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Resolved 3Tb hard drive shows as 2Tb

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by StrahdOmega, 2018/08/09.

  1. 2018/08/09
    StrahdOmega

    StrahdOmega Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I just installed windows 7 x64 ultimate on a 3Tb hdd and under my computer it shows as 2Tb. Searching google I found articles saying that the drive needed to be formatted using gpt instead of mbr. I don't remember any step of the install that gave me that option. Some articles say it is something that you select in the bios but I don;t know if it is to late and I would need to reinstall windows and all my files. I have the asus m5a97 r2.0 mobo. Can you help?

    Thanks
     
  2. 2018/08/10
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    Yes, you have to initialize the drive as GPT. For information see: Windows support for hard disks that are larger than 2 TB

    Instructions on how to initialize a disk as GPT are half way down the article. But in your case it seems to be your boot drive, so you either have to start from scratch, or use a 3rd party converter (such as AOMEI Partition Assistant).

    During Windows setup the drive will be initialized as GPT if you booted in UEFI mode. If not, you have the option to use the Shift + F10 command during installation. Choose to open a command prompt. In the command window type Diskpart. Next type list disk and make note of the disk number you want to delete or convert.

    Now type select disk Disk# (Disk# is the number you noted in the list disk command earlier). By using this command you select the drive in which you want to operate. Next type clean. This command will delete all partitions/volumes on the selected disk. Last type convert gpt to convert the selected drive to GPT (type exit to leave diskpart)
     
    Arie,
    #2

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  4. 2018/08/11
    StrahdOmega

    StrahdOmega Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I really don't want to start over. Is AOMEI Partition Assistant safe to use on a drive with data on it? It looks like I can extend the volume under disk management but I don't know if that is safe either. Thank you
     
  5. 2018/08/12
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    You would want to backup important files before doing anything.

    Option # 4 is to do nothing and leave things as is.
     
  6. 2018/08/15
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    Nothing is 100% safe when you use it to manipulate data on a drive, and they all require a backup as Steve suggested.
     
    Arie,
    #5

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