Hard drive not fully recognized

This is due to the current limitation of NT's CONVERT.EXE. After installation of NT, use the Disk Administrator tool to extend the volume or create another partition.

Per MS article #Q224526
Although Windows NT 4.0 can in theory support partitions of up to 16 exabytes in
size using the NTFS file system, the maximum size of the system partition is
limited to 7.8 gigabytes (GB).

Then you just can use Disk Administrator to create an extended partition (with a logical in it). Good luck.

I just went through a similar nighnare with a smaller drive and a older PC. I can share my experiences ...

1) Does the PC BIOS see the entire 20GB drive ... i.e. when you get to the point in the NT install where you define the partition do you see all 20GB? If not ... I suggest you either a) upgrade the BIOS to the most current to see if the problem goes away ... b) find out from the maker of the PC if it can support a 20GB drive or c) take the drive back and get the biggest drive THIS PC can handle (I did option c and the rest of my project was a breeze!).

CONTINUED >>>

CONTINUED >>>

DO NOT use any kind of software to make the PC see this full drive ... those are Win9x solutions not NT ...

2) Once you have the PC showing the full drive you need to go to the Microsoft website and get document Q197667 that describes how to install NT using the IDE driver from Service Pack 4. The directions work as advertised but you really have to get the *.exe file it describes and build the disk (I tried a shortcut and it was ugly).

3) When you partition the drive to install make the system partiotion 4GB (4000MB). I can read the documentation from Microsoft telling me 7.8GB is allowed but I can't get it to work (and life is too short). The remaining drive can be formatted anyway you like after the install.

Good luck with your project!!!

this one should be simple. Are you on NTFS? or Fat if you are using the Fat16 then your problem is that you have two partitions that can only see 4GB a piece you should try to get to NTFS it can be partitioned in a variety of different ways and notto mention that your boot sector might not show just your usable space. Good Luck

You did not specify what SP # you have on the NTWs but SP4 will not see the full cap of the hdd since SP 4 was built before 20 gig cap. You need to upgrade to higher SP, with an updated Bios and don't forget the Jumper Pin Configuration to set the Hdd to Master or Slave with Large Capacity Support. Also do not go beyond 4Gig on the primary partition as i assume you know.

Default NT install will only see 8.1 GB. You can get a updated driver from MS site ( the file is IDExxxx)that you can use during Install use the F6 key for third party drivers (mostly used for SCSI) when it is on the menu. Then install the driver it will let NT see 30-40 GB don't remember which I don't use partitions above 8.1 anyway because of loss of performance.

System partition limitations. Create a second partition/drive letter

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