32 gb. max XP home edition

[Mike]

I formatted a Maxtor 45 gb. in NTSF and only see 32 mb. I
thought the 32 gb. limit was a fat32 issue. Any way to
resolve without reformatting? If not....how should I
format the drive to correct.

[Earl F. Parrish]

"Mike" > wrote in message
...
> I formatted a Maxtor 45 gb. in NTSF and only see 32 mb. I
> thought the 32 gb. limit was a fat32 issue. Any way to
> resolve without reformatting? If not....how should I
> format the drive to correct.

Formatting does not determine the size of the partition. The
partition is created a certain size and then formatted. How did you
setup the partition? Was this a new drive? It may have had another
partition on it already if it was used before. Formatting does not
get rid of existing partitions. Use Disk Management to see what the
layout is. If your operating system is already on that drive you
cannot repartition it or format within Windows XP.

--
Earl F. Parrish

[Ron Martell]

"Mike" > wrote:

>I formatted a Maxtor 45 gb. in NTSF and only see 32 mb. I
>thought the 32 gb. limit was a fat32 issue. Any way to
>resolve without reformatting? If not....how should I
>format the drive to correct.

Windows XP will not create or format FAT32 drives larger than 32 gb. It
is a limitation built into the system. However Windows XP will recognize
and use FAT32 partitions larger than 32 gb once they have been created and
formatted by some other means.

You have three choices:

1. Delete the existing partition and create a new one using NTFS.
2. Boot the computer with a Windows 98/WindowsMe startup disk and use
FDISK to delete the existing 32 gb partition, create a new one using the
full capacity of the drive, and then format it.
3. Boot the computer with a Windows 98/WindowsMe startup disk and then use
a third party partitioning tool such as Partition Magic
(www.powerquest.com) or BootItNG (www.bootitng.com) to increase the size
of the partition to use the full capacity of the drive.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

[John E. Carty]

"Ron Martell" > wrote in message
...
> "Mike" > wrote:
>
> >I formatted a Maxtor 45 gb. in NTSF and only see 32 mb. I
> >thought the 32 gb. limit was a fat32 issue. Any way to
> >resolve without reformatting? If not....how should I
> >format the drive to correct.
>
> Windows XP will not create or format FAT32 drives larger than 32 gb.

XP WILL format a drive larger then 32GB as FAT32 if it's already formatted
as FAT32 :-)

It
> is a limitation built into the system. However Windows XP will recognize
> and use FAT32 partitions larger than 32 gb once they have been created and
> formatted by some other means.
>
> You have three choices:
>
> 1. Delete the existing partition and create a new one using NTFS.
> 2. Boot the computer with a Windows 98/WindowsMe startup disk and use
> FDISK to delete the existing 32 gb partition, create a new one using the
> full capacity of the drive, and then format it.
> 3. Boot the computer with a Windows 98/WindowsMe startup disk and then use
> a third party partitioning tool such as Partition Magic
> (www.powerquest.com) or BootItNG (www.bootitng.com) to increase the size
> of the partition to use the full capacity of the drive.
>
> Good luck
>
>
> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
> --
> Microsoft MVP
> On-Line Help Computer Service
> http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
>
> "The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

[Earl F. Parrish]

"John E. Carty" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> XP WILL format a drive larger then 32GB as FAT32 if it's already
formatted
> as FAT32 :-)
>

If it is already formatted it does not need to be formatted. What
you mean to say is that Windows XP will utilize a FAT32 partition
larger than 32 GB if you use something other than Windows XP to
format it.

--
Earl F. Parrish

[John E. Carty]

"Earl F. Parrish" > wrote in message
...
>
> "John E. Carty" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> >
> > XP WILL format a drive larger then 32GB as FAT32 if it's already
> formatted
> > as FAT32 :-)
> >
>
> If it is already formatted it does not need to be formatted. What
> you mean to say is that Windows XP will utilize a FAT32 partition
> larger than 32 GB if you use something other than Windows XP to
> format it.

No, I mean if I have a drive larger then 32GB (which is formatted as FAT32)
and I want to reload Windows from scratch I can put my XP CD in, boot from
the CD, and have XP format the drive as FAT32 and reload Windows :-)

>
> --
> Earl F. Parrish
>