HELP! i formatted my hhd and now my computer only reads 30 gig???

D

dragontales

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
404
i have a maxtor 160 gig hhd and i just formatted it.

Now my BIOS only reads 32 gig. where did the rest go? When i try to install XP, it ask me where would i like to install it at and it only list the 32 gig hhd as the option. i don't get it. help.


edit

i installed xp and it only reads c: 30 gig and nothing other space is available.

now i installed win2000 and it is reading the same thing.
 
i formatted with the xp cd. it asked me if i want to format ntsf or fat32 etc etc blah blah.....then it only list that one partition of 30 gig. no other partitions to format.
 
and you formatted it NTFS?
and it was previously NTFS?

well try the zero fill, its what most people call a low level format
(though a real low level format is only done in factory these days)

your not using any kind of Dynamic Drive Overlay are you?
(to exceed the 137GB barrier)

Im goin to sleep now
but will check back if you reply in the morning ;)
 
Will your MB understand a bigger drive.
I had to flash mine so I could put my 160 on.
 
Originally posted by CyberSlave
Will your MB understand a bigger drive.
I had to flash mine so I could put my 160 on.
Click to expand...


sorry a little background. my computer was running fine. my mobo read 160 gig with no problem, windows xp read 160 gig with no problem. so i partitioned my drive into 3. c: 30 gig, d: 60 gig, and e: 60 gig. anyways i reformat my c: so that i could get a fresh windows xp.

so to answer your question, my motherboard bios does read big drives, so i doubt it is a BIOS problem.
 
Originally posted by Ice Czar
and you formatted it NTFS?
and it was previously NTFS?

well try the zero fill, its what most people call a low level format
(though a real low level format is only done in factory these days)

your not using any kind of Dynamic Drive Overlay are you?
(to exceed the 137GB barrier)

Im goin to sleep now
but will check back if you reply in the morning ;)
Click to expand...


thanks for the low level format info. i have not tried it yet because i have never done this before and i am a bit iffy about it. if i do low level format my drive will i be able to format it back to normal ntsf or fat32?
 
yup all it does is write zeros to the whole drive
well to all the areas that your allowed to write to that is, those employed for the master boot record, partition tables, master file tables, and data areas

it will not write to the servo bursts, or other "true" factory set low level formatted architecture structures. The reason I asked if you where running a Dynamic Drive Overlay, is that Ive seen instances where that has been treated as an architecture structure that a zero fill wouldnt wipe.

it simply turns the HDD back to the factory condition when it was shipped
(less any mapped defects\bad sectors that have been locked out)
then you can employ whatever filesystem you like FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3, Reiser, JFS, UFS (of course if your using XP you can only employ NTFS or FAT32, and NTFS is really the best choice, without some truely compelling reason to use FAT32, like compatibility with an older program)
 
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