Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

[ This question is a spin-off of My new internal hard disk doesn't appear in Disk Management, but BIOS and Device Manager recognize it ]

I bought a new internal Seagate hard disk, connected to the motherboard and started the computer. BIOS listed the new and old disks (both disks are SATA).

Then I went to Disk Management to format it, but it didn't appear. But I could see it listed in Device Manager.

I discovered that EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition detected it, and tried to format but it said "There are some error occurred while writing partition chains on disk".

Then, I connected the hard disk to another computer (with Windows Vista), and the disk appeared in Disk Management, and I could format it correctly.

I connected it again to my computer, but my Windows XP didn't recognize it. Then, instead of starting my computer from my old disk, I started from a Kubuntu CD. Kubuntu recognized the new disk, so it's not an incompatibility problem between the disk and my motherboard.

Then, I guess it's a XP problem.

How can I fix it?

share|improve this question
You can see it in Device Manager still? Does XP have a driver for it? – Xyon Jan 11 at 13:58
@Xyon Yes, it's in Device Manager and has a driver. And I checked for new drivers, but it said that there aren't. – Oriol Jan 11 at 14:00
And it doesn't have an error code on the device, it's "Functioning normally"? – Xyon Jan 11 at 14:00
@Xyon Yes, it says "Este dispositivo funciona correctamente.", which in English I think it would be "Functioning normally" (literally, "This device works correctly") – Oriol Jan 11 at 14:02
show 9 more comments

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

XP SP3 is limited at 2TB - The 2TB volume limitation is caused by the Master Boot Record (MBR) partitioning scheme that has long been used by Windows 32-bit operating systems such as Windows 2000 and XP.

You could try and use a program like Partition Magic and split it into 1TB chunks!

EDIT

Try and remove it from device manager (uninstall) and see if after a reboot it tries to get a driver or similar (or just try to update driver).

Last thing is, go to the manufacturers website, there is a chance you need a driver (or a controller) for it to be seen as a disc! This could exist on the hard drive manufacturers site or the motherboard manufacturers site, and SATA drivers are quite often contained within the chipset driver. So, ensure ALL drives are up to date is my advice.

share|improve this answer
Well, when I formatted it I did a partition with the maximum space. But now EaseUS says that I have: 1MB unallocated, 1.82TB NTFS, and 184.98GB unallocated. Then, the partition is 1.82TB, which is less than 2TB, so maybe the problem isn't the 2TB limit? – Oriol Jan 11 at 14:27
If switching from MBR to GPT can resolve this, how can I switch? – Oriol Jan 11 at 14:29
1  
XP does not support GPT. – Hennes Jan 11 at 14:32
I went to the manufacturers website and I found "Seagate does not supply drivers for SATA drives because hard drives themselves do not require specific device drivers" knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/188411en – Oriol Jan 11 at 14:32
Thanks! After installing the chipset I can see both disks!!! – Oriol Jan 11 at 15:21
show 1 more comment

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.