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Smelter
05-04-07, 20:38
Can anyone help me establish what is the maximum size hard drive I can install into my Win XP Home PC to supplement my primary drive.
Some suppliers advise there is a limit set by some BIOS's of 120Gb but having read the manual for my Asus P4S8X motherboard there is no mention of size limit only that it supports \"Ultra DMA133/100/66, PIO Modes 3 & 4 IDE devices\"

Any advice would be appreciated.
:(
mac124
05-04-07, 20:51
Older pcs used to only be able to access upto a certain size HDD but you should be fine to install a bigger one on an existing setup. Bassically how much are you looking to spend? It might work out cheaper to go for say 2x250gb drives rather than a 300gb or 500gb drive?
Smelter
06-04-07, 13:30
[quote:1b3c5d3a77=\"mac124\"]Older pcs used to only be able to access upto a certain size HDD but you should be fine to install a bigger one on an existing setup. Bassically how much are you looking to spend? It might work out cheaper to go for say 2x250gb drives rather than a 300gb or 500gb drive?[/quote:1b3c5d3a77]


I had intended to simply add a second drive to suppliment my original 80Gb primary drive, as the thought of transfering Win XP home to a new drive and messing it up does'nt bare thinking about!
As you say, there is not much a price difference across the range of drive capacities, so as long as there are no BIOS/OS issues I'll probably look around the 300Gb+ sizes.

Thanks for replying.
Cheule
06-04-07, 14:16
A lot of people swear by Acronis True Image 10 for getting their old HD image onto a new drive with no fuss. :)
Biodoid
06-04-07, 16:43
I use True Image 8 and never had a problem with it..quite easy to use as well
Anonymous
07-04-07, 15:50
[Removed at the request of the author]
Xiathorn
08-04-07, 20:05
Another important fact : Windows XP, pre-service pack 1, did NOT support hard disks above 120 or 130GB - I forget which. It's pretty easy to get around, though :

Install your pre-SP1 copy of Windows.
Search google for a way to make Windows support larger hard disks, it's on there, you need to edit the registry.
OR
Install SP1/SP2.

Goto AdminTools/DiskManagement or something similar and create a new partition with the extra space on the hard disks, or download a program that can dynamically alter partition sizes (They're out there.)