Exterior Hard Drive 160GHz Giving only 31GHz

[marbeau41]

I connected a new stand alone hard drive with 160 GHz and the results that i got was 31 GHz why didn't it acknowledge the 160 GHz? I have it connected with USB2, i'm using Windows XP. HELP Please Any one have a clue ?
marbeau41

[rasputinj]

Look at it in disk management, if you right click my computer, go to manage, then disk management. Does the total size there show 160GB?

[UberAAZ]

BTW: ghz = processor speed, gb = hard drive capacity

[richh0323]

When you set it up how did you partition it as a signal drive or as multiable partitioned drives? Did you format NTFS, or FAT32?This could be why you see only 31GHZ

This may help you out

It is currently recommended to use Window's XP to format and partition your drive if the BIOS supports the full capacity of the drive. The following are step-by-step installation instructions on how to use Microsoft's Disk Management to format and partition the drive.

Fresh Install:

Install hard drive. Set the BIOS to "Auto-Detect" the hard disks.

Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM and restart the system.

Follow on-screen prompts. At the "create partition" screen make sure the drive is highlighted.

Press "Enter" to set-up Windows XP
Or
Press "C" to create a partition.

Note: Windows XP will not allow you to create a FAT 32 partition greater than 32GB. To create a partition greater than 32GB you will need to format the drive using the NTFS file system.

Finish the rest of the installation.
Installing a second drive:

Note: If the second drive is pre-formatted or used in another system it is not necessary to re-format the drive. Follow the instructions below up to Step 2 and XP should recognize the drive.

Install the hard drive and set the system BIOS to "Auto-Detect" the hard disk(s).

Start Windows XP.

Go to the "Control Panel".

Click on "Performance and Maintenance", "Administrative Tools", "Computer Management", "Storage", "Disk Management"

In "Disk Management" you will see the active hard disks. Disk 0 is the Primary drive. Disk 1 and greater are considered secondary storage.

If the description of Disk 1 is "Not Initialized" then you must right-click on the "Disk 1" icon and select "Initialize".

Select the disk to be initialized and select "Continue".

Next, right-click on "Unallocated" region of a basic disk, and then click "New Partition".

In the "New Partition Wizard", click Next. Select the type of partition you want and follow all on-screen instructions.

[marbeau41]

The Disk Management shows that the disk is only 31.49GB Fat 32,and not the 160GB that it is supposed to be. How can i change it ?

[marbeau41]

To rasputinj: No, it reads 32GB. Thank You for the startup. I don't know much about PCs but i'm getting there with all the adviice that i get.
Thank You rasputinj
marbeau41

[DMR]

...the disk is only 31.49GB Fat 32

That's the problem- Win XP and 2000 cannot format partitions larger than 32G with FAT32, although they canwork with FAT32 partitions larger than 32G (which third-party disk utilities like Partition Magic can create, as FAT32 itself has a 2TB partition limit).

You have 2 options if you want to use the full capacity of the disk:

1. Format it with the NTFS filesystem.

2. Format it with a utility which can create FAT32 partitions >32G.