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	Answer ID   1310   Products     Internal Drives     Velociraptors     Raptors     Raid Edition (RE)     Caviar Green     Caviar Blue     Caviar Black     Scorpio (Laptop)   Legacy Products & Accessories     EIDE Drives     Serial ATA (SATA) Drives   Category     Installation / Removal   Last Updated   06/09/2009 01:47 PM   Reviewed   Yes    Print Answer    Email Answer     During Windows installation, drives larger than 137GB are only recognized as 137GB (128GB Binary).   Question   During Windows installation, why is my drive recognized as 137GB (128GB binary) when it is larger than 137GB?   Answer   There are several common reasons why a hard drive would be detected as 137GB (128GB Binary) during Windows installation: If the Windows installation CD does not contain Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or Windows XP Service Pack 1, the initial installation of Windows will not support drives larger than 137GB. During installation of Windows, the hard drive will be limited to a 137GB (or less) partition. After Windows installation as been completed and Service Pack 1 (for Windows XP) or Service Pack 3 (for Windows 2000) have been installed, the remaining empty area of the hard drive can be partitioned and formatted from the directions in Answer ID 330: How to partition and format unused space on a WD hard drive for use in Windows XP. The system does not have a 48-bit LBA-compatible Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) installed. This includes EIDE controller card BIOSs. Please contact your motherboard or controller card manufacturer to determine if your hardware supports 48-bit LBA addressing. Please see Answer ID 936: Operating System and BIOS limitations - 137GB, 32GB, 8.4GB for more information pertaining to this issue. Drivers for the motherboard IDE controller or controller card are not installed. Some motherboards and controller cards require drivers to be installed (during Windows installation) to support hard drives over 137GB. Please contact your motherboard or controller card manufacturer for installation instructions and driver availability for this issue. If you have an Intel based motherboard with the following chipsets: Intel 810 Chipset Family Intel 815 Chipset Family Intel 820 Chipset Family Intel 840 Chipset family Intel 845 Chipset Family Intel 850 Chipset family Intel 860 Chipset family The motherboard will not support full 48-bit LBA addressing until an Intel based utility called the Intel Application Accelerator is installed into Windows (after Windows has been installed). See Answer ID 1004: Can I use the Intel Application Accelerator with WD drives over 137GB (128GB binary)?. This means that initially, the drive will need to be setup with a partition under 137GB (128GB Binary). Once the Intel Application Accelerator has been installed, the remainder of the hard drive's free space can be partitioned and formatted from the directions in Answer ID 207: How to install, partition, format, or reformat a WD external hard drive in Windows XP.        How well did this answer your question?   How well did this answer your question? 100% 75% 50% 25% 0%        Users who viewed this answer have also viewed   •  How to create one large partition on an EIDE hard drive larger than 137GB (128GB binary) in Windows. •  The full capacity of EIDE drives larger than 137GB (128GB binary) is not recognized in Windows 2000/XP. •  How to use Data LifeGuard Tools 11 to setup a new internal drive in Windows 2000 or XP •  Can I use the Intel Application Accelerator with WD drives over 137GB (128GB binary)? •  Issues to be concerned with when using a hard drive larger than 137GB (128GB binary).   Back to Search Results