ASUS Announces Disk Unlocker, Make Use of HDDs with Over 2 TB Capacity

[btarunr]

Disk Unlocker is exclusive (patent pending) software from ASUS that overcomes current operating system limitations that prevent a hard disk drive from utilizing more than 2048GB (also known as 2.2TB). This one-click software solution instantly enables the full capacity of the latest generation of high-density hard drives, making vast amounts of storage space available to ASUS motherboard users.

In the early days of computing, users would never have dreamed of needing more than a few megabytes, let alone a few gigabytes worth of data, and as a result, operating system code was written to reflect this way of thinking. Today, with ever-increasing data densities and hard drive capacities now reaching 3TB and beyond, PC users are still saddled with operating systems unable to use the full capacity of hard drives larger than 2048GB. In other words, storage space can remain unused and inaccessible without a motherboard upgrade.

ASUS Disk Unlocker remedies this problem in a quick and easy fashion, opening up the full capacity of hard drives larger than 2048GB. Disk Unlocker is yet another example of ASUS' deep commitment to innovation for its customers, allowing them to fully realize the potential of their PCs without the need for an awkward operating system upgrade or costly hardware modification.

The Only Free and Instant Solution for PC Users
ASUS Disk Unlocker is a software utility that enables ASUS motherboards, new or old, to access the full capacity of hard drives with capacities larger than 2048GB. It's quick to install, requires zero technical knowledge to use, and not only enables current high-capacity hard drives to be fully exploited, but will work with all future hard drive upgrades too.

ASUS Disk Unlocker is offered as a free download from http://www.asus.com. Don't limit your PC to a 2048GB hard drive for the foreseeable future - switch to an ASUS motherboard and realize its full potential today. For more information, visit this page.

<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" border="1">
<tr>
<th colspan="5" width="583"><p>Compatible Motherboard Series</p></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="5" width="583"><p><strong>Intel Chipsets</strong></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="124"><p>X58 Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>P55 Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>H57 Series </p></td>
<td width="100"><p>H55 Series </p></td>
<td width="109"><p>X48 Series </p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="124"><p>P45 Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>P43 Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>G45 Series </p></td>
<td width="100"><p>G43 Series </p></td>
<td width="109"><p>G41 Series </p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="124"><p>X38 Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>P35 Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>G35 Series </p></td>
<td width="100"><p>G31 Series </p></td>
<td width="109"><p>946GZ Series </p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="124"><p>946PL Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>945GC Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>945GZ Series </p></td>
<td width="100"><p>945P Series </p></td>
<td width="109"><p>945PL Series </p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="5" width="583"><p><strong>AMD Chipsets</strong></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="124"><p>890FX Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>890GX Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>880G Series </p></td>
<td width="100"><p>870 Series </p></td>
<td width="109"><p>790FX Series </p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="124"><p>790GX Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>790X Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>785G Series </p></td>
<td width="100"><p>780G Series </p></td>
<td width="109"><p>770 Series </p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="124"><p>760G Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>740G Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>*</p></td>
<td width="100"><p>*</p></td>
<td width="109"><p>*</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="5" width="583"><p><strong>NVIDIA Chipsets</strong></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="124"><p>980a SLI Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>750a SLI Series </p></td>
<td width="124"><p>780a SLI Series </p></td>
</tr>
</table>

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[TheLostSwede]

But will it allow you to boot from a drive larger than 2TB?
I doubt it, since that's a BIOS limitation.
And is it such a big deal to partition a 3TB+ drive to be able to get access to all the space on it?
Besides, can you actually by any 3TB+ SATA drives yet?

 

[nINJAkECIL]

it's not a bios limitation.it is indeed an OS limitation.the same case happened when u use more than 3gb of ram on 32bit OS.
the bios sees it as 4gb,but the OS can only utilizing 3-3.5gb of usable ram.
and btw,wdc already selling 3tb hdd with HBA.

 

[TheLostSwede]

In this case it's actually a BIOS limitation if you want to boot from a drive larger than 2TB. Using a single partition larger than 2TB is an OS limitation. I'm well aware of of this...

 

[mastrdrver]

According to the PCPer podcast (if I remember right) you can boot from the drive using the add-in card that is suppose to come with the Green 3TB internal drive.

The OS problem, according to the podcast and I remember this correctly, is that it is basically a driver problem. Their words not mine.

Looks like Asus got tired of waiting for Intel or AMD to update their drivers.

 

[Athlon2K15]

this will be hacked in the next 24 hours so no need to buy an asus mb

 

[W1zzard]

i thought only windows non-dynamic disks were subject to the 2 tb limit and as soon as you convert your disks to dynamic they can be almost any size ?

 

[TheMailMan78]

i thought only windows non-dynamic disks were subject to the 2 tb limit and as soon as you convert your disks to dynamic they can be almost any size ?

I was under the same impression.

 

[qwerty_lesh]

Its a limitation of Basic disk partition types, I know that for sure.. but doesn't GPT disk partition types overcome all of this anyway? (Introduced since Vista)

 

[Athlon2K15]

i thought only windows non-dynamic disks were subject to the 2 tb limit and as soon as you convert your disks to dynamic they can be almost any size ?

i dont think windows can boot from a GPT disk? im probably wrong

 

[W1zzard]

that's correct you can't boot from gpt. i wonder what that asus tool is actually doing

edit:

according to the docs here: http://event.asus.com/mb/2010/Disk_Unlocker/Software/Disk_Unlocker_User_Guide.pdf
it creates a virtual disk on top of the space that you could not create as partition. so now you have an additional virtual hdd that you can create partitions on.

 

[Athlon2K15]

seems lame, why couldnt we just partition it ourselves?

 

[wahdangun]

you need EFI capable motherboard like in apple or some high end motherboard(its usually have instant on program) to use GPT format and boot from it, and maybe this software was to activate GPT support on the EFI bios

 

[Static~Charge]

Besides, can you actually by any 3TB+ SATA drives yet?

Yes:

Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRSDTL 3TB SATA
$239.99

 

[mastrdrver]

Fwiw PCPer pod case from last week (link to page, it's #127):
MP3
iTunes

They pretty much start from the beginning talking about it so no need to jump ahead or anything.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

I'm not sure I really see the need for this, as if you need that kind of space on a boot disk you can always raid. Also why on earth would you need more than 2TB on a boot disk, I have nearly 100 games installed on a 500gb disk with roughly 60 gig free.

 

[Batou1986]

im just confused where the whole issue is here why would anyone with pc common sense want a single 3tb boot/os drive ?

 

[BorgOvermind]

GPT. Solved.

im just confused where the whole issue is here why would anyone with pc common sense want a single 3tb boot/os drive ?

I have a ~3.63TB partition. 4 WD Black 1TB drives in RAID0.
I will upgrade to 2TB RAID 0 for main RAID and another RAID as backup (made of Green drives - probably 2 or 3 3TB drives).