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Thread: Removable 160G HD

  1. #21
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    The actual size of the drive should be 156.25gb.
    You get this by 160/1024=0.15625*1000
    and they were all command line using fdisk. I tried doing this in a command prompt and it wouldn't let me.
    It won't let you because fdisk was done away with in WindowsXP. The command you want to use is format.

    http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true

    Partition it into sperate 32gb sections. If you don't windows will read a disk error and run chkdsk.
    When death sleeps it dreams of you...

  2. #22
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    when I go into computer management it says 149.05GB, I don't know why.

    I ran it like this:
    format e: /fs:fat32 /q /x

    When it ran i said partition too large. How do I change this? Do I have to go into linux and create all those 32G partitions?

  3. #23
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    Use the disk management tool I suggested before and try to break a 30gb piece off of your 133gb of free space and see if it will let you format it fat32 like that.
    When death sleeps it dreams of you...

  4. #24
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    is allocation unit size the size of the partition, or does that have to do with the sector size or something...

    The maximum default cluster size under Windows XP is 4 kilobytes (KB) because NTFS file compression is not possible on drives with a larger allocation size. The Format utility never uses clusters that are larger than 4 KB unless you specifically override that default either by using the /A: option for command-line formatting or by specifying a larger cluster size in the Format dialog box in Disk Management.
    I read that from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314878/ but I don't fully understand it. From what this page says, im lead to believe that it changes the cluster size, which changes the volume size. The largest it will let me do under NTFS is 64K (remember that it only lets me choose NTFS; for fat32 I have to use the DOS Format command). What size would that mean I should use for fat32 using the format command?

  5. #25
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    Did you try to break it down into a smaller partition and see if it would give you the option for fat32? The largest partition it will let you use the fat32 filesystem with in windows xp is 32gb.

    I'm kind of tired of dealing with this because I don't think you are trying my suggestions. Maybe someone else will help you or maybe you will just have to find a good local shop to take it to.
    When death sleeps it dreams of you...

  6. #26
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    Hmmm,

    I find it strange that your system tells you it is 149Gb and that is what I pointed out from what you were saying earlier (15 + 1 + 133).

    Muert0 has shown you the correct (accurate) calculation, which ties in with the manufacturer saying "160Gb"

    So, where are the missing 7.2 gigabytes?

    I would be inclined to get the HDD manufacturer's diagnostic tools and run a thorough scan (surface); it just might be that you have a damaged HDD?

    Also, try booting into BIOS setup with the drive attached and see if it is recognised, and how big it is?

    I honestly don't know what to expect if you try to format a 156.25Gb drive on a system that thinks it is 149Gb

  7. #27
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    Originally posted here by muert0
    I'm kind of tired of dealing with this because I don't think you are trying my suggestions. Maybe someone else will help you or maybe you will just have to find a good local shop to take it to.
    I really do appreciate all this help you have been giving me, and I do understand. I promise you that I have tried everything you told me to, and nothing seems to work. It won't let me do Fat32 in windows regardless of the allocation unit size that I try. It only says that I have 149.05GB in Windows (don't remember what linux said). Linux won't let me add a partition in Fat32. I don't even know what to do. I might just give up and run the program that resets it to its origonal full Fat32 format.

    i'm running a diagnostics program right now to see if there is any damage.
    I will post an update when it is done. (45 min to go.)

  8. #28
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    If the drive is OK, then you may be hitting the 128/137 barrier either in your Windows and/or your BIOS.

    Please see this article:

    http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....MQ%2A%2A&p_li=

    That is why I asked you how big your BIOS thought the drive was



    EDIT: You might try 30Gb as your primary Linux partition and 2Gb for the swap file, then see what it lets you do with the rest?

  9. #29
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    Why exactly are you wanting it to be fat32? I'm pretty sure you can read and write to ntfs with linux and it's a faster file system. If anyone disagrees please educate me.


    But you should probably still dig into what nihil is saying. If it's a new HDD and it's damaged you may want to get it replaced before your warranty is up.
    When death sleeps it dreams of you...

  10. #30
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    but with NTFS you aren't supposed to use over 70% of the space in the drive, right? Thats a lot of space that could be used in fat32.

    edit: something happened with the diagnostics, and it stopped working when someone else in my family switched users, so its been paused for 6 hours.

    I have an updated service pack of Windows. (I downloaded the patch to make sure and it wouldn't let me install.)

    It could be my BIOS though. I'm going to check the BIOS as soon as the diagnostics tool is done doing its thing.

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