Maximum hard drive size

[Stuart]

I have spent some time googling but cannot find a definitive answer to
this question.

What is the maximum hard drive size useable under Windows XP 32bit Sp3.

I know big drives can be partition but I just want to know the size of
single un-partitioned drive.

--
Stuart Winsor

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[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

Stuart <Spa...@argonet.co.uk> wrote:

> I have spent some time googling but cannot find a definitive answer to
> this question.
>
> What is the maximum hard drive size useable under Windows XP 32bit Sp3.

I should think it has more to do with how the volume is formatted than the
OS; see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938432.aspx

--
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.

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to newsre...@wingsandbeaks.org.uk replacing "aaa" by "284".

[Stuart]

In article <mpro.m9qrtj...@wingsandbeaks.org.uk.invalid>,
Jeremy Nicoll - news posts <jn.nntp....@wingsandbeaks.org.uk>
wrote:

> > What is the maximum hard drive size useable under Windows XP 32bit Sp3.

> I should think it has more to do with how the volume is formatted than
> the OS; see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938432.aspx

Actually it is OS and version dependant which is why I asked the question.
The above is typical of the sort of answers I kept finding.

For anyone else, yes, it is NTFS

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

Stuart <Spa...@argonet.co.uk> wrote:

> Actually it is OS and version dependant

How do you know that? I mean, seriously? And are the answers you're seeing
causing problems at the sort of drive size you're consideing?

How about asking a drive seller? Or maybe looking at FAQs on drive
manufacturer's websites?

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

Jeremy Nicoll - news posts <jn.nntp....@wingsandbeaks.org.uk> wrote:

>Stuart <Spa...@argonet.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Actually it is OS and version dependant
>
> How do you know that? I mean, seriously? And are the answers you're
> seeing causing problems at the sort of drive size you're consideing?

According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS under section 7
'Limitations', Max volume size is suggests that that will be nearly 256 TB
if you've formatted the volume with a 64KB cluster size, or nearly 16 TB if
you've used a 4KB cluster.

But it then says that partition table limits will force a 2 TB limit if the
disk in question is an MBR one.

How big a drive do you need, and is it the one you're going to boot from?

I'd suggest you ask the question on, say, microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics
or the ms forums that have largely replaced usenet.

[Stuart]

In article <mpro.m9qv20...@wingsandbeaks.org.uk.invalid>,

Jeremy Nicoll - news posts <jn.nntp....@wingsandbeaks.org.uk>

wrote:
> > Actually it is OS and version dependant

> How do you know that? I mean, seriously? And are the answers you're
> seeing causing problems at the sort of drive size you're consideing?

When I built my first XP PC, I was told by my mentor (not contactable
anymore) that the maximum HD size under XP was 128M, same as RO. I believe
that may have changed under later service packs.

[Stuart]

In article <52c914d7...@argonet.co.uk>,

Stuart <Spa...@argonet.co.uk> wrote:
> I have spent some time googling but cannot find a definitive answer to
> this question.

> What is the maximum hard drive size useable under Windows XP 32bit Sp3.

> I know big drives can be partition but I just want to know the size of
> single un-partitioned drive.

After a lot more searching I have discovered that the limit, actualy 137G,
was fixed in service pack 1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP