48bit LBA Support

**adsldave** · February 15th, 2007, 10:56 AM

I have just bought a new hard drive for my pc (old one broke), But once installed only 128gb shows up even though it's a 250gb drive.
I have since discovered that i need 48bit LBA support (gutted), I have updated the bios on my motherboard to the latest version but there is no support for it included.
I have a Gigabyte GA-8S661-GXMP socket 478 motherboard & i have windows xp home sp2 installed, I have tested xp for 48bit LBA support & it's all set up as it should be.
Is there a third party driver/software that i can install to provide me with 48bit LBA support for my motherboard ???
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

**NooNoo** · February 15th, 2007, 11:20 AM

Welcome to Windrivers Adsldave

It sounds like you have done the right thing so far...
Have a look in disk management - right click my computer - manage and double click disk management. Do you have any unallocated space? What drive is it? Have you checked the jumper configuration?

**adsldave** · February 15th, 2007, 12:58 PM

Hello NooNoo, I've looked in disk management & i have approx 105gb unallocated space. The drive is a 'Hitachi Deskstar 3.5 250gb'. I'm not sure what my jumper config is at the moment, I will check it out. Although it is the only hard drive in my pc so i presume it has to be the master.

**adsldave** · February 15th, 2007, 01:22 PM

I've just checked my jumper config & as expected it is set as the master. (jumpers on a+b & g+h).

**Platypus** · February 15th, 2007, 05:33 PM

Looks like all is well now, you can create a partition in the un-allocated space or use third-party partition managing software to expand the existing partition out into the unallocated space.

**adsldave** · February 15th, 2007, 08:58 PM

could you suggest a third party partiton software as i've never used any before?, Is there any danger of me losing the data from my drive? should i back it up first?

**adsldave** · February 15th, 2007, 09:17 PM

ok i've found a partition software (partition magic). Will this partition the 'whole' drive (250gb) or will it just partition the 128gb thats currently reconized ???

**MobilePCPhysician** · February 15th, 2007, 10:15 PM

if you have the latest partition magic, you can set it to partition the un-allocated space, then merge it into one partition, if desired. Always back up your data before doing any of this.