Win 2000Pro partition limit?

HMS-Dreadnought · Jul 18, 2005, 04:12 PM

Well I just got my brand new Maxtor max10 250GB hard disk.

My bios seems to see it's 251GB's, But when I put the windows 2000pro CD in to set up partition's and install windows, etc,..

Windows said there was only 130 GB's of un-partitioned space.

.

Dose this mean that Win2000Pro dosn't reconise more than 130 GB's?

.

anybody here know if win2000pro only suports hard disks up to 130 GB's?

Plz help. i really am feeling like,.. >

swimtech · Jul 18, 2005, 04:52 PM

I'm not MCSA certified, but got this chart to explain cluster sizes which limit your volume size in a Fat32 partition. Seems that Win2000 only supports partition sizes of 130Gb (give or take...) when the cluster size is set to 512 bytes. The chart available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/boo...chap/6119b.asp

This is a sample page from MCSA training materials - scroll to nearly the bottom of the page for the chart that shows the volume limitations by cluster size...

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jul 18, 2005, 05:23 PM

If its ATA133 use the mator to set up the drive it sond like you need to use the easy
bios program maxtor setup will install it if it's needed... Check for a bios update...

Make sure your useing NTFS and not FAT32

Makre sure you installing windows 2000 Service pack 4, Not any earlier!
If you don't have one make a slipsteam install anbd use that CD instead.

Hopefully that helps I think 2000 is limited to 137GB max partition size
by defult But I'm pretty sure that limitation was adressed / removed in
2000 service Pack 4.

HMS-Dreadnought · Jul 18, 2005, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Neon_Cowboy

If its ATA133 use the mator to set up the drive it sond like you need to use the easy
bios program maxtor setup will install it if it's needed... Check for a bios update...

Whats that? are you saying that the hard drive will/can set it's self up?

How do I get it to do that?

Oh,.. and Can I get SP4 as an update from online? or somthing?

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jul 18, 2005, 05:49 PM

or.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMS-Dreadnought

Whats that? are you saying that the hard drive will/can set it's self up?

How do I get it to do that?

Oh,.. and Can I get SP4 as an update from online? or somthing?

Yes&yes, but you need to make a spliptream install fot windows 200

Windows 2000 SP4
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo.../W2KSP4_EN.EXE

Slipstream instuctions take you pick
[color=#800080]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=2000+sp4+slipstream+in structions&btnG=Search[/color]

Se up the drive useinh the maxtor utillity
Maxblast 4 Bootable CD...
http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Ma...&downloadID=19

There a floppy version on there website

HMS-Dreadnought · Jul 18, 2005, 06:04 PM

one little thing,...

With the exception of the 'sci-fi' slipstream,.. , I have NO idea what one of them is.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jul 18, 2005, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMS-Dreadnought

one little thing,...

With the exception of the 'sci-fi' slipstream,.. , I have NO idea what one of them is.

Windows 2000 sp3 and below cannot use a partion larger then 137GB
Windows 2000 Sp4 Can use a partion larger then 137GB

Some bioses will not properly be able to read a large drive even on some
newer boards like my old asus nforce2 utlra had that problem with a drive..
That had been zero filled...

The maxtor tool wil let you set up the drive but it will also let you see if its being
read properly and will load ez bios or a "DDO" dynamic disk overlay if the system
needs it...If it does then you can't boot drictly from a CD or boot disk, you boot to the
hard driveand it will ask for a short time if you'd like to boot from floppy or CD rom... then go back to booting from the hard drive. Becouse the DDO has to loaded first..

A sip steam install is just intergating the service pack into the CD so it installs 2000 Sp4
Vs you old CD winn install what ever version it is. Then haveing to load the service pack
But at that point you will have screwd the puch becouse you could be goinng corrpted files etc... Becouse windows 2000 pre sp4 doesnt support a partion that large...
.....

If you want just create a 137GB partion and then create partitons after that
and forget about it, But this isn't hard

HMS-Dreadnought · Jul 18, 2005, 11:23 PM

I created the partition, but all it said was there afterwards was only 8mb's of unpartitioned disk space??????

Also,.. acording to one of the links you gave me,.. the drive will only go up to 127gb's if i'm using 512cliuster.

but if i use 1kb cluster it will go up to 255GB's.

I don't know what cluster size windows is useing, but i tyed to install anyways, and windows said my drive was exsactly 127 GB's. So maybe it's defulting to the 512 cluster size, perhaps.

I don't really understand enough about it. but if there is a coommand line or something to tell windows to use 1kb cluster, then would it work up to a 255 GB HDD?

If so,.. how do you make sure it uses 1kb clusters?

mkk · Jul 19, 2005, 02:08 AM

It's possible that your Win2000 installation needs an update to support large drives, just like how a vanilla WinXP does. I guess that the update should be included in the latest service pack for Win2000.

You can check the cluster size of a partition by running "chkdsk" in a command prompt. It will report something like "4096 bytes in each allocation unit" and unless the NTFS handling in Win2000 is that much different from WinXP it probably defaults to 4k clusters.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Jul 19, 2005, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMS-Dreadnought

I created the partition, but all it said was there afterwards was only 8mb's of unpartitioned disk space??????

Also,.. acording to one of the links you gave me,.. the drive will only go up to 127gb's if i'm using 512cliuster.

but if i use 1kb cluster it will go up to 255GB's.

I don't know what cluster size windows is useing, but i tyed to install anyways, and windows said my drive was exsactly 127 GB's. So maybe it's defulting to the 512 cluster size, perhaps.

I don't really understand enough about it. but if there is a coommand line or something to tell windows to use 1kb cluster, then would it work up to a 255 GB HDD?

If so,.. how do you make sure it uses 1kb clusters?

For now load
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo.../W2KSP4_EN.EXE
see were it gets you....

(A tool like partiton majic will let you resize clusters)

PangingJr · Jul 19, 2005, 07:35 AM

48-bit LBA large-disk support in Windows 2000 and XP.

for Windows 2000, Service Pack 3 or later must be installed, and enable the 48-bit LBA large-disk support in the Windows registry. see more info in these articles...

List of Fixes in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3
- Q305098. 48-bit LBA Support for ATAPI Disk Drives in Windows 2000 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305098

Quote:

The following conditions are necessary for the correct functioning of 48-bit LBA ATAPI support: • A computer with a 48-bit LBA-compatible Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) installed.
• A computer with a hard disk that has a capacity of greater than 137 gigabytes (GB).
• You must enable the support in the Windows registry by adding or changing the EnableBigLba registry value to 1 in the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\atapi\Parameters

- 48-bit LBA and Windows 2000
http://www.48bitlba.com/win2k.htm

for Windows XP...
Windows XP SP1 includes 48-bit LBA support for ATAPI disk drives. With this support, you can use HDDs that are larger than 128 GB (in binary measure or 137 decimal).
By default, support is enabled in XP SP1. also, by default, the original release version of Windows XP Home Edition and of Windows XP Professional do not have 48-bit LBA support. see more info in these articles

- How to enable 48-bit Logical Block Addressing support for ATAPI disk drives in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...=kb;en;Q303013

- Windows and Big Hard Drives
http://www.chrisshort.net/archives/2...ard-drives.php

swimtech · Jul 19, 2005, 08:24 AM

Uh! I remember this issue now! I have a 160Gb Maxtor (it was really cheap - post Thanksgiving day sale at Staples...) that I had to use the Maxblast software to partition and format (I did it NTFS and Fat 32 to set up for dual boot XP and 98se) in order to use all the space on the drive. When I booted with the WinXP install disk to partition/format, it didn't see all the space.

Long story short, use the Maxblast boot CD to set up the partition/s you want (also available on the Ultimate Boot Disk - boy, sure have had to use that as a reference tool a lot lately...thanks again Ctrl-Alt-Del!), shut down and boot with the XP install disk to format and install the OS. Read the prompts in the utility and installation software as you work - you'll figure it out...

HMS-Dreadnought · Jul 19, 2005, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swimtech

Uh! I remember this issue now! I have a 160Gb Maxtor (it was really cheap - post Thanksgiving day sale at Staples...) that I had to use the Maxblast software to partition and format (I did it NTFS and Fat 32 to set up for dual boot XP and 98se) in order to use all the space on the drive. When I booted with the WinXP install disk to partition/format, it didn't see all the space.

Long story short, use the Maxblast boot CD to set up the partition/s you want (also available on the Ultimate Boot Disk - boy, sure have had to use that as a reference tool a lot lately...thanks again Ctrl-Alt-Del!), shut down and boot with the XP install disk to format and install the OS. Read the prompts in the utility and installation software as you work - you'll figure it out...

Sounds usefull,... thanks.

Or at least it would be, if my power suply haddn't have blowen up today.

Muhahahahahahahahahahaha,...!!!!!!!!!

honest to god, true story.

I have to find it funny u see,.. otherwize

HMS-Dreadnought · Jul 19, 2005, 06:39 PM

What next?,... I can't wait to see what happenes tomorow.
Perhaps the earth might open up, and god could take my car. or maybe the house.

HMS-Dreadnought · Jul 19, 2005, 06:46 PM

Quote:

use the Maxblast boot CD to set up the partition/s you want (also available on the Ultimate Boot Disk

Oh, allmost forgot to ask..

Where do I get these things from?

swimtech · Jul 19, 2005, 07:42 PM

Sorry to hear about that PSU - ouch.

Just browse on over to the Technology Discussion and Support forum here - it's the top stickied post - will take you to the Ultimate Boot Disk CD home page. The download link is on the left...

Before you turn left, always be sure to yield to oncoming traffic...