Windows XP 32 bits and 3TB HD

[Dixman]

Hi. Although it's been a while since I last posted on the forum, I still check in from time to time. To the point. The thing is, I have an HTPC set up in the living room with a 1.5TB hard drive installed, and I have Windows XP 32BITS, which I think is the best OS Microsoft has ever made. In fact, it's also the OS I have installed on the computer in the office. The thing is, since all the movies I have on the HTPC are in 1080P, they take up an average of 15GB per movie, and of course, 1.5TB is not enough for me. So the other day I got myself a Western Digital Green Caviar 3TB for the capacity and for the low power consumption and noise of this HD. The thing is, I installed it in the HTPC and the BIOS recognizes the 3TB, but the damn Windows XP only recognizes 768GB. I go to the computer in the office, install it there and it's the same. I look it up on the internet and I find out that Windows XP and even Vista and W7 32 bits are not capable of reading disks larger than 2TB!!!! Do you know of any solution? Is there a driver out there? Looking around on the internet, people say that there are different solutions, but I can't find anything that's free. Not even Western Digital or Microsoft have a solution on their websites. Can you help me? I don't want to have to install W7 64Bits just to be able to use the damn HD. :wall:

[lforos]

Do you still keep the 1.5TB drive or have you replaced it? With 32bits it will never recognize the drive of more than 2.2 Tb if it is the boot drive, because it performs a format with MBR (which has this limitation). Try to partition the drive into sizes smaller than 2.2 to see if it recognizes all the partitions properly, but I fear that without GBT support (with the paid driver you mentioned) you will hardly solve it.

I would go to Windows 7 64b. I also had the same concern as you to leave XP, but I think it will be worth it.

[Bm4n]

Dixman what a miracle to read you!

I didn't think of you as a nostalgic for xp, l what I would say is: updateeee, as the ad sang :risitas:

[ferelxyx]

computers partitioned disks using a “Master Boot Record” (MBR), but unfortunately the MBR is limited to partitions smaller than 2.2 TB.

To solve this problem, a new partition table was created called the “GUID Partition Table” (GPT).
the computer can detect disks larger than 2.5 TB.
Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Service Pack 2 supports GPT partitions.
However, the 32-bit version of Windows XP does not support GPT partitions.
Other operating systems that support GPT partitions are Windows 7, Linux, and Intel-based Mac OS X.

In the past, when we turned on a PC, the PC's BIOS looked for the boot disk to start the operating system contained in it.
For this process to work, the old BIOS looked for the data stored in the partition table (example MBR) to start the PC.
When GPT was created, a new boot system also had to be created.
To boot disks with GPT technology, a computer must also support the UEFI BIOS standard.
If we wanted to boot a disk with a GPT partition with an old BIOS, the BIOS would see a single, non-executable volume and therefore would not attempt to start the system from it.
Linux systems do not need the UEFI BIOS standard.

regards

[ferelxyx]

The free DiscWizard software from Seagate provides you with the ideal tool to use your Barracuda drive 3 TB,
even with Windows XP and standard PC BIOS. Claim your free copy now to go beyond 2 TB.

this is what Seagate says

regards

[Franziskaner]

@ferelxyx:

Seagate's free DiscWizard software provides you with the ideal tool to use your Barracuda 3TB drive,
even with Windows XP and standard PC BIOS. Request your free copy now to go beyond 2TB.

this is what Seagate says

regards

exactly that's what it says, what it doesn't say is that it ONLY WORKS with Seagate / Maxtor drives :wall:
unless recent modifications, when you install the free application the first thing it does is check what hard drives you have and if you don't have Seagate :eoh:

[faliqui]

You can try with the software provided by your motherboard manufacturer.

At Asus you can look at the Disk Unlocker:
ASUS Motherboard Disk Unlocker - Unearth the Missing Space

At Gigabyte you can look at the 3TB+ Unlocker:
GIGABYTE 3TB+ Unlock Utility

If your board is on the supported list you will be able to use the 3TB drive, otherwise you better sell it to me for... let's say... 50€ :ugly: