Member Avatar for bobbyraw

i bought a new Western Digital 3TB HDD, i format with the WD format software that came with the drive. now it only shows 750GB. I have used the westerd Digital smartware and still only a 750GB, i have used windows disk manager. there are no other partition, or non without a drive letter. i have also used easeus partition manager and no hidden partitions. I have also used active @boot live CD still only the 750GB shows up. i am at a lost as to where the rest of the partitions. does any one know of another rogram that might be able to help me get back the rest ofthe drive.

my PC id runnig Windows 7 x32

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Short summary: bought a 3 TB WD drive, used the vendor formatting tool and the device thereafter reported ~750 GB; and offered troubleshooting ideas and the OP later reported the drive stopped powering and was returned. The steps below explain the technical causes that produce a “3 TB -> ~750 GB” symptom and safe, practical checks to run if a working drive shows the same behavior.

A 3 TB drive reporting about 750 GB (roughly one quarter) is frequently not a simple partitioning/MBR issue but a firmware-level translation or hidden-area problem — specifically Host Protected Area (HPA) or Device Configuration Overlay (DCO). These ATA features can make a drive present only part of its native LBA range to the OS; vendor/utility operations can create or change them. (en.wikipedia.org)

Safe diagnostics (use a Linux live USB so the disk is not in use). The quick checks below reveal whether the drive’s reported maximum LBA has been reduced and show logical/physical sector info:

sudo hdparm -N /dev/sdX        # shows current and native max sectors (HPA)
sudo smartctl -i /dev/sdX     # shows reported user capacity and sector sizes
sudo gdisk -l /dev/sdX        # shows GPT/MBR and partition table

If hdparm -N shows a smaller “current” value than the “native” value, an HPA is present and can be temporarily removed or restored; hdparm (and similar tools) can change that value but doing so risks data loss and should be done only with full backups and care. (man7.org)

A final note on partitioning and Windows: MBR is limited (~2.2 TB) so disks over 2 TB must be used with GPT to access full capacity; booting from a >2 TB GPT disk requires UEFI and a compatible Windows build (Windows can use GPT as a data disk but legacy BIOS/MBR/boot constraints apply). If the drive is unresponsive or fails to spin (as happened here), return/RMA it — firmware-level fixes won't help a physically dead drive. (learn.microsoft.com)

Cautions: low-level ATA tools (hdparm, ATATool, HDAT2) can permanently alter disk configuration; do not run destructive commands unless you understand the steps and have backups.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

i think there is a bios limit of 750 gig on older motherboards what is ou motherboards make and model # ou may need a bios update to fix it ,if the board maker has one

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for bobbyraw

i see where you are going with this. but i have tried it on brand new laptop (3days old) still shows u as 750GB. let me also add that when i got the HDD it did show up as the right size. the problem started when i format with the WD software. I have used HP mini and my mobo is a ASUS thats about 3 years old.

Member Avatar for caperjack

did you format it windows disk management if not try it see if it changes.
if no ,take it back to retailer

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for Xlphos

Hello,

I had trouble with one of my Seagate drives before returning it, they asked me to use a disk diagnosis tool. Try Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS from western digital (check it is compatible with your type of drive). The tool I used from seagate maybe similar; It reported the size of the disk, and allowed me to alter the maximum readable size, perhaps yours has been limited to 750GB.

- Let us know how it goes.

Edited by Xlphos because: n/a
Member Avatar for bobbyraw

thanks to all who suggested step to take. However, the drive does not turn on now so i am going to return it.

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