Op sys is on 250gb, reads as 127gb

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Hey guys.
I setup my system on a 250gb hard drive but system reads it as a 127gb. I downloaded the software for converging it to its original form yet it won't let me as it is the C:// drive. If anyone can point me in a direction that might be able to assist, that would be awesome (i.e. a possible partition of the space that wasn't originally read?) THANK YOU!
 
Do you have Windows XP Service Pack 2? That is the usual cause for this problem.
If you do not, you mayl not be able to partition the drive to anything larger than 132 GB... 127 or so after formatting the partition.
It becomes a catch 22. You could partition and format the hard drive to the 250 GB figure, if you had Windows XP Service Pack 2 to do the setup of the NTFS partition. It will work once as the full 250, or so, once it has Windows on it, but getting Windows on it prevents that.
There are solutions online you should be able to find with a Google search, but they require jumping through a few hoops.
One solution is to setup the hard drive as a slave in a computer that has Service Pack 2... or setup the drive with two partitions while slaved in another computer.
Alternately, set it up as 127 GB, then upgrade Windows with the Service Pack 2 disk you buy from Microsoft for $3.40, then use partition magic or Acronis to enlarge the partition.
 
From your guide:


"SATA drives:

"If running SATA with XP, it is NOT recommended to run SATA along with IDE/ATA. (Use one or the other.) XP sometimes gets confused where to look for the OS and normally defaults to IDE/ATA. You must have the appropriate SATA drivers when installing a SATA drive(s) on your system. XP does not default to SATA formatting otherwise"...


Does this really apply any longer Tedster? I'm running 4 IDE and 2 SATA drives under XP and Vista. They are all represented correctly in the bios. The C drive is a 400GB SATA... No additional SATA drivers were needed
 
"it is NOT recommended to run SATA along with IDE/ATA." Complete misinformation.

Rick said:
Tedster said:
do not mix IDE and SATA in the same system. While it may work, eventually it will crash as Windows defaults to IDE during system errors. This is not well documented, but it does happen. Use one type of drive or the other. It is just a matter of time. When windows does crash it write OS information to the IDE drive thereby making the system unbootable as windows can't figure out which drive to boot off of - IDE or SATA.

Huh? :confused: Can you describe this in better detail?

eventually it will crash as Windows defaults to IDE during system errors.
The boot order is determined by the BIOS, not Windows. When you first turn your computer on, the processor loads the BIOS. The BIOS runs some code that searches programmed devices for a MBR (aka. 'boot sector' and 'boot record'). Once it identifies bootable media, it then boots to the best possible device. This device is generally whatever you select in the CMOS configuration. So it doesn't matter what Windows writes where, it will always boot to whatever device the BIOS specifies... So you can't be talking about this.

When windows does crash it write OS information to the IDE drive thereby making the system unbootable as windows can't figure out which drive to boot off of - IDE or SATA.[/
What OS information? After the BIOS/MBR bootstrapping process, the only code really involved in booting are C:\NTLDR, C:\boot.ini and NTDETECT. Does it alter these files?

In a nuthshell, once control is passed from the BIOS to the drive's MBR, the MBR instructs the the processor to run the Windows 'boot loader'. It is at this point when Windows can finally have control of the boot process. This is where things would have to go awry, but I don't see how?

Here's a more detailed breakdown of the boot process:
  1. System POST
  2. BIOS searches for the best possible bootable device and loads the MBR (AKA: master boot record, master boot sector)
  3. The MBR finds the active partition and passes control to the boot loader (NTLDR).
  4. NTLDR prepares for the boot process (Loads file system drivers to read FAT32 and NTFS).
  5. NTLDR loads boot.ini and displays the boot menu (if available)
  6. NTLDR begins to load Windows XP/2000 by running NTDETECT and loading HAL and NTOSKRNL.
I don't see how Windows has much room for error here unless it edits the boot.ini? Maybe it damages the NTLDR, HAL, NTOSKRNL or NTDETECT? These things would happen regardless of your drive configuration though, if that's the case? I am unsure how to explain what you've experienced?

Excuse my skepticism, but I've been running IDE / SATA together for years and I've worked on many, many, many systems with a 'hybrid' setup. I've yet to encounter an issue like the one you're talking about.

Fortunately, if anything does happen to the MBR, NTLDR, HAL, NTDETECT, NTOSKRNL.EXE or BOOT.INI, it is a quick snap to repair using the Windows install CD and recovery console. Just one or two commands and you're back in business. :)

I don't see this as such a huge concern.

Tedster's Reply said:
YES - on many systems it works fine, provided the hardware and software are up to date. HOWEVER, this is not true on all system. Many older systems and older BIOS revisions cannot handle both IDE and SATA without running into periodic errors. See my other post.

I imagine by now, most new motherboards shouldn't have any issues at all. However I did have issues with an MSI K7N2 board specifically.
 
Right Rick,
I have an older ABIT IC7 motherboard that also handles IDE and SATA drives just fine. It was an expensive board in it's day though. I'm sure some motherboards/bios have problems with IDE/SATA, but to make a blanket statement like Tedster has is "mis information" for sure
 
We have yet to see a problem with the combination of EIDE and SATA drives, but we have not seen that setup on an MSI K7N2.
I don't think this ATA <-> SATA issue has anything to do with the problem about which Hashtoker requested help. The problem with large drives can be the same... if you are trying to format the full 250 GB with plain Windows XP, or Windows XP SP1 with an older BIOS.
On some boards, including this MSI (as I understand it) you cannot exceed 132 GB without Service Pack 2
 
Once again Tedster I call complete and utter BS, and beg for you to link to a credible, non-forum article indicating such problems, with extra points if it's from a Mobo maker indicating massive problems not specific to a single motherboard.

I've said many times that I and many people run IDE and SATA in combination fine. I've asked many times for a link to prove your case, I have yet to see one. Frankly this misinformation has gone way too far.
 
Tedsters guides are usually very helpful in many ways to many people... The "No IDE with SATA" is turning into an "Old Wives Tale" very fast
 
I ended up using data lifeguard tools from western digital website. It created a partition of the previously unrecognized space. Thanks for the help.
 
Tmagic650 said:
From your guide:


"SATA drives:

"If running SATA with XP, it is NOT recommended to run SATA along with IDE/ATA. (Use one or the other.) XP sometimes gets confused where to look for the OS and normally defaults to IDE/ATA. You must have the appropriate SATA drivers when installing a SATA drive(s) on your system. XP does not default to SATA formatting otherwise"...


Does this really apply any longer Tedster? I'm running 4 IDE and 2 SATA drives under XP and Vista. They are all represented correctly in the bios. The C drive is a 400GB SATA... No additional SATA drivers were needed
While the original guide is slightly out of date, it still holds true for older motherboards. Newer motherboards past NFORCE3 seem to handle both types. This argument was hashed many times here on TS.

I still do not recommend it. There really is no need to mix drives and it can't be a good thing. Even if it works, you can potentially set yourself up for problems.

SATA is far superior to IDE and is well established since the original guide was written.
 
I'll continue to run both SATA and IDE for now. My full-tower computer is used as a "test bed" for IDE drives that have beed diagnosed with problems and have been "repaired" or discarded accordingly
 
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