a 300gb backup drive is showing up as 126gb's. How can I fix this?

what version of windows do you have and what service pack? i am guessing that you dont have xp sp2?

xp pro and sp2 is installed. It detected the correct size before, but then i tried to format it again from the windows xp cd and ever since it's showed up as 126gbs. I tried again and the same problem, I've even tried formatting it from windows and the same problem occurs.

SP2 is installed but your CD is not SP2, right ? You should have formatted it from within XP not booting from the CD. Someone might come up with an elegant solution, I never had that problem. Biggest drive here is 40Gb.

just slipstream SP2 into your XPCD

also i am wondering, is it illegal to download a torrent of an XP SP2 disk? as long as you have your own cd key and all i would assume that you would be fine, but i am not sure.

also i am wondering, is it illegal to download a torrent of an XP SP2 disk? as long as you have your own cd key and all i would assume that you would be fine, but i am not sure.

Yes, downloading any software that isn't otherwise available for download via Bit Torrent is illegal. For Microsoft products, the only way that you can legally get the disc is from a licensed retailer (your computer store) or from Microsoft themselves.

I'm with ripken on this one. Slipstream SP2 into your XP CD and install from there. Not only will things work out a bit cleaner, but you'll also be able to use all that 300GB of space.

I have no idea how to burn a slipsteam sp2 cd. Anyways I'm going to upgrade to Vista soon, which I hope will have support for the SATA chipset, or the disks themselves. Can anyone confirm this?

Slipstreaming is a pretty simple process. MSFN even has a guide on how to! Check it out!

Vista has much better base driver support than XP does. You wouldn't have this problem using Vista.