Wrong HDD Capactiy in My Computer / Disk Management (WINXPSP3)

gonzoron

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
7
0
10,510
OK, I know there are many similar threads here, but I've searched through them and haven't found exactly the same issue.

History: Dell Laptop w/XP SP3. ~70GB drive was failing. Bought a new ~550GB drive and cloned the old to the new with Clonezilla. Used gparted to extend the partition to fill the new drive. Reinstalled XP because the drive wouldn't boot. (Guessing the MBR was hosed by gparted?)

Problem: Windows runs, but won't recognize the full drive. My Computer still says 74.5GB Capacity. But Disk Management disagrees with itself. On the lower pane where it shows the Disks graphically, it says (correctly) "C: 596.17 GB NTFS Healthy (System)." There is no unallocated space. (Before I used Gparted, this area showed the 74.5GB partition and the other ~500GB unallocated.) But in the upper pane where it shows the list of Volume in tabular form, it says "Capacity 74.53GB"

So it looks like the partition resizing took, but windows doesn't want to use the whole partition?

(I checked quotas, they are off. I assume the BIOS is set up ok, because gparted saw the whole drive, as does the lower pane of Disk Management. It's SP3, so it should handle big drives, and it's not even stopping at the 130GB Big Drive limit, it's stopping at the old drive's capacity.)

any help would be appreciated.
 
Solution
According to the Cylinders / Heads / Sectors values, Windows is detecting the physical drive size as 640GB:

http://www.google.com/search?&q=77825+x+255+x+63+x+512

Therefore there is no HPA.

The partition table is showing one NTFS partition (type 07) with a size of 1250263665 sectors, ie 640GB or 596GiB.

http://www.google.com/search?q=1250263665+x+512+bytes+in+gigabytes

However, the boot sector of that NTFS volume is indicating that the size of the volume is only 156296321 sectors, ie 74.5GiB.

Therefore, it appears that your partition management software expanded the partition (sector 0) but did not expand the logical volume within that partition (sector 63).

gonzoron

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
7
0
10,510
Well, that certainly sounds like if could be the issue, but none of the fixes in that link (or other discussions I've found on the Dell truncation issue) seem to work.

I have done the following:
- MHDD wouldn't see my drive for some reason
- HDAT2 shows no HPA in the SET MAX (HPA) menu
- I tried adding a 1 sector HPA and then removing it, but that didn't do anything.
- I used Roadkill sectedit to look at sector 3 of the physical drive. It didn't look like this one:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b16/bjkdegree/lba-3_dan.gif
(which this guy here:
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.sys.pc-clone.dell/2007-11/msg00024.html
says is a typical dell sector 3 that needs to be zeroed out)
In partitcular, it didn't have the XLDR text.
- but I tried zeroing it out anyway (after backing it up).
- HDAT2 still showed no HPA
- windows still won't see the whole drive.

FYI, the drive is a Samsung drive. Would the Hitachi or Seagate tools work?
Also, I don't even have this "MediaDirect" button on my computer. Is there something else that lurks in LBA3? Are there more sectors I need to zero out?

Anyway, I'm stumped again. Your link seemed to fit my issue at first, but not when I delved into it deeper. Any more ideas?


At this point, I'm starting to get really frustrated, and I wish I'd never tried to clone the old drive, and just started fresh. Is it too late for that at this point? Is there a way to totally wipe this drive back to its original state (including all wacky hidden stuff like HPA, the MBR, the partition table, and anything else I don't know about?)
 
Seagate has acquired Samsung's HDD division, so SeaTools may work. Hitachi's tool doesn't seem to care whose drive it is.

Could we see the partition table and boot sector with Microsoft's Sector Inspector?
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/SecInspect.zip

If you extract the above archive to the one folder and execute the SIrun.bat file, the procedure will generate a report file named SIout.txt. We will also be able to see the drive's reported capacity.
 

gonzoron

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
7
0
10,510


Here you go...
[cpp]--------------
Date and time:
Sat 08/18/2012
07:11 PM

0001.033

Sector Inspector Copyright Microsoft Corporation 2003
===========================================================================
Target - \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE0
77825 Cylinders
255 Heads
63 Sectors Per Track
512 BytesPerSector
12 MediaType

===========================================================================
Master Boot Record
===========================================================================
| B | FS TYPE | START | END | | |
| F | (hex) | C H S| C H S| RELATIVE | TOTAL |
===========================================================================
| * | 07 | 0 1 1|1023 254 63| 63| 1250263665|
| | 00 | 0 0 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0|
| | 00 | 0 0 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0|
| | 00 | 0 0 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0|
===========================================================================
Disk Signature 0x40000000

Partition #1 NTFS backup boot sector at LBN 1250263727.


LBN 0 [C 0, H 0, S 1]

0x0000 33 c0 8e d0 bc 00 7c fb-50 07 50 1f fc be 1b 7c 3ÀŽÐ¼.|ûP.Pü¾|
0x0010 bf 1b 06 50 57 b9 e5 01-f3 a4 cb bd be 07 b1 04 ¿.PW¹å.ó¤Ë½¾.±.
0x0020 38 6e 00 7c 09 75 13 83-c5 10 e2 f4 cd 18 8b f5 8n.|.uƒÅâôÍ‹õ
0x0030 83 c6 10 49 74 19 38 2c-74 f6 a0 b5 07 b4 07 8b ƒÆIt8,tö µ.´.‹
0x0040 f0 ac 3c 00 74 fc bb 07-00 b4 0e cd 10 eb f2 88 ð¬<.tü»..´.Íëòˆ
0x0050 4e 10 e8 46 00 73 2a fe-46 10 80 7e 04 0b 74 0b NèF.s*þF€~..t.
0x0060 80 7e 04 0c 74 05 a0 b6-07 75 d2 80 46 02 06 83 €~..t. ¶.uÒ€F..ƒ
0x0070 46 08 06 83 56 0a 00 e8-21 00 73 05 a0 b6 07 eb F..ƒV..è!.s. ¶.ë
0x0080 bc 81 3e fe 7d 55 aa 74-0b 80 7e 10 00 74 c8 a0 ¼>þ}Uªt.€~.tÈ 
0x0090 b7 07 eb a9 8b fc 1e 57-8b f5 cb bf 05 00 8a 56 ·.ë©‹üW‹õË¿..ŠV
0x00a0 00 b4 08 cd 13 72 23 8a-c1 24 3f 98 8a de 8a fc .´.Ír#ŠÁ$?˜ŠÞŠü
0x00b0 43 f7 e3 8b d1 86 d6 b1-06 d2 ee 42 f7 e2 39 56 C÷ã‹Ñ†Ö±.ÒîB÷â9V
0x00c0 0a 77 23 72 05 39 46 08-73 1c b8 01 02 bb 00 7c .w#r.9F.s¸..».|
0x00d0 8b 4e 02 8b 56 00 cd 13-73 51 4f 74 4e 32 e4 8a ‹N.‹V.ÍsQOtN2äŠ
0x00e0 56 00 cd 13 eb e4 8a 56-00 60 bb aa 55 b4 41 cd V.ÍëäŠV.`»ªU´AÍ
0x00f0 13 72 36 81 fb 55 aa 75-30 f6 c1 01 74 2b 61 60 r6ûUªu0öÁ.t+a`
0x0100 6a 00 6a 00 ff 76 0a ff-76 08 6a 00 68 00 7c 6a j.j.ÿv.ÿv.j.h.|j
0x0110 01 6a 10 b4 42 8b f4 cd-13 61 61 73 0e 4f 74 0b .j´B‹ôÍaas.Ot.
0x0120 32 e4 8a 56 00 cd 13 eb-d6 61 f9 c3 49 6e 76 61 2äŠV.ÍëÖaùÃInva
0x0130 6c 69 64 20 70 61 72 74-69 74 69 6f 6e 20 74 61 lid partition ta
0x0140 62 6c 65 00 45 72 72 6f-72 20 6c 6f 61 64 69 6e ble.Error loadin
0x0150 67 20 6f 70 65 72 61 74-69 6e 67 20 73 79 73 74 g operating syst
0x0160 65 6d 00 4d 69 73 73 69-6e 67 20 6f 70 65 72 61 em.Missing opera
0x0170 74 69 6e 67 20 73 79 73-74 65 6d 00 00 00 00 00 ting system.....
0x0180 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x0190 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x01a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x01b0 00 00 00 00 00 2c 44 63-00 00 00 40 00 00 80 01 .....,Dc...@..€.
0x01c0 01 00 07 fe ff ff 3f 00-00 00 71 82 85 4a 00 00 ...þÿÿ?...q‚…J..
0x01d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x01e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0x01f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa ..............Uª

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Primary Partition 1
NTFS BIOS Parameter Block Information

BytesPerSector : 512
Sectors Per Cluster : 8
ReservedSectors : 0
Fats : 0
RootEntries : 0
Small Sectors : 0 ( 0 MB )
Media Type : 248 ( 0xf8 )
SectorsPerFat : 0
SectorsPerTrack : 63
Heads : 255
Hidden Sectors : 63
Large Sectors : 0 ( 0 MB )

ClustersPerFRS : 246
Clust/IndxAllocBuf : 1
NumberSectors : 156296321 ( 76316.6 MB )
MftStartLcn : 786432
Mft2StartLcn : 9768520
SerialNumber : 16190542909347257626
Checksum : 0 (0x0)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

LBN 63 [C 0, H 1, S 1]

0x0000 eb 52 90 4e 54 46 53 20-20 20 20 00 02 08 00 00 ëRNTFS .....
0x0010 00 00 00 00 00 f8 00 00-3f 00 ff 00 3f 00 00 00 .....ø..?.ÿ.?...
0x0020 00 00 00 00 80 00 80 00-81 e4 50 09 00 00 00 00 ....€.€.äP.....
0x0030 00 00 0c 00 00 00 00 00-48 0e 95 00 00 00 00 00 ........H.•.....
0x0040 f6 00 00 00 01 00 00 00-1a dd 5c b0 fe 5c b0 e0 ö.......Ý\°þ\°à
0x0050 00 00 00 00 fa 33 c0 8e-d0 bc 00 7c fb b8 c0 07 ....ú3ÀŽÐ¼.|û¸À.
0x0060 8e d8 e8 16 00 b8 00 0d-8e c0 33 db c6 06 0e 00 ŽØè.¸..ŽÀ3ÛÆ...
0x0070 10 e8 53 00 68 00 0d 68-6a 02 cb 8a 16 24 00 b4 èS.h..hj.ËŠ$.´
0x0080 08 cd 13 73 05 b9 ff ff-8a f1 66 0f b6 c6 40 66 .Ís.¹ÿÿŠñf.¶Æ@f
0x0090 0f b6 d1 80 e2 3f f7 e2-86 cd c0 ed 06 41 66 0f .¶Ñ€â?÷â†ÍÀí.Af.
0x00a0 b7 c9 66 f7 e1 66 a3 20-00 c3 b4 41 bb aa 55 8a ·Éf÷áf£ .ôA»ªUŠ
0x00b0 16 24 00 cd 13 72 0f 81-fb 55 aa 75 09 f6 c1 01 $.Ír.ûUªu.öÁ.
0x00c0 74 04 fe 06 14 00 c3 66-60 1e 06 66 a1 10 00 66 t.þ..Ãf`.f¡.f
0x00d0 03 06 1c 00 66 3b 06 20-00 0f 82 3a 00 1e 66 6a ...f;. ..‚:.fj
0x00e0 00 66 50 06 53 66 68 10-00 01 00 80 3e 14 00 00 .fP.Sfh...€>..
0x00f0 0f 85 0c 00 e8 b3 ff 80-3e 14 00 00 0f 84 61 00 .…..è³ÿ€>...„a.
0x0100 b4 42 8a 16 24 00 16 1f-8b f4 cd 13 66 58 5b 07 ´BŠ$.‹ôÍfX[.
0x0110 66 58 66 58 1f eb 2d 66-33 d2 66 0f b7 0e 18 00 fXfXë-f3Òf.·..
0x0120 66 f7 f1 fe c2 8a ca 66-8b d0 66 c1 ea 10 f7 36 f÷ñþŠÊf‹ÐfÁê÷6
0x0130 1a 00 86 d6 8a 16 24 00-8a e8 c0 e4 06 0a cc b8 .†ÖŠ$.ŠèÀä..̸
0x0140 01 02 cd 13 0f 82 19 00-8c c0 05 20 00 8e c0 66 ..Í.‚.ŒÀ. .ŽÀf
0x0150 ff 06 10 00 ff 0e 0e 00-0f 85 6f ff 07 1f 66 61 ÿ..ÿ....…oÿ.fa
0x0160 c3 a0 f8 01 e8 09 00 a0-fb 01 e8 03 00 fb eb fe àø.è.. û.è..ûëþ
0x0170 b4 01 8b f0 ac 3c 00 74-09 b4 0e bb 07 00 cd 10 ´.‹ð¬<.t.´.»..Í
0x0180 eb f2 c3 0d 0a 41 20 64-69 73 6b 20 72 65 61 64 ëòÃ..A disk read
0x0190 20 65 72 72 6f 72 20 6f-63 63 75 72 72 65 64 00 error occurred.
0x01a0 0d 0a 4e 54 4c 44 52 20-69 73 20 6d 69 73 73 69 ..NTLDR is missi
0x01b0 6e 67 00 0d 0a 4e 54 4c-44 52 20 69 73 20 63 6f ng...NTLDR is co
0x01c0 6d 70 72 65 73 73 65 64-00 0d 0a 50 72 65 73 73 mpressed...Press
0x01d0 20 43 74 72 6c 2b 41 6c-74 2b 44 65 6c 20 74 6f Ctrl+Alt+Del to
0x01e0 20 72 65 73 74 61 72 74-0d 0a 00 00 00 00 00 00 restart........
0x01f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00-83 a0 b3 c9 00 00 55 aa ........ƒ ³É..Uª
[/cpp]





 
According to the Cylinders / Heads / Sectors values, Windows is detecting the physical drive size as 640GB:

http://www.google.com/search?&q=77825+x+255+x+63+x+512

Therefore there is no HPA.

The partition table is showing one NTFS partition (type 07) with a size of 1250263665 sectors, ie 640GB or 596GiB.

http://www.google.com/search?q=1250263665+x+512+bytes+in+gigabytes

However, the boot sector of that NTFS volume is indicating that the size of the volume is only 156296321 sectors, ie 74.5GiB.

Therefore, it appears that your partition management software expanded the partition (sector 0) but did not expand the logical volume within that partition (sector 63).
 
Solution

gonzoron

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
7
0
10,510
OK, that seems to make sense.... sooooooo... how do I fix it? :) Any suggestion of software to use to fix it? my googling hasn't really turned up much.

I tried looking for options in Disk Management to do it, but couldn't find it. Apparently diskpart.exe won't work on a system partition.

I've downloaded EaseUS partition master and I'm trying to fiddle with it there, but no luck yet.
 

gonzoron

Honorable
Aug 18, 2012
7
0
10,510
Update: Huzzah!

Using EaseUS partition master, I resized the partition back down to the minimum that would hold the data on the disk, then resized it back up to the maximum and the problem is solved! My Computer shows the full 596GiB!

Thank you so much for all your help!