help fixing 137gb limit. not in the mood for a format....

xenium · Feb 16, 2006, 01:22 AM

ok, so I've had my new pc setup for a couple weeks now, and I have windows xp home installed. todaay, I was checking to see how much space I had left on my 160gb WD, and well, right now its showing up as 137gb instead of a full 160gb. when I installed xp home, I also formatted the drive. the cd only had sp1 on it, but I know have sp2 installed. how do I fix this and make my hdd the full 160gb? I don't feel like formatting, but if I have to, I will most likely when I start to get low on space. I read somewhere though that you could format the drive with just sp1 installed, and when sp2 was installed, it would fix it? I guess I was wrong. btw. its in ntfs format if it matters.

Rasta Monsta · Feb 16, 2006, 04:27 AM

Do you know how to use the disc-management snap-in? You could just extend your primary partition onto the unused space.

BTW, your "160GB" drive will never show up at 160, probably ab out 152 or so. . .

rasta

niceguyrichy · Feb 16, 2006, 06:45 PM

snap-in is probably your best bet like Rasta said

you could also try a program like diskeeper to manage your drive(s), I use it and it's really not bad at all, and will help you through the proccess.

Dark Lord · Feb 16, 2006, 07:08 PM

i spent a year learning this crap, but apparently it never stuck seeeing as i have no idea how to use the snap in menus.

Rasta Monsta · Feb 16, 2006, 07:14 PM

Well, right-click where it says "unallocated" and you should be able to see the option to extend your existing C partition into the unused space. If not, try right clicking your Primary partition and tell me what options you see.

(I don't remember exactly. . .this is one of those times when Remote Assistance would be helpful).

Dark Lord · Feb 16, 2006, 07:25 PM

on un-allocated my options are new partition, properties, help.

on the primary partition, my options are open, explorer, change driver letter/path, properties, help.

PangingJr · Feb 25, 2006, 07:37 PM

you will not be able to extend the boot/system partition(s) with the Windows operating system booted.

with the GUI mode of Windows's partitioning tools, you can create, delete, format partition, assign or change drive letters, enter or rename drive/partition labels and get information about the partitions. you cannot move or resize any type of partitions with the Windows's partitioning tools,

to move a partition to another location on the hard drive or resize it, the easiest way, you would need to use a third-party partitioning software program, and typically this must be done from a DOS (or other operating system) before Windows boots.

Rasta Monsta · Feb 25, 2006, 07:54 PM

Ha, yep, I have been using Partition Magic so long I thought resizing operations were available through Windows.

Perhaps you can find a demo somewhere. . .PM7 works great

PangingJr · Feb 25, 2006, 08:25 PM

the Diskpart.exe (Microsoft Diskpart Application) command line tool can sometime be used to extend/expand the existing system/boot partition, but it needs to be ran before Windows loads.

go for a third-party partitioning software solutions because it has more options and easier to use.

Dyre Straits · Feb 25, 2006, 08:49 PM

As mentioned above, 160 GB HDDs won't show up in Windows as 160 GB. Mine show up as 148 GB.

PangingJr · Feb 25, 2006, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

As mentioned above, 160 GB HDDs won't show up in Windows as 160 GB. Mine show up as 148 GB.

your hard drive is now has the formatted capacity of 148 GB (from an unformatted capacity of 160 GB) which is normal.

i think, the initial question was about the 137 GB (137/137.4 GB or 128 GB decimal / binary measurements) hard drive capacity limitation. the caused of this problem either the hardware only has 24-bits LBA, hardware required for firmware updates to properly support 48-bit LBA, or the installed operating system does not support 48-bit LBA.

Dyre Straits · Feb 26, 2006, 08:03 AM

Quote:

I was checking to see how much space I had left on my 160gb WD, and well, right now its showing up as 137gb instead of a full 160gb.

I was referring to this portion of the original question. He stated that he had a 160 GB HD that is showing as 137 GB. Just making sure he understands that he won't see the full 160 GB available regardless of other considerations.

PangingJr · Feb 26, 2006, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyre Straits

I was referring to this portion of the original question. He stated that he had a 160 GB HD that is showing as 137 GB. Just making sure he understands that he won't see the full 160 GB available regardless of other considerations.

ok, that would make perfect sence to me if the questions had been worded differently.

=======================
help fixing 137gb limit. not in the mood for a format....

ok, so I've had my new pc setup for a couple weeks now, and I have windows xp home installed. todaay, I was checking to see how much space I had left on my 160gb WD, and well, right now its showing up as 137gb instead of a full 160gb. when I installed xp home, I also formatted the drive. the cd only had sp1 on it, but I know have sp2 installed. how do I fix this and make my hdd the full 160gb? I don't feel like formatting, but if I have to, I will most likely when I start to get low on space. I read somewhere though that you could format the drive with just sp1 installed, and when sp2 was installed, it would fix it? I guess I was wrong. btw. its in ntfs format if it matters.
=======================

i tend to try to understand the question.

Rasta Monsta · Feb 26, 2006, 03:39 PM

It will still show as 150-something, tho. . .more than 137.

Feb 16, 2006, 01:22 AM	#1
xenium DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	help fixing 137gb limit. not in the mood for a format.... ok, so I've had my new pc setup for a couple weeks now, and I have windows xp home installed. todaay, I was checking to see how much space I had left on my 160gb WD, and well, right now its showing up as 137gb instead of a full 160gb. when I installed xp home, I also formatted the drive. the cd only had sp1 on it, but I know have sp2 installed. how do I fix this and make my hdd the full 160gb? I don't feel like formatting, but if I have to, I will most likely when I start to get low on space. I read somewhere though that you could format the drive with just sp1 installed, and when sp2 was installed, it would fix it? I guess I was wrong. btw. its in ntfs format if it matters.

Feb 16, 2006, 07:08 PM	#4
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	i spent a year learning this crap, but apparently it never stuck seeeing as i have no idea how to use the snap in menus. __________________

Feb 16, 2006, 07:25 PM	#6
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	on un-allocated my options are new partition, properties, help. on the primary partition, my options are open, explorer, change driver letter/path, properties, help. __________________

Feb 16, 2006, 06:45 PM	#3
niceguyrichy hunter of tablets Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: spread all over my keyboard.. Posts: 6,875 Rep Power: 304 System Specs	snap-in is probably your best bet like Rasta said you could also try a program like diskeeper to manage your drive(s), I use it and it's really not bad at all, and will help you through the proccess.

Feb 25, 2006, 07:37 PM	#7
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	you will not be able to extend the boot/system partition(s) with the Windows operating system booted. with the GUI mode of Windows's partitioning tools, you can create, delete, format partition, assign or change drive letters, enter or rename drive/partition labels and get information about the partitions. you cannot move or resize any type of partitions with the Windows's partitioning tools, to move a partition to another location on the hard drive or resize it, the easiest way, you would need to use a third-party partitioning software program, and typically this must be done from a DOS (or other operating system) before Windows boots.

Feb 25, 2006, 08:25 PM	#9
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 71	the Diskpart.exe (Microsoft Diskpart Application) command line tool can sometime be used to extend/expand the existing system/boot partition, but it needs to be ran before Windows loads. go for a third-party partitioning software solutions because it has more options and easier to use.