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hello everybody:
im building a new system
the system drive containing windows xp will be 160 GB and i understand that windows xp does not support drives mopre than 137 GB, so is there a way to format the drive and install windows?
i need the drive to be in one big partition, then once windows is loaded i will load SP1 or SP2 to format the 320 GB RAID
btw the version of windows the guy has is not slipstreamed with SP1
thanks
Windows XP (Pro ?) when used on an NTFS (can't remember if Home supports NTFS) partition will support upto 4 TB (terabytes or 4086 GB)
When formated with FAT32 your going to have problems, also the 137 GB "barrier" may also be a hardware problem, howerver most new systems that are using SATA drives should not have a problem with it as drives go upto 250 GB and beyond nowa days.
From previous experience, I don't think it's possible to install WinXP on a 160GB HD without SP1. Now, you could install it without SP1 but you couldn't do one big partition. Then you would have to install SP1 to see the rest of the drive...if you have access to Parition Magic or Partition Expert you could:
1. Install WinXP on 160GB
2. Install SP1 or SP2
3. Use Partition Magic or Partition Expert to resize drive to full capacity.
I still think you might run into problems with that...I think if you resize it outside of Windows you might be okay!
SP1 enables larger drive support...so you can run a 250GB (Like I have) without a problem...
could call m$ and they might send a free windows xp w/sp2 cd :)
download the drive tools for example "Disc Manager" partition and format, then boot from the setup CD, and install. Failing that, you could always create an SP1/2 slipstream install CD.
:thumbs2:
160 gb primary drive is just nuts. do you know how long that would take to defrag? , what happens when your xp install needs to be refreshed? make a primary partition of 40 gb, then a secondary of 120 gb or whatever, it will save you alot of head ache in the long run.
Takes 15 mins and a blank to make a SP1 or SP2 integrated cd, saves more trouble later. But as said before, better install on a smaller partition and have a secondary one for data backup in case it needs to be reinstalled.