# An unusual problem with partitioning in WinXP Pro



## happita (Apr 8, 2008)

When I first put together the system in my specs, I booted up the computer with the intentions of installing XP Pro.
I get to the partition screen and I delete the partition that I saw which was like 7MB(not sure) and I created a new partition so that I could install the OS on and other necessary things like games and what have you. I create the partition and it only recognizes 131GB, but my HD has a 500GB capacity. Has this happened to anyone before? I'm not sure what I can do to resolve this problem.


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2008)

sounds like your formatting with fat32


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## happita (Apr 8, 2008)

How would I be able to change the format to NFTS(sp?) then?


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2008)

the install cd well, it lets you make a partition, then after it formats and you pick either FAT32 or NTFS, and youll also have options that say quick of each too, youll wanna pick NTFS (quickformat) or however it says that, but its right after when you make the partition


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## happita (Apr 9, 2008)

So what your saying is that the regular formatting is FAT32 and the quick format is NFTS? But how is that? Don't I have to specify how much space I want to format with before the actual formatting?


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## AsRock (Apr 9, 2008)

You need to format the partition as NTFS like the other guy said above.  Hopefully you did not install your OS under FAT32 as it would mean reformatting it as NTFS.

NTFS is the way to go it has more benefits..


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## Thermopylae_480 (Apr 9, 2008)

Behold.  A brief overview of the differences between FAT and NTFS.  You may decide you are satisfied with FAT.  NTFS is not all that necessary, its greatest advantage is that it is more secure, and allows you to set disk quotas.  If those issues don't really bother you, than you may decide not to, "trim the FAT." 

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/russel_october01.mspx


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## AsRock (Apr 9, 2008)

Thermopylae_480 said:


> Behold.  A brief overview of the differences between FAT and NTFS.  You may decide you are satisfied with FAT.  NTFS is not all that necessary, its greatest advantage is that it is more secure, and allows you to set disk quotas.  If those issues don't really bother you, than you may decide not to, "trim the FAT."
> 
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/russel_october01.mspx



Well i tried FAT with XP and i have needed to do more disk checks as it was all ways losing space.   Nothing major like but NTFS has been 100 x's better just for that reason.


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## mrhuggles (Apr 9, 2008)

yeah my logic was flawed, you set the size, when you partition it, hmm, if you really cant make a bigger partition than that, maybe its a bios setting? i coulda swore there were some settings that had something to do with that [also i saw tons of reports of the same ppl having the same problem on newegg reviews of the hdd i baught, 7200.10 250gb seagate] so whatever problem they are having maybe you do too, check bios settings i guess, like write all your hdd related settings down and then google them to find out what they do [if you dont know what they do already] thats about the best advice i can give, i had to do something similar with my new motherboard when i moved from nforce2 to a core2duo box, lotsa new stuff to learn


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## AsRock (Apr 9, 2008)

Well you can change partition sizes but space needs to be free and it's best if that free space is as close to the partition you want to make larger.

Ubuntu if i remember right will allow you to change sizes of a partition all though your suffering a FAT32 limitation ( just thought i'd say as it much cheaper than buying Partition magic lol).  All though backing up your needed files is always best done 1st.


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## imperialreign (Apr 9, 2008)

Like was mentioned, check you BIOS settings - although, most newer HDDs are usually detected without a problem.

TBH, if doing a new install of XP on a clean HDD (meaning, you don't have any important files that need to be saved), I've always gone the route of having the WIN Setup program remove the old partition, and have it build a new one - then I do a full format instead of a quick format (I also recommend a full format if changing from one file system to the other).

If for some reason your system isn't detecting the full capacity of the HDD - double check with someone else's rig if possible.  If that's not the case, it's quite possible the HDD is damaged somehow.


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## pepsi71ocean (Apr 9, 2008)

what SP of windows are you running. XP SP 1 can't see over 131GB in one partition.


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## happita (Apr 9, 2008)

Well when I initially installed XP Pro, it was SP1, but was then updated to SP2 through Windows Update of course. I'm going to try a reformat and see if that helps the space problem hopefully.


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## happita (Apr 10, 2008)

Ok, back from a fresh reformat. Problem is still there.
At the partition screen it still said 131GB and when I took a good look at the formatting choices, NTFS was the only available one. Either quick NTFS or normal. Same result. What could it be? A driver issue?


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## AsRock (Apr 10, 2008)

you see any free disk space under Disk Management ?.


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## imperialreign (Apr 10, 2008)

happita said:


> Ok, back from a fresh reformat. Problem is still there.
> At the partition screen it still said 131GB and when I took a good look at the formatting choices, NTFS was the only available one. Either quick NTFS or normal. Same result. What could it be? A driver issue?



just to make sure - you haven't changed any of the jumpers on the back of the HDD, have you?


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## happita (Apr 10, 2008)

AsRock said:


> you see any free disk space under Disk Management ?.



Pardon the noobieness, but how do I get to Disk Management?


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## happita (Apr 10, 2008)

imperialreign said:


> just to make sure - you haven't changed any of the jumpers on the back of the HDD, have you?



I installed the HD as is when I first got it and never touched it since. I used the blue sata cable that WD provided in the box. By jumper do you mean the rectangular 8 pins? If so, there is nothing attached to that.


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## happita (Apr 11, 2008)

Ahhhh, I know what a jumper is now. Its what specify's what the hd's function is, like being a primary or slave, a friend of mine sent me this picture.
http://www.easeus.com/resource/images/install-ide-hard-drive-jumper.gif

There seems to be no jumper on the hard drive, also checked the packaging and nothing in there either. Should I talk to newegg and ask for an RMA?


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## pepsi71ocean (Apr 11, 2008)

if your running SATA there are not jumper settings, just a 1.5/3Gb switch limiter, I know Seagate has them im not sure about WD.


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## Steevo (Apr 11, 2008)

If you are using a SP1 disk then it will not be able to see the rest of the disk space, you will have to slipstream a disk.


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## imperialreign (Apr 11, 2008)

happita said:


> Ahhhh, I know what a jumper is now. Its what specify's what the hd's function is, like being a primary or slave, a friend of mine sent me this picture.
> http://www.easeus.com/resource/images/install-ide-hard-drive-jumper.gif
> 
> There seems to be no jumper on the hard drive, also checked the packaging and nothing in there either. Should I talk to newegg and ask for an RMA?



no - no need for an RMA.  On WD SATA HDDs you typically have 4 or 5 different settings:

you'd have to check your HDD owner's manual to be sure, but advanced jumper settings can be found on pg. 18 in this pdf: http://www.wdc.com/en/library/sata/2779-001006.pdf

some SATA-II (SATA 300) drives typically have a 5th setting that sets the HDD at either 1.5 Gbps for older compatibility.


If your drive does follow the WD jumper settings in that .pdf, I'd recommend installing a jumper across pins 1&2.  You can pick up jumpers at a RadioShack or computer parts store, they're really cheap.


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## happita (Apr 11, 2008)

imperialreign said:


> no - no need for an RMA.  On WD SATA HDDs you typically have 4 or 5 different settings:
> 
> you'd have to check your HDD owner's manual to be sure, but advanced jumper settings can be found on pg. 18 in this pdf: http://www.wdc.com/en/library/sata/2779-001006.pdf
> 
> ...



What would I have to specifically ask for?

"Excuse me, I was wondering if you had a small jumper for a computer hard drive around?"


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## imperialreign (Apr 11, 2008)

happita said:


> What would I have to specifically ask for?
> 
> "Excuse me, I was wondering if you had a small jumper for a computer hard drive around?"



you should be able to jusk ask if they have any 2-pin jumpers.  Same jumpers as are used on a motherboard or older IDE HDDs.


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