HGST GPT Utility and WinXP

[username01]

Hello everybody

I'm still using winXP (32 bit) for some reasons on a Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop (64 bit capable).

I have a 4Tb HGST hdd, on a usb external enclosure (ORICO 6518US3 External Hard Drive Docking Station, 4Tb capable).

There is a utility on HGST site (HGST GPT Disk manager) which suppose to adress the problem of connecting large drives to winXP. They claim it works, and I believe them.

Problem is, it doesnt seem to work on my case, probably due to the fact the hdd is not directly connected. The utility keeps saying "No HGST drive found. Please connect your drive and run this program again".

Now, on this very laptop, I've made a virtual machine, installed a 64 bit OS, and through it, I can do whatever I want with this usb connected 4 Tb hdd. Converted to GPT, partitioned, format, write, erase, everithing works fine, no hassle, no utility involved.
The only drawback is that is complicated and transfering data is pretty slow.
Also, there is the option of a dual boot, or external boot. Complicated again.

I just want to find a way of doing these things from the mother OS, XP 32 bit.
I havent been able to find a solution yet. Anybody encountered such problems? Any ideas or suggestions?

Thank you for your time

 

[cin19]

From what I know the winxp 32 bit does not support over 2TB , like from HGST ( in FAQs section #3 Q/A) or Microsoft. But in 64bit OS over 2TB works fine.

http://www.hgst.com/support/faqs
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn640535(v=vs.85).aspx

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Windows XP 32-bit doesn't support 4TB drives because it doesn't support GPT partitioning, so the limit is 2TB.

No such limit with 64-bit XP because it does support GPT partitioning.

 

[username01]

actually it does.
(though with a little bit of help)

for HGST:
http://www.paragon-software.com/hgst/index.html

every HDD manufacturer has its own way of dealing with this, and they all provide some sort of utility.
check with WD, Seagate, Hitachi (now HGST under WD)....

look here for a summary of what OS-es can do (there's a picture near the bottom of the page)
http://www.hgst.com/support/high-capacity-hard-drives

so, problem has been solved a while ago.
I just need to figure it out why it doesnt work in my particular case: usb docking station under XP.

 

[popatim]

Partition the hardrive into two 2tb ntfs or fat32 partitions.
Xp 32 doesnt support gpt and the HGST utility doesnt support usb drives.

 

[username01]

already tried that, made two partitions. OS sees only the first one, (the first 2 Tb which are fully working), the second one is not recognized.
thanks for the suggestion, anyway..