seagate goflex home 3TB reformats to only 349 gb

[Pete S]

I was attempting to repurpose my Goflex Home 3TB drive (Seagate Barracuda 3TB) to work as an internal HD on a new build for a kids' computer. Took it out of the NAS casing, put it in my machine, I'm prompted to reformat because it cannot otherwise be read....Only 349GB available via the Windows 7 format function. Ideas? Where's the rest of it?

UPDATE: Through Seatools I found the drive info listing 3TB. Windows Disk Management finds the 349GB partition, then 2 other unallocated (1698GB and 746GB). I can create one out of the 1.7TB partition, but the third 746GB section I cannot seem to do anything with.

Is there a way to utilize the remaining 746 GB? A way to combine the partitions once they are created? Reasons to keep them separate?

 

[ZachyBeat]

If you open Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management, what does it say for partitions? It sounds like 450GB partition with the rest unallocated.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, Pete S!

I'd second what @ZachyBeat mentioned and go to Disk Management. There you should be able to see your external HDD. Keep in mind that reformatting it would erase all the data that is stored on it, so make sure you have that backed up elsewhere. Since you can't access the other 746 GB, you've most probably initialized it with the MBR partition table. Unfortunately, this partition style has some limitations and can work with up to 2.2 TB HDDs.
I'd recommend you to Re-Initialize your external drive and make sure you have selected the GPT (GUID Partition Table). Afterwards, you should be able to Partition & Format the HDD and have access to the whole 3 TB capacity.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[ZachyBeat]

Hey there, Pete S!

I'd second what @ZachyBeat mentioned and go to Disk Management. There you should be able to see your external HDD. Keep in mind that reformatting it would erase all the data that is stored on it, so make sure you have that backed up elsewhere. Since you can't access the other 746 GB, you've most probably initialized it with the MBR partition table. Unfortunately, this partition style has some limitations and can work with up to 2.2 TB HDDs.
I'd recommend you to Re-Initialize your external drive and make sure you have selected the GPT (GUID Partition Table). Afterwards, you should be able to Partition & Format the HDD and have access to the whole 3 TB capacity.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted!
SuperSoph_WD

Are you unable to create a partition with the remaining space without erasing a current, but less than total usable space, partition? I wasn't aware of that. I'm glad you chimed in before I gave misguided advice.
Cheers.