Does the issue affect only when a single drive exceeds 137GB or even when the combined disk space of multiple drives exceed 137GB?

I have installed SP1... will my machine still have such a limitation?

Thanks in advance.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;303013

Looks like you should have no problems with SP1: "Windows XP SP1 includes 48-bit LBA support for ATAPI disk drives. With this support, you can use hard disks that are larger than the current 137 GB limit. By default, support is enabled in SP1."

EDIT: BTW, it's only an issue for a single drive that is larger than 137 GB, not if you have, say, 2 x 100 GB drives.

Also, check your mainboard specs. I found out after all that mine only supported 120gig. Dang. So I decided it was time to upgrade the MB too.

Is there a fix for Windows 2000 too?

As I understand it, you can override motherboard (BIOS) limitations using drive overlay software, but you must have a controller/driver set that supports it, as the overlay no longer has control.

If you really want large drives on an older system, better to throw in a controller, which sidesteps the bios limitations - you could even fit SATA or RAID - with the advent of SATA, there are some pretty cheap IDE RAID controllers around - though perhaps that was them being discontinued.


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...Product=win2000
It seems to turn back on itself a bit, but it looks Like Win2000 SP3 or better supports it

You cannot just install SP4 on 2000 or SP1 on XP after the fact and have the drive work properly as a single partition without merging it.

You must install from an XP SP1a (or 2000 SP3) disc, otherwise it will be detected as a second partition after install if you run disk management. You will still be able to use the space however, just as a separate partition.

If you own a pre-SP1a XP disc, you can legally make a copy and slipstream a Service Pack onto it (same with 2000).

Your other option is to install Windows on the "137GB" portion of the drive that the pre-SP install disc can recognize, then install SP1a, then run diskmgmt.msc from the Run window and refresh/rescan if necessary. This will detect the remaining space as another partition.

This is only an issue when any single drive is >137GB, it does not apply to combined space from multiple physical drives.

One more reason why I like Windows Server 2003 is that it *does*not* have this problem. I moved my 160GB drive to a computer with Win2000 (with SP4, believe it or not) and it couldn't read a lot of data, what made me thinking that stuff got corrupted. But going back to Win2k3 made everything work as it should.

Thank you guys for answering!

Does windows 2000 have the same limit. I currently have 2x 120Gb hdds, which work perfectly

Your drives are under the limit being discussed anyway, so no need to worry. Updating your Win2k via the link provided above will solve any possible future problem regarding 48bit LBA drives.

FWIW:

This seems an odd post as I have a Dell Optiplex 466MHz (size of a phonebook >6years old) Win'98SE, replaced its' 6GB with a 160GB (WD Caviar). I did flash the BIOS, which took all of 2minutes, 4 months prior to the new drive.