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Brand new 3TB hard drive only shows 746GB free

We just purchased a brand new WD Caviar Green 3TB SATA drive. The target computer is 32-bit running Windows 7 Pro.

We have tried everything possible to get it to show the full 3TB capacity; WD says to install the host bus adapter card that came with the hard drive (which we did, still shows 746 GB), the internet said it needs to be converted to GPT (GUID partition table) as opposed to MBR (which we did in the disk management console).

There are no jumpers set on the hard drive itself. Everything seems to work fine except for the fact that the computer thinks it's only 746 GB (one platter).

Is there something else we can try? Thanks in advance.
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What type of computer is this?  Many older system BIOS will not be able to see larger size hard drives.  If it is possible, please update your system BIOS.
You should try to install some software call treesize. Its great at showing whats taking up space
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@hunart: This is a brand new Dell Precision T5500, it was bought in November.

@schwabdale: It's a brand new unformatted drive, I won't benefit from trying to see what's on it. The problem is that the system is only seeing the first platter (four platters * 746 GB = 3 TB).
Is BIOS recognizing it properly?  the GPT only applies to the OS.  Win 7 32bit works fine with drives/partitions over 2Tb as long as you do what you've already done.  Def check the BIOS and upgrade as needed.  If there is no upgrade for your system then you may need a PCI(e) SATA card that may have the ability to do what BIOS cannot.  The only thing I am not sure of then is whether you could boot from it or not.  If BIOS shows the drive, using the card, as a bootable device then you would be good to go.
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Its a UEFI standard drive - some PC's (yes, even recent ones) don't support the standard and so just report the capacity of one platter.
With the T5500 under warranty ask Dell if they can get you a BIOS that supports UEFI otherwise you need a different PC.
The BIOS will recognize the drive when connected to the onboard SATA controller. However, as stated in the original post, the drive is connected to the motherboard via the host bus adapter card as required by WD's instructions. We have tried both ways and both ways show 746GB.
Here is the spec from Dell http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-t5500/pd.  I clearly shows the following options:

    * Up to 1000GB4 SATA hard drive (7200RPM)
    * Up to 600GB4 Serial Attached SCSI hard drive (15000RPM)
    * Up to 300GB4 SATA hard drive (10000RPM)
    * Up to 256GB4 Solid State hard drive

1. Maybe the drive is faulty.
2. Did you install Intel® Matrix Storage Technology Driver?
3. Single RAID 0 GPT DATA volumes greater than 2TB are available as factory installed option with the integrated controller and optional PERC 6/i RAID adapter under Windows XP64, Windows Vista 32Bit/ 64Bit operating systems. Probably also in WIN7 32Bit/ 64Bit.
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sorry about not catching the HBA when reading... attention to detail :(

Is this an OS drive or an andditional OS drive?  Also, in BIOS, is the setting for the drives AHCI or something else?  Just read something from WD and they almost guarantee their drives will work with their cards in any situation:

 I know you did what is in the first section already but just read through.  One of the things covered says that to "boot" it must be a 64bit OS.  The second sections covers what they say about theirs working regardless of the onboard controller.

Use GPT Instead of MBR

The solution adopted by the industry is to use GUID Partition Tables, otherwise known as GPT, instead of Master Boot Record (MBR) partition tables. UEFI is a community effort by many companies in the computer industry to modernize the booting process. This partitioning method provides for up to 18 Exabyte (264) of Logical Block Addressing. UEFI capable systems are already shipping, and many more are in preparation. Booting a current Windows operating system from a drive larger than 2.19 TB requires that the system have UEFI support, a 64-bit version of the OS and will create and use GPT partitions. The UEFI specification defines a new model for the interface between operating systems and platform firmware. The interface consists of data tables that contain platform-related information, plus boot and runtime service calls that are available to the operating system and its loader. Together, these provide a standard environment for booting an operating system and running pre-boot applications.

Implement WD’s Interim Solutions for Implementing Large Capacity Drives

Existing legacy (non-UEFI) BIOS motherboards and GPT-ready operating systems such as Windows Vista or Windows 7, combined with the appropriate storage class drivers, can use drives larger than 2.19 TB as secondary storage; but there are a number of host bus adapter (HBA) and chipset vendors that do not currently offer drivers that support drives larger than 2.19 TB. To provide a solution for these types of compatibility issues, WD is bundling large capacity WD Caviar® Green™ 2.5 TB and 3 TB drives with an AHCI-compliant HBA that, once installed, allows the operating system to use a known driver to correctly support large capacity drives. This bundle provides a short-term solution until the time when updated storage drivers and system software with support for large capacity drives become available.

Illustrative Example: Should an end user decide to add a secondary drive to an existing desktop computer system that incorporates a chipset such as an Intel-based chipset on a legacy (non-UEFI) motherboard running an operating system such as Windows, the 3rd party storage class driver may not properly support a drive larger than 2.19 TB. If the large capacity drive is attached directly to the native motherboard SATA controller, the 3rd party driver may attach to the drive and the driver will not recognize the drive’s full capacity, resulting in an incompatibility issue. An attempt to uninstall the driver could render the whole system inoperable.

However, when the drive is connected to the WD-bundled HBA, a Windows operating system would load native AHCI drivers that would correctly support large capacity drives and allow normal partitioning and use of the drive.

The example above is only one of many cases where the WD bundled HBA will solve the problem due to an incompatible driver.

Before you close this question give  try to Paragon GPT Loader which is designed for your case exactly: http://www.paragon-software.com/technologies/components/gpt-loader/
It will let you use the total capacity of HDD.
Just to point out that "The problem is that the system is only seeing the first platter (four platters * 746 GB = 3 TB). " is incorrect, the geometry is completely hidden from the controller. The 746 GB you see is 3GB - 2 TiB, so the leftover bit because the most significant bit of the address is missing.

I am using GPT Loader with 3TB drive and it allows using the whole space (2.7TB) on XP/Windows 7 32bit.
I don't think it would help in cases where you only see the odd 700GB noxcio, just for those where you see 2TB usable. Nice utility though, just picked up a copy for future.
=))) andy, that is the trick. When you connect 3TB drive to XP 32 or Win 7 32bit you see exactly as 746GB.
But as soon as you install GPT loader it shows proper size.
If you have big drive try that.
Our mistake
Hi
i have same problem. but i a using my 3TB in an usb cabinet connected to my Qnap 419+ nas server.. and i also only see 7xx gb.  i am also trying to connect this box to an Debian linux 5.x distribution and same error.
do anybody have a solution for that?