New HD questions (& bios probs)

gobby

ok... got myself a samsung spin point 160gig. it arrived today and ive put it into my box set as a slave.

when i boot up using my old drive (maxtor 60gig, set as master) windows tells me that the samsung drive is 129gig. whats happing there? i mean the drive clearly has 160gig printed on it. why is windows giving me the wrong size?

also, when i try to format the drive it only gives me the option of NTFS. thing is i dont want that. my maxtor is FAT32 and i want to ghost all the data from that to the samsung.

the plan is basically to use the samsung as the master and use the maxtor for mp3's etc. the reason i dont just start over is because i have a lot of irreplacable stuff.

how can i get the disk formatted as FAT32??

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as i want to get the disk up and running asap.

Stephen

First off, its most likely reporting the wrong size because that's all your motherboard/bios can address. Try getting a bios update.
Your post suggests to me that the drive currently has an unformatted NTFS partition on it, which is why its not letting you format it as fat32. Delete the partition and make a new fat32 one, then format it.

djr

afaik, fat32 in win2k & winxp only supports <=32gb. so you will have to use ntfs. ghost (at least v8 that we use) supports writing and reading ntfs with no problems, so ghosting the old disk to the new one should be no problem.

what os are you using?

gobby

regarding the motherboard bios update...

the board i have is an msi 645E max2. i went to the msi site and downloaded all versions of the bios update but none of them seem to work. they all say that the chipset isnt correct but im sure that im downloading for the correct motherboard.

gobby

Originally posted by djr

afaik, fat32 in win2k & winxp only supports <=32gb.

are you sure about that? the other drive im using is a maxtor 60gig and its FAT32.

im using winXP pro.

as i said, im having trouble updating the bios. when i run the update program it tells me that my chipset/flash are not supported.

however, it does say to import the correct chipset or something to that effect. there is a list of chipsets etc but im really not sure about what im doing. ive never updated the bios before.

another thing is that the filenames of the utility for updating the bios appear to be for a different chipset. the filename is something like 'amifl8448.exe'. as in 'ami' bios, 'fl'ash and then the number of the board. is it possible that msi have just put up an update for another board that should work on mine but by default its looking for a different chipset? if that was the case then im sure id have to fiddle about with the program to get it to recognise my chipset. what a pain in the ar$e. :mad:

anybody have experience with msi's bios update utilitys??
(mayby i should start another thread for this)

gobby

sould also mention that on the post screen it does report that the size of the drive is 160gig along with info on the clusters, sectors etc.

oh, and i had another look at the files for the update and there is a file with the mobo's number on it.

gobby

scratch all that. think im using the update utility wrong... found a page on msi that gives instructions... will tell all...

gobby

ok. now im pi$$ed off. updated the bios to the latest version. no difference. :mad:

the drive is seen as 128gig and can still only be formatted to NTFS.

what the bloody hell is going on!?

vibe666

do you have a floppy drive? if so go to www.ubd.com and download the ultimate boot disk.

half your problem is that you are looking at the drive in windows which will only allow you to do so much with it. you need to either bite the bullet and buy partition magic to do everything, or get the UBD and you will be able to do all the messing with the drive you want.

the UBD has a partiton management app in it that will allow you to sort out the problems. you can remove any partitions that are already on it which as Stephen said is most likely why you can't format it as fat32. in any case the UBD will most likely be able to help.

if its still a problem with the motherboard not supporting the drives full size then you'll need to find out exactly what the motherboard is and get the correct utility to update the bios. if you still can't find it then go to the msi website and find support contact details there and email them asking for details on how to find the exact model of your board and where to get the update.

also check that there isn't a jumper on the drive to restrict the size it reports to the PC, as this is sometimes the case. it might be listed on the sticker on the drive, or the drive makers website if there is.

Spunj

have a look here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B303013

gobby

vibe666;

i have partition magic (never thought to use it, doh!). ive been to the msi site and tried to update the bios. at first it didnt go to well, hence all the ranting before.

however, it didnt work cos i wasnt using the update correctly. ive since updated the bios to the latest version available from msi.

spunj;

christ! that could be my problem. i dont have sp1 installed. dirt! now my problem is downloading it. there are two options available from microsoft.

the first is approx 30 megs but requires that your machine is connected. my machine isnt connected to the net (and thats the way its staying). i use a crappy p2 for the net.

the other option is for a network install but its 134 megs. and im using a dial up. :eek:

would there be anywhere that i could download the smaller version as a file so i could then transfer it to my pc??

Drazhar

i have the same problem. Its to do with your MoBo and BIOS. The thing cant see past 137gb. Samsung have a program to fix it. I havent a link. I havent gotten around to it yet, should do so soon.

Tis a sweet quiet drive, no?

gobby

man, its a slick drive for sure! its bloody quiet compared to my noisy a$$ maxtor anyways.

now if only i could get the thing to work!

ill have a look around for that fix you mentioned. will post a link if i find anything.

gobby

okay, i found that utility you were on about Drazhar...

can be found here

thing is, they say on the site that this utility only supports up to 137gb and that they 'will be releasing an update in december 2003'. plus they want loads of personal details before they will allow a download.

dunno if ill try it yet. gonna mess around with partition magic first then mayby....

WizZard

would there be anywhere that i could download the smaller version as a file so i could then transfer it to my pc??

You could try us nice people Here

MarkR

I have a sp1 cd. PM me your details and we can arrange something.

unkel

You beat me to it MarkR

gobby, is your xp legit? If not, installing sp1 will block your system

gobby

Originally posted by unkel

is your xp legit? If not, installing sp1 will block your system

dirt! its not legit. far from it. got it from a mate. it does ask for a product key and you do have to stick it in. it just never bothers with the whole validation thing.

reckon it might still work?

i guess if it doesnt ill just have to wait for samsung to release a proper bios patch like the one i was talkin about earlier...

damn... what am i supposed to do in the meantime!? :mad:

WizZard

This is far from what should be discussed here but ... hypothetically... if your XP does not require you to validate it and a "crack" has not been used on it, SP1 will NOT **** it up. Sounds like that copy is a Dell or other OEM who pre-validate the copy of XP while installing onto your hard drive, or it could be a corporate copy!

gobby

sorry for bringing it up but i do need to get this sorted. im going away in a month and im probably gonna bring the drive with me. as far as i know its a corporate edition so ill probably try installing sp1.

WizZard

then it will work just fine. Thanks to those nice folks at MS.

gobby

sweet

thanks to everyone for the advice. ive been pulling my hair out all day. (and i have an exam tomorrow - $hit!!)

ill let ye know how it goes when i get a copy of sp1...

unkel

Originally posted by gobby
as far as i know its a corporate edition so ill probably try installing sp1.

The very version that will leave your PC braindead :ninja:

you'd better buy yourself windows or install a free os, seriously

unkel

Originally posted by WizZard
then it will work just fine. Thanks to those nice folks at MS.

Eh, in a word: NO

WizZard

Eh, in a word. Yes

Why do you say no, as a matter of interest?

WizZard

Maybe you mean if he used the original key(s) that were on the Net? The ones that are now banned broke etc.

Of course the corp edition will work, how do you think large co.'s use it otherwise?

unkel

Good luck with the installation - don't blame me if it goes horribly wrong

Why not practise what you preach and google a bit for it - I'm sure you'll find exactly what is the story with the corporate keys

BTW - have used xp since final beta nearly 3 years ago

WizZard

I have used it for nearly as long myself.

Just because you, or someone else, can't get it to work doesn't mean it can't be done. It is possible for it to work as I have seen myself on many occasions.

Anyway, it works, simple as that.

unkel

LOL Oh I'm quite resourceful meself m8

Seriously this board does not tolerate illegal use of software. If you install sp1 on an installation where a corporate key was used originally, this will cease your installation. Period.

WizZard

Disclaimer: Nothing I have said may be taken as being true, nor can I be held responsible if your computer/hi-fi/microwave stops working as a result of said speech.
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zAbbo

windows xp will only allow you to partition a raw drive as NTFS