BIOS freezes on boot when my 1TB usb drive is connected

PC Hobbyist

PC Hobbyist

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I have an HP Pavillion with a Pentium 4 @ 2.6GHz, which I bought back in 2003.
I have several external usb HDD, the largest one being 1TB.
When I boot with that particular HDD turned on, the PC freezes at the HP Logo screen permanently. I have to reboot with the 1TB HDD turned off in order to get to Windows.

Could it be that my BIOS doesn't support drives with that capacity? I already have the latest BIOS update.

BTW: These are my motherboard specs
 
Last edited:
PC Hobbyist

PC Hobbyist

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I thought I would bump this to see if anyone can help.
I am planning on getting a 1TB internal SATA drive, and since I have the above problem with the external usb drive, I was wondering if it might also apply to an internal SATA drive.
 
kimsland

kimsland

New Member
I think its just an external USB issue on your Motherboard
ie Internal should work
As for Maximum size of hard drive (1 TB) you may want to just fully confirm by contacting HP here: http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact/chat_1.html

You can also locate all your Device Drivers here (Note: Internet Explorer required) http://h20270.www2.hp.com/ediags/gmn2/index.aspx

You can also press CTRL + ALT + S, to view model and S/N info

If you decide on installing the Sata Hard Drive, you may need to set your Bios to "Enable" Sata support
 
PC Hobbyist

PC Hobbyist

New Member
kimsland said:
I think its just an external USB issue on your Motherboard
ie Internal should work
As for Maximum size of hard drive (1 TB) you may want to just fully confirm by contacting HP here: http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact/chat_1.html

You can also locate all your Device Drivers here (Note: Internet Explorer required) http://h20270.www2.hp.com/ediags/gmn2/index.aspx

You can also press CTRL + ALT + S, to view model and S/N info

If you decide on installing the Sata Hard Drive, you may need to set your Bios to "Enable" Sata support
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links and the tip to make sure sata support is enabled. I'll try contacting HP about the max size supported on my mobo.
What do mean Ctrl + Alt + S to view model and S/N info? Where do I do that?
 
kimsland

kimsland

New Member
Anytime in Windows
Give it a go ;) But it only works on Desktop computers not laptops
Mind you, it was "HP" that had this, "Compaq" (being HP anyway) I believe is the same (?)
 
PC Hobbyist

PC Hobbyist

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Thanks again for your tips, Kimsland!
I just got done chatting with hp support. It was great and they responded right away.
As it turns out, my mobo will only accept a max of 250 - 300 GB per SATA 1.5 drive. So, buying the WD Caviar Black at 1TB is out of the question unless I turn it into an external drive via a usb case.

And I asked about the 1TB usb drive causing my pc to freeze when booting while that usb drive is turned on. They suggested trying a direct rear usb port (I have it via usb hub to rear usb port right now), and if that does not do it, then I should try disabling usb legacy support in the bios. If that still doesn't do it, I'll check back with them.

So, what exactly is usb legacy support?
 
kimsland

kimsland

New Member
All that info is good :good:

USB legacy support, just means you can have USB support outside Windows, ie on bootup

I didn't realize you were using a USB external port - no wonder :rolleyes:
 
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