Disk Size Limited to 32 GB

Asked By Kevin Murphy 0 points N/A Posted on - 09/19/2011

Hi,

I purchased a new 80GB Western Digital PATA hard disk and connected it to my computer using an Ultra ATA cable with the jumper set to 'master'. But Windows shows the hard disk size only as 32GB even though the jumper is not set to 'Limit to 32GB'. There is no 'slave' disk connected to the cable.

Can anyone help?

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Answered By ijpnet 5 points N/A #125680

Disk Size Limited to 32 GB

Hi Kevin!

You are using FAT32 in installing your operating system which in this case, it could not detect hard drive space more than 32GB. So if you still want to use FAT32 then I would suggest that you partition your hard drive three times or with less than 32GB each partition, so as to utilize or maximize your new purchased 80GB Western Digital PATA hard drive. But if you do not want to partition your new hard drive, then you can use the NTFS file system instead of FAT32 in installing your operating system and the rest of your software.

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Answered By Patrick b 0 points N/A #125681

Disk Size Limited to 32 GB

Hello Kevin.

Is it only Windows that reports the drive size as 32 GB?  Did you see if the BIOS correctly reports the hard drive capacity?  If the BIOS does not report the right size, it is possible that your motherboard does not support hard drives larger than 32 GB.  But don't lose hope yet.  Sometimes all it takes is a BIOS update to remove that limit.  Check your motherboard manufacturer's website and look for any BIOS updates.  Read through the release notes to see if any of the updates addresses the hard drive size limit.  Make sure to read the manufacturer's instructions carefuly and follow it to the letter when you update the BIOS.

If the BIOS reads the drive size properly, then it could be the file system limit.  FAT32 only supports up to 32GB,  You will have to format (or convert FAT32 to NTFS) your hard drive to NTFS if you want to see the whole drive.

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Answered By takrim 0 points N/A #125683

Disk Size Limited to 32 GB

Hello!

If you are 100% sure it’s a hard disk with 80 GB then the file system you are using must be FAT32.

It is impossible to use the FAT32 system file to format a volume which is 32 GB or larger while still in the process of installing windows XP on your computer. If you want t make use of the remaining space, navigate to start then to the control panel.

While in the control panel, g to the administrative tools and choose the computer management option.

Choose disk management located on the left panel. From here you will be able to access the space not partitioned.

Select it by right clicking and using the various format options and choose one that suits you. After you re done, you will be able to see the new drive.

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• Posted on - 09/19/2011
• Question Category: Hard Drives