WD 320GB IDE drive not allowing full capacity use in Win2KSP4 system

My specs for my homebuilt system are:
Abit NF7-S board, Win2KSP4, (2) WD 250GB Sata in Raid 1, (1) WD 320GB IDE

My problem is that I can't achieve full use of the 320GB drive. If I format the entire drive as a single partition it is unviewable/unusable. If I format the first half (155GB partition) it is viewable/usable. If I format the second half as well (the remaining 155GB or so) as a separate partition, both partitions become unviewable/unusable.

I've reformatted 3 separate times, performing a disk check each time (which took forever! ) and each time the disk comes up clean.

It's got to be some kind of issue with the OS but since it was a hardware issue I'm posting here.

TIA for any light y'all can shed on the situation.

 

Hi, welcome to the BBS.

I am a little stumped as well. For some suggestions:
Go to the Abit website and check the BIOS upgrade information (each upgrade has an explanation of it's "fixes "). If any relate to IDE then you may want to upgrade the BIOS. The main point with BIOS upgrades is to follow the instructions carefully.

If you have not used the WD utilities to make the partitions, try using those. Try running some of the tests included in those utilities, it may tell you the problem (should be the Lifeguard utilities).

Try settings partitions less than 120GB...say 120 + 120 + 80GB. This may point to a 128GB size limitation.

Matt

 

Thanks for the reply mattman.

I've been to Abit and as far as I can figure, they addressed LBA a couple of revisions ago. I'm running ver2.8 of the BIOS and they addressed it back around 2.3ish I think. And I think it was for Win2KSP3 systems. SP4 was supposed to address the issue. Also, I am running the SATA drives at 250GB OK as well as 150GB on the IDE so they are already past the 128GB mark.

It's most frustrating. I am hoping to avoid using WD's tools to partition my drive as I prefer to use a product called BootIt by Terabyte Unlimited. My understanding of the WD solution is that it has the potential to ***** me up if I mess with the drive using other partitioning products.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think you are referring to Dynamic Drive Overlay (DDO) and yes, avoid using them if at all possible. I have not used Lifeguard for a long time, but from a suspect memory I would say the DDO they use is the Ontrack program (Disk Manager?). The utilities (Lifeguard) may suggest using this DDO, but you should be able to avoid it. (The last time I used them, the Maxtor utilities (MaxBlast) almost force you to use the DDO, even if you don't need it...lots of revenue for the HDD recovery software makers when the DDO gets corrupted...hey!, Ontrack also make data recovery software...isn't that a coincidence?...!!!!!!)

There should be a section in Lifeguard to back-up your MBR. You can use this as a "fall-back" if your experimentation does not work. Since you have a fresh drive to play with I would not hold back with the experimentation. Just avoid installing the DDO. Run the basic tests. A full examination will take forever with 320GB, so just run the "little" ones. You may find that an error message comes up that will lead you directly to the cause.

I have not found any utilities that are better than the manufacturer's to identify a problem with a drive.

Matt

 

Thanks much for the advice mattman. I don't know much about WD's tools at all, just hearsay about some kind of potential for problems using HD mfgr's tools.

It must have been DDO I was hearing about. Your advice is sound, and since it's a new disk I suppose I really can experiment with it. I'll give WD's tools a try and I'll report back my experiences.

Bullitt

 

As Mattman said be very careful with WD hard drive tools. The last thing you want is a DDO on your system and it could be installed without warning or even telling you. For a good explanation of DDOs scroll half way down this page to Software Translation (Dynamic Drive Overlays)

It’s been a while since I tried BootIt, I’m not a fan of the partition tricks it employs to get multiple primary partitions or the fact you cannot use anything else if you do use that option. Have you allowed BooIt the option to create multiple primary partitions, or do you have the Limit Partitions option checked? Also, which hard drive is BootIt’s own partition on? I doubt BootIt would be causing the problem.

I take it that when you create the partition/s with BootIt that everything goes ok and the new partitions are reported as expected. It’s only when you boot into 2K that the problem arises? I don’t know if there is a problem with 2K and hard drives of that size. I would expect there would be some advice with the drive or on the WD web site if that were the case. I’d tend to suspect some setup problem with the drive, either in Windows or the BIOS. Double check the jumper settings and the IDE cable setup. Is the drive on the same IDE channel as your other IDE drive? Also check the drive is being correctly reported in the bios and that relative options for the hard drive and IDE channels are set correctly.

Does 2K report the drive correctly? Ensure DMA is turned on and even try removing the drive from Device Manager and rebooting so that it gets redetected again. If you do have the ‘Limit Partition’ option checked in BootIt then try using 2K’s own Disk Management tool to partition and format the drive, you may get an error message that could give you a clue.

 

I semi-located the problem. I ran the WD Lifeguard Tool and when I did so, it said my drive was not able to be utilized beyond the 137/8? GB limit. It gave an option to fix the issue and required a reboot after the fix, so I suspect it changed something in the registry. I'm hoping it didn't install DDO.

The funny thing is, I'm running Win2K SP4 (actually SP4plus as I am current with all updates) which should be able to address larger drive sizes. I'm not quite sure what the WD fix did but the entire two partitions are now visible so it looks like it was fixed.

Many thanks for all the help!

Bullitt

 

Thanks for letting us know how it has gone.
I mentioned using the Lifeguard tools to backup the MBR. Now is the time to make that backup. If the MBR gets corrupted you may lose the data on that drive, so having the backup will let you restore the disk, otherwise you may have to pay for recovery of the data.

If Lifeguard has installed a DDO, it is even more important to have that backup. I find that DDOs generally work well most of the time. They fail (get corrupted) when you change the drive configuration or an antivirus wants to change something in the boot sector. Some antivirus software (I mainly know Norton) will make "recovery diskettes" or backup the MBR. You should look at doing that now as well.

You should be able to tell if a DDO has been installed by seeing an option to boot to a floppy disk appearing during startup (after POST and before the OS is loaded)...see McTavish's link. Look after the DDO and it should work fine, but be wary that it may "blow up" at some stage.

Matt

 

goodnewscowboy,
I can't seem to find an answer to this:
Are we talking about two primary partitions or is one in an extended partition?

 

Hey sparrow

The drive in question is a 320GB WD IDE drive. I've partioned it into two primaries, each roughly equal in size.

B.