# Partitioning 3T drive for storage only for WinXP [Solved by Breaking It]



## cornemuse (Jan 8, 2018)

I have a new (3 yrs old but never used) 3T WD hdd. Actually had it powered up for ½ hour or so attempting to partition it.
I want to use the whole drive for storage on an 'unplugged' no i-net access XP-Pro-64 bit computer. Yeah, , yeah, , I know, but it does _everything_ I want flawlessly. I attempted partitioning on the machine & got only 754(?) ± gigs out of it. Not even 1T. Could it be partitioned under some flavor of linux & work under XP?  I have a Ubuntu computer. Or would something like "GParted Live" work?

https://gparted.org/download.php 

I think this can be run from a CD.

Thoughts or ideas??

-corne-


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## John Naylor (Jan 8, 2018)

Read this.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/235088/everything-you-need-to-know-about-3tb-hard-drives.html

"you can boot Windows from a 3TB drive only if it's 64-bit Vista or 64-bit Windows 7--and then, only if you have a PC with an EFI/UEFI BIOS. EFI is Intel's Extensible Firmware Interface, and UEFI (United EFI) is the nonproprietary version based on the 1.10 EFI spec."

I have used as externals / non boot drives ... usually do it w/ one of these

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...&Description=blacx&ignorear=0&N=-1&isNodeId=1


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## Kursah (Jan 8, 2018)

To support and "see" larger drives than I believe 2.2TB you need to format in GPT, which I do not think XP x64 supports. Correction XP x64 is the only version of XP that supports GPT, but only for EFI Itanium-based systems: https://www.microsoft.com/resources...docs/en-us/guid_partition_table.mspx?mfr=true

If you don't want newer version of Windows other than XP, maybe go Linux?


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## phill (Jan 8, 2018)

Just seen this online..  http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/hard-disk-drives-capacity-limits/6/

No idea of how true or not, but surely you could partition the drive before putting it into the XP machine or partition in situ?  Saying that, if using XP, I'm not sure you'd really use such a big drive, would there be a possibility of using a smaller drive?  It's been a while since I've used XP so I can't remember hitting any particular limits at the time....


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## Regeneration (Jan 8, 2018)

You'll need to partition the drive in GPT format.

If you can't do it from within Windows XP,  try an old version of Acronis True Image WD Edition (restart after installation), use the extended capacity manager to partition the drive.

If it doesn't work, Paragon offers GPT Loader for Windows XP for $20.


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## bug (Jan 8, 2018)

Regeneration said:


> You'll need to partition the drive in GPT format.
> 
> If you can't do it from within Windows XP,  try an old version of Acronis True Image WD Edition (restart after installation), use the extended capacity manager to partition the drive.
> 
> If it doesn't work, Paragon offers GPT Loader for Windows XP for $20.


A live Linux image might also help.

But seriously, what do you do with 3TB of storage on WinXP? I don't think it can play 4k movies and it probably doesn't run modern photo/video editing software either. (Genuinely curious)


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## P4-630 (Jan 8, 2018)

bug said:


> I don't think it can play 4k movies and it probably doesn't run modern photo/video editing software either. (Genuinely curious)



But you can play Crysis....


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## Jetster (Jan 8, 2018)

Is this a primary drive or secondary? To partition the whole drive it has to be GPT. XP 32 bit will not boot to GPT. XP 64 bit reports it can but XP 64 bit is a nightmare

Its only 754 Gb because of the Fat32 limitation. MBR NTFS will get you 2Tb


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## johnspack (Jan 9, 2018)

Interesting,  I used XP64 for years without issue.   Didn't know it supported GPT,  and it does!  Yes,  only for data,  but it does.  I use Win 7,  still can't boot GPT,  but considering
you usually use 256G or 512G ssds to boot,  not really an issue.....


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 9, 2018)

I thought there was a patch for XP to allow it to read drives greater than 1 tb even format them...

Heres some pertnient info on mbr/gpt.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...port-for-hard-disks-that-are-larger-than-2-tb

https://social.technet.microsoft.co...dows-xp-hard-drive-size-limit?forum=itproxpsp

This is a possible hack for this issue

https://www.ghacks.net/2010/11/04/how-to-use-3tb-hard-drives-on-windows-xp/

http://ccm.net/forum/affich-5400-ntfs-partition-size-limit-for-windows-xp


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## johnspack (Jan 9, 2018)

Yes,  here's an example by Seagate showing gpt use under XP64:  http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/006125en?language=en_US


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## lexluthermiester (Jan 9, 2018)

cornemuse said:


> I have a new (3 yrs old but never used) 3T WD hdd. Actually had it powered up for ½ hour or so attempting to partition it.
> I want to use the whole drive for storage on an 'unplugged' no i-net access XP-Pro-64 bit computer. Yeah, , yeah, , I know, but it does _everything_ I want flawlessly. I attempted partitioning on the machine & got only 754(?) ± gigs out of it. Not even 1T. Could it be partitioned under some flavor of linux & work under XP?  I have a Ubuntu computer. Or would something like "GParted Live" work?
> 
> https://gparted.org/download.php
> ...


Do you want to use it as a boot drive or would you be ok with it as a secondary storage drive? 

If you're ok with a dual drive situation, setup Windows on your main drive first, then put the 3TB drive in an external enclosure through USB 3. Through USB, the partition structure, MBR VS GPT, will not matter as the hardware only sees the USB mass storage controller which the drive will sit behind. You will then have all of the available capacity open to you. I've done this a few times. It's a 'round-about way of doing it but it does work.


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## cornemuse (Jan 10, 2018)

https://www.pcworld.com/article/235088/everything-you-need-to-know-about-3tb-hard-drives.html
read this before starting this thread, , , no help

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...&Description=blacx&ignorear=0&N=-1&isNodeId=1
I have a Kingwin one of these, , , just connection via usb 2 - 3 --- & cloning

If you don't want newer version of Windows other than XP, maybe go Linux?
If linux et al ran my chosen programs, I would already have (I tried various Ubuntus)

if using XP, I'm not sure you'd really use such a big drive
I have 18-20 1T drives 'full', , , 

 But seriously, what do you do with 3TB of storage on WinXP? I don't think it can play 4k movies and it probably doesn't run modern photo/video editing software either. (Genuinely curious)
back up dvds = 4 - 8 gigs per, , , how modern? paintdotnet, graphics workshop pro, etc, etc, they work, , , 
& what are 4k movies anyway? dvds for me, not even bluray discs, , , plus huge amounts of graphics and vid cam vids, , , ads up pretty quick, , ,



cornemuse said:


> *I want to use the whole drive for storage* on an 'unplugged' no i-net access XP-Pro-64 bit computer.


from original post ^ ^ ^ 

D, or D + E + F, or whatever, would work for me, , , , ,


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## Sasqui (Jan 10, 2018)

Subscribed for nostalgia sake... 

Not to mention I was going to try XP 32 just to run a program that won't run on any other version of windows, and... well that's all I'm going to say.


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## lexluthermiester (Jan 10, 2018)

Sasqui said:


> I was going to try XP 32 just to run a program that won't run on any other version of windows


As has been mentioned in other threads, I've got a dedicated system for running XP because of reasons like yours. Granted, most of the programs in question will run on other systems, but run much better on XP because of the way XP works. Compatibility mode in Vista, 7 and up works most of the time, but not always perfectly.


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## Sasqui (Jan 10, 2018)

lexluthermiester said:


> As has been mentioned in other threads, I've got a dedicated system for running XP because of reasons like yours. Granted, most of the programs in question will run on other systems, but run much better on XP because of the way XP works. Compatibility mode in Vista, 7 and up works most of the time, but not always perfectly.



I've got one that simply WONT work on anything other than XP


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## lexluthermiester (Jan 10, 2018)

Sasqui said:


> I've got one that simply WONT work on anything other than XP


Kinda curious now, what is it?


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## cornemuse (Jan 12, 2018)

Problem solved. I took hdd out of (caseless) drive bay & dropped it on the floor, it hit hard & is now junk, _nothing_ sees it now, , , , ,

(I didnt drop it on purpose.)


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## bug (Jan 12, 2018)

cornemuse said:


> Problem solved. I took hdd out of (caseless) drive bay & dropped it on the floor, it hit hard & is now junk, _nothing_ sees it now, , , , ,
> 
> (I didnt drop it on purpose.)


More like problem removed.


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## lexluthermiester (Jan 13, 2018)

cornemuse said:


> Problem solved. I took hdd out of (caseless) drive bay & dropped it on the floor, it hit hard & is now junk, _nothing_ sees it now, , , , ,
> (I didnt drop it on purpose.)


That sucks.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 13, 2018)

Time to use a 1tb ssd lol


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## cornemuse (Jan 13, 2018)

Is there a 'Problem Solved' button here?


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## Jetster (Jan 13, 2018)

No just let it die


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## sneekypeet (Jan 13, 2018)

cornemuse said:


> Is there a 'Problem Solved' button here?



We could mark the thread solved, but it would be great if you posted what it was that resolved the issue.


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## Aquinus (Jan 13, 2018)

sneekypeet said:


> We could mark the thread solved, but it would be great if you posted what it was that resolved the issue.


The OP sure did!


cornemuse said:


> Problem solved. I took hdd out of (caseless) drive bay & dropped it on the floor, it hit hard & is now junk, _nothing_ sees it now, , , , ,
> 
> (I didnt drop it on purpose.)


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## lexluthermiester (Jan 14, 2018)

Aquinus said:


> The OP sure did!


I think what SneekyPeet meant was that the issue wasn't so much "resolved" as it was nullified. Thus the wink..


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