2 TB HDD limit

[jaclaz]

and GPT based partitions require 64bit operating systems!

they won't work on 32bit OSes

Really?

Yes and No.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/gg463525.aspx

Windows Disk Support

Q. Can Windows XP x64 read, write, and boot from GPT disks?

A. Windows XP x64 Edition can use GPT disks for data only.

Q. Can the 32-bit version of Windows XP read, write, and boot from GPT disks?

A. No. The 32-bit version will see only the Protective MBR. The EE partition will not be mounted or otherwise exposed to application software.

Q. Can the 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 read, write, and boot from GPT disks?

A. Starting with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, all versions of Windows Server can use GPT partitioned disks for data. Booting is only supported for 64-bit editions on Itanium-based systems.

Q. Can Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008 read, write, and boot from GPT disks?

A. Yes, all versions can use GPT partitioned disks for data. Booting is only supported for 64-bit editions on UEFI-based systems.

Q. Can Windows 2000, Windows NT 4, or Windows 95/98 read, write, and boot from GPT?

A. No. Again, legacy software will see only the Protective MBR.

Q. Is it possible to move a GPT disk to another computer?

A. You can move, or migrate, data-only GPT disks to other systems that are running Windows XP (64-bit edition only) or later versions of the operating system (32- or 64-bit editions). You can migrate data-only GPT disks after the system has been shutdown or after the safe removal of the disk.

jaclaz

[Sfor]

I stand corrected. Sure: 4,294,967,296 * 4,096 = 16 TiB. I need to get more sleep...

Thanks, RLoew!

I've corrected my previous post and the quotation of it, in red, to highlight the correction.

BTW, I've been using an External USB 2.0 Seagate Expansion 1500 GB with a Seagate Barracuda LP ST31500541AS (5900 rpm) 1500 GB HDD inside, for one year already, if not more, without any issues. It's partitioned into 3 roughly equal sized partitions. Although I've never had the chance to use a 2 TB HDD yet, I agree with RLoew and allen2: it has to be safe, because it's real size is 1.82 TiB. But it should not be used as a single partiton, unless RLoew's patch is used.

In fact, there was an issue, but not related to size: all green Barracudas have an auto spin-down on idle feature. Neither Win XP SP3, nor Win 98SE, do understand it, so that every time it spins down, the OSes think it has been disconnected and reconnected, and redetect it, causing it to spin up again. The solution to this issue is to use the Seagate Manager Software, which accompanies the drive, to set the spin down time to "Never", effectively disabling that feature. I don't know whether the Seagate Manager works on 9x/ME, because I did it on XP. In any case it must be done just once, so it's not really fundamental to have the Seagate Manager working on 9x/ME.

I just obtained a 2TB HDD. Now I've got two (1.5TB and 2TB) Seagate drives. One of the partitions is 0.99TB, others are smaller. So far so good, but...

After the computer remained idle for a few hours the new 2TB HDD had to spin up. Apparently it spinned down on its own. The data transfers were few times slower, than usual. System reboot solved the problem.

The problem seems to be related to the mentioned Seagate auto spin down issue. But, it would be good to confirm the diagnose, first.

As a partitioning software I had to use GParted. I've encountered an issue in the process. GParted failed on resizing a 512BG partition to 0.99TB. The size of the partition was changed, but the partition structures remained at 512GB. So, the system detected partition as 512GB, while partition managers were telling it's 0.99TB. I had to delete the partition and then to create a new one, again. The problem could be related to old version of System Rescue CD I'm using. Apparently, the support for FAT32 partitions larger than 256GB is just a partial one. This version of GParted does not show the stastistics for FAT32 partitions larger then 256GB.

Edited June 5, 2011 by Sfor