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How can i get my computer to recognise my 250GB external USB2 HD 3

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ibdunn

ibdunn

Technical User
Nov 4, 2001
24
US
I just got a 250GB internal HD and a box for it that allows it to be run externally via USB. The problem is, the computer only sees 127GB of my 250GB drive.

I am runnning WXP on a laptop, toshiba satellite 2435 computer--(no dick drive)I just bought this computer last year so should still be in date--

Please help mee figure out how to access all 250Gb of my external Harddrive

thanks
bd
 
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Have you installed XP Service Pack 1? XP, without SP1, has a drive size limitation of 137GB.
 
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yes it does have sp1 installed - i ran partition magic and it only shows 131gb...what now??
 
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from that article u suggest,
it says: "Use Ultra ATA/133 MHz PCI controller card for Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98 Second Edition, and NT4 " what is meant by that??

also, the article says the below
"The Intel Application Accelerator v2.3 or above support IDE/ATA hard disk above 137GB, and is compatible witn Windows 2000, XP, ME, 98 Second Edition and NT4.

The driver may be download from
Other chipsets such as VIA, ALi, SiS, Promise, etc may have drivers that support above 137GB in a similar way, please refer to the respective web site for more information."

how do i know what driver i might need? What motherboard i have?

also-- i just downloaded a bios upgrade from Toshiba - -it says i need to have a formatted floppy available - well- i don't even have a floppy for this laptop - -is there a way to accomplish the same thing with a cd - maybe make the floppy with my desktop and then burn it to a bootable cd - -but dos doesn't recognise cd-rom does it??

truly stumped--and grateful for any insights!!

bd
 
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Firstly
for all system component identifier and more (personal ver.)

Second;
the Intel chipset drivers are for NT/98/ME only..not needed for 2K or XP...,

The "Ultra ATA/133 MHz PCI controller card for Windows XP" means an IDE Ultra (Ultra DMA[direct memory access]) ATA/133 (speed) add on PCI slot controller card(expansion slot) such as from Promise or Highpoint....this gets slotted into the case...in case your Hardware isn't up to snuff....though you say it's a new PC basically...Aida will tell you what you got for everything.

What happened at the 48bit help site walk through???
Review the MS articles from other link??

The BIOS update may or may not be necessary, since it's (lappy) so new....Does the Toshiba website say that the update will ENABLE 48bit addressing....specifically....??
If not, it's prolly not needed..
and yes DOS can recognize the CDROM.....though XP isn't DOS based, it's emulated...but you can do it

TT4U

Notification:
These are just "my" thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs
 
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48bit walk-thru stops me with this part

What IDE Controller is the hard drive connected to?

i am connected via usb2 - -not an option from walk-thru
 
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Two other quick thoughts and then I'm going to defer to someone in this forum with more XP experience.....OK

check the manual for the correct jumper settings on the drive.....especially Western Digital

"Check the documentation for your hard drive to see whether the drive has a jumper which limits the capacity to 137 GB. Some hard drives have this jumper which they recommend be set if the system does not properly support 48-bit LBA. For example, the Western Digital 160 GB hard drive has one of these jumpers which is labeled "4092 Cylinder Limit"

and Maxtor (all)
p_sid=KgCtyi8h&p_lva=874&p_faqid=1198&p_created=1028156950&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTE
mcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD0yNTBHQiZwX3NlYXJjaF90eX
BlPTMmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDE9MzMmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDI9fmFueX4mcF9jYXRfbHZsMT00JnBfY2F0X
2x2bDI9fmFueX4mcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li=

(Diamond 16)
p_prod_lvl1=33&p_prod_lvl2=%7Eany%7E&p_cat_lvl1=4&p_cat_lvl2=%7Eany%
7E&p_search_text=&p_new_search=1&p_search_type=3

TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs
 
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Click the Start button » click Control Panel » double-click the System applet » select the Hardware tab » click the Device Manager button » expand the System devices listing.

Ok...that's ton of info to deal with now.....so d/l Aida and post back important sys info (not all info is necessary......use xxxx to X-out your personal info too)....and others will be along to help more...I do know that it is possible with USB2.0...so that in itself is not the limitation.......

What Brand/Model of new HDD???
and the Brand/model IDE Case - USB Adapter???

TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs
 
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What Brand/Model of new HDD???

western digital -- wd2500jb
and the Brand/model IDE Case - USB Adapter???
the case is a micro-plus (mp-320U2)

there is a caution inside the case that says

"this external sub-system can operate with master ide drive only. Please set the ide drive to master mode b4 you connect the ide drive"

the jumper options from western digital are as follow (x indicating no jumper, | indicating jumper)

cable select setting
XXXX|
XXXX|

slave
XXX|X
XXX|X

master w/slave present
XX|XX
XX|XX

single or master
XXXXX
XXXXX

i have it set to
master w/slave present
XX|XX
XX|XX

 
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Open notepad and make a file called 48bitLba.inf

Copy and paste below info into it
===========================================================
[version]
signature="$CHICAGO$"
SetupClass=BASE


[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=48bitlba.Add.Reg

[48bitlba.Add.Reg]
HKLM,"System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Atapi\Parameters","EnableBigLba",0x10001,1
===========================================================

Save file
Right click the file and click install
Reboot machine
137 gig limit is gone and you should see the whole hdd!
 
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Remove the jumper to make it single/master.


TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs
 
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ok...sorry if i seem dumb here - -i did copy and paste everything from above as suggested and saved it as a text file...i then found it in my documents and right-clicked on it as suggested - -but "install" was not an option -what do u mean by install from right clicking??
 
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I just saved it as 48bitLba.inf - - but still - -how do i install? right clicking on the file does not give me that option...
 
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i tried again - -there was an install option -- i installed it and tried to see the external 250 and still it only shows as 127gb.....i have partition magic - -it only sees it that way too -- is there any other options anyone?? deperate--- i thank you guys for all your help so far...
 
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i had forgotten to reboot - -i did that--still the same.

as far as partition magic it shows the size to be 131,069.3 and then unallocated to be 107,403.3

how can i change that unallocated portion into something useable??

i would prefer to have one external 250gb drive but short of that i would be grateful to have a partitioned and useable 107gb hardrive

i am using partition magic 8

thanks

bonny
 
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fooled around w/partition magic long enough to get it to give me anpther harddrive--so hopefully my problems are solved---thanks everyone...still would love to figure out how to get the final 250--but will be satisfied at at least being able to use the whole thing!!
 
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Well, I have been tinkering with my own 250 Gig drive, a WD WD2500 on USB.. I put my drive in a Kanguru Portable disc case that has a Addonics USB to IDE converter.. When I was checking Addonics tech support at:
I found the following statement that I found very interesting:

Support for hard driver larger than 137 GB

Q. My motherboard's onboard IDE controller can support larger hard drives.

Does the Addonics USB cable support drives larger than 137 GB?

A. Yes and No, our USB cable support hard drives larger than 137 GB in size if the drive is already partition and Formatted from another connection. If the hard drive is brand new or does not have any partition, connecting it to the USB cable will only give 128G.



So Tonight I need to tear into one of my desktops and put this drive in and see what happens if I set it up as a 250 Gig drive..
 
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