Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

How much drive can my old computer recognize?

May 15, 2005 6:49AM PDT

I have a five year old HP Pavillion 6736 with 20gigs internal and 40 external. Both are filling up fast and I'd like to get a larger external drive. I've been told in the past that my computer would only recognize up to 80gigs, however, I've also been told that I can get a 160gig and partition it. My question is, first, is it true that my machine will only recognize 80 gigs and if so, how can I partition a 160gig drive to create two 80's

thanks

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
HDINFO.
May 15, 2005 7:11AM PDT

Noted at http://www.48bitlba.com/ may answer this.

Keep in mind that the OS matters too. DOS based Windows drop dead at 127GB. NT/2000/XP drop dead there until Service Packs are applied.

Bob

- Collapse -
forgot to add
May 15, 2005 7:30AM PDT

Ah. I forgot to add that I'm running windows ME with 512mb ram. I also run an external CD burner and scanner via USB2. I used to have an additional Maxtor 40gb external drive til I realized that It had a bunch of bad sectors on it, so I removed it from the system pending arrival of a new drive so I can save what I can from it. --frankb

- Collapse -
That's a DOS based Windows.
May 15, 2005 11:49AM PDT
- Collapse -
divide 160 into 2 80's
May 15, 2005 6:40PM PDT

You can connect the 160 mb HDD into another PC with an OS that can handle more than 160 MB ( Win XP) and partition it into 2 or more Extended drives with FAT 32 (not NTFS) format. This can then be used with your ME.

- Collapse -
I wish that would work.
May 15, 2005 8:59PM PDT

Read the supplied URL about DOS support of 48bit LBA.

Bob

- Collapse -
Slip of the Keyboard !
May 17, 2005 2:30PM PDT

A slip up!

Addenda to my previous post - " make sure that each partition does not exceed 40 GB. This can be handled by FAT 32. Else Proffitt's post mentioning FAT 48 is important "

Thanks Bob.

- Collapse -
127gb more than I thought
May 16, 2005 1:57PM PDT

Hell, 127gb is way more than I thought my computer would recognize. I'll probably just get a 120 or a 100gb drive and be happy with that! --frankb