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NTFS? Hard dirve limit?
6-Gb HDD's (FAT32); the system boots on the 20-Gb drive. Initially, I figured to simply replace the 6-Gb drive (it's older, installed in 1999) to get more storage capacity, so off I went to the local CompUSA -- haven't yet decided whether that was a smart move or not(!) since I came home more confused than before. The sales clerk warned me that there was a size limit to the HDD this system would recognize, but he wasn't sure what it was...(hey, the kid could have simply sold me that 300-Gb drive and let me figure out why it wouldn't work!). After Google search and some browsing through WinXP Help, I'm still puzzled... The system motherboard was purchased in 12/2001, has a Via chipset, Award BIOS. How big a drive will the system properly recognize? Thanks, Bart "bwesley8" <bwesl***@cox.net> wrote in message news:PKGWd.11914$2s.9644@lakeread06..." How big a drive will the system properly recognize? " I expect the motherboard isn't equipped with 48-bit LBA. http://www.48bitlba.com/ I expect that you are correct -- however, the link you provided refers to
"the capacity of IDE ATA/ATAPI devices..." as having a "...limit of 137.4 GB." If that's the limit, the local Best Buy has a 120-Gb western Digital drive on sale for $50 (after rebates). Thanks, Bart Show quoteHide quote "Cuzman" <cuzNOSPAM@supanet.com> wrote in message news:d0fhsi$4le$1@news.freedom2surf.net... > "bwesley8" <bwesl***@cox.net> wrote in message > news:PKGWd.11914$2s.9644@lakeread06... > > " How big a drive will the system properly recognize? " > > > I expect the motherboard isn't equipped with 48-bit LBA. > http://www.48bitlba.com/ > > > bwesley8 wrote:
Show quoteHide quote > We've got an aging PIII 800-Mhz system running WinXP Home, with 20-Gb and The 137GB limit comes from the BIOS being able to address only 2^28 > 6-Gb HDD's (FAT32); the system boots on the 20-Gb drive. > > Initially, I figured to simply replace the 6-Gb drive (it's older, > installed in 1999) to get more storage capacity, so off I went to the local > CompUSA -- haven't yet decided whether that was a smart move or not(!) since > I came home more confused than before. > > The sales clerk warned me that there was a size limit to the HDD this system > would recognize, but he wasn't sure what it was...(hey, the kid could have > simply sold me that 300-Gb drive and let me figure out why it wouldn't > work!). After Google search and some browsing through WinXP Help, I'm still > puzzled... > > The system motherboard was purchased in 12/2001, has a Via chipset, > Award BIOS. How big a drive will the system properly recognize? sectors of 512 bytes each. (2^28 x 512 = 137.4 GB using 1KB = 1000. Using the "computer" measure of 1KB = 1024, this is 128GB. Drive makers use the first convention, so any drive sold as < 137GB is OK. The nearest one to this is 120GB, which will work fine. You also need at least SP1 on WindowsXP to go over the 137GB limit, even with a 48bit LBA BIOS. -- Virg Wall Thanks! That's the info I needed.
Bart Show quoteHide quote "VWWall" <vw***@DEADearthlink.net> wrote in message news:hZLWd.2563$oO4.1640@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net... > bwesley8 wrote: >> We've got an aging PIII 800-Mhz system running WinXP Home, with 20-Gb and >> 6-Gb HDD's (FAT32); the system boots on the 20-Gb drive. >> >> Initially, I figured to simply replace the 6-Gb drive (it's older, >> installed in 1999) to get more storage capacity, so off I went to the >> local >> CompUSA -- haven't yet decided whether that was a smart move or not(!) >> since >> I came home more confused than before. >> >> The sales clerk warned me that there was a size limit to the HDD this >> system >> would recognize, but he wasn't sure what it was...(hey, the kid could >> have >> simply sold me that 300-Gb drive and let me figure out why it wouldn't >> work!). After Google search and some browsing through WinXP Help, I'm >> still >> puzzled... >> >> The system motherboard was purchased in 12/2001, has a Via chipset, >> Award BIOS. How big a drive will the system properly recognize? > > The 137GB limit comes from the BIOS being able to address only 2^28 > sectors of 512 bytes each. (2^28 x 512 = 137.4 GB using 1KB = 1000. > Using the "computer" measure of 1KB = 1024, this is 128GB. Drive makers > use the first convention, so any drive sold as < 137GB is OK. The nearest > one to this is 120GB, which will work fine. You also need at least SP1 on > WindowsXP to go over the 137GB limit, even with a 48bit LBA BIOS. > > -- > Virg Wall |
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