The amazing shrinking SATA HD! Need help with Seagate drive

Pillowfight · 12-11-2007, 02:58 PM

I just installed a new Seagate 250GB SATA drive--a fresh install of Windows saw it just fine and had no problems. HOWEVER, I had to reformat and reinstall Windows several times because of key issues. Suddenly on the third install (all installs were *clean* installs, or so I thought) it's showing the drive as only 130GB or so. Now that I think of it, I think on of my XP installs might have tried to do a repair at one point, maybe that's what flubbed things up. Anyway, Windows completed but Disk Management shows it as only 130GB and no bigger. It shows no other missing partitions. It's like it never existed.

I am wary of playing around too much with partitioning because I bricked my last HD from using a partition repair tool on the famed Ultimate Boot CD. It completely messed up the partition table on this other PATA drive and no computer will recognize it now. (Someday I would like to get that drive working again too).

I have Partition Magic, if that helps. Help? How do I get the other 120GB back?

**manic** · 12-11-2007, 03:03 PM

Size limitation with sp1, install sp2 and allocate space......

Pillowfight · 12-11-2007, 03:49 PM

Doh! That explains it. The first install of Windows had SP2 slipstreamed in, and the second install did not. I forgot about that. Thanks!

12-11-2007, 02:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
Pillowfight Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: CA Posts: 86 OS: WinXP Pro My System	The amazing shrinking SATA HD! Need help with Seagate drive I just installed a new Seagate 250GB SATA drive--a fresh install of Windows saw it just fine and had no problems. HOWEVER, I had to reformat and reinstall Windows several times because of key issues. Suddenly on the third install (all installs were clean installs, or so I thought) it's showing the drive as only 130GB or so. Now that I think of it, I think on of my XP installs might have tried to do a repair at one point, maybe that's what flubbed things up. Anyway, Windows completed but Disk Management shows it as only 130GB and no bigger. It shows no other missing partitions. It's like it never existed. I am wary of playing around too much with partitioning because I bricked my last HD from using a partition repair tool on the famed Ultimate Boot CD. It completely messed up the partition table on this other PATA drive and no computer will recognize it now. (Someday I would like to get that drive working again too). I have Partition Magic, if that helps. Help? How do I get the other 120GB back?

12-11-2007, 03:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,198 OS: xp	Re: The amazing shrinking SATA HD! Need help with Seagate drive Size limitation with sp1, install sp2 and allocate space...... __________________

12-11-2007, 03:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
Pillowfight Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: CA Posts: 86 OS: WinXP Pro My System	Re: The amazing shrinking SATA HD! Need help with Seagate drive Doh! That explains it. The first install of Windows had SP2 slipstreamed in, and the second install did not. I forgot about that. Thanks!