Biggles1
asked on
4TB becomes 2TB
Simple Question (if there is such a thing)
I have a Dell Inspiron with a 4TB drive and Windows 10 HOME. Only 2 TB are recognized.
Question: Is the system limited by the Operating System, or by the Hardware?
I have a Dell Inspiron with a 4TB drive and Windows 10 HOME. Only 2 TB are recognized.
Question: Is the system limited by the Operating System, or by the Hardware?
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You also need to set it into UEFI mode rather than legacy BIOS since BIOS can;t boot from GPT.
There are no 3rd party tools needed, mbr2gpt.exe is built-in. However, I would first like to see that screenshot.
@McKnife, Partition Wizard is easier to use, and it uses MBR2GPT. When it convert MBR to GPT, it automatically creates a UEFI partition and set the boot options.
You also need to set it into UEFI mode rather than legacy BIOS since BIOS can't boot from GPT. Actually it can.
@Sam Simon Nasser: Mbr2gpt does all this, automatically.
I stand corrected, was thinking native Windows won't boot GPT in BIOS mode but you can use grub2.
If your Dell Inspiron can run Windows 10 then it is not so old and its hardware supports 2TB+ drives. Then it is a system limitation.
ASKER
Reply to Sam Simon Nasser:
I used Minitool and converted to GPT then I expanded the 2TB partition to almost 4TB. I took a screen shot but I dont know how to upload it.
But my disk shows EXACTLY as before from the "Computer" display.
I used Minitool and converted to GPT then I expanded the 2TB partition to almost 4TB. I took a screen shot but I dont know how to upload it.
But my disk shows EXACTLY as before from the "Computer" display.
which model of the Dell Inspiron? Older machines have a 2TB limit on their controller
ASKER
Disregard my last comment. What was missing is that I needed to CONFIRM my action in Minitool then REBOOT!
Thank you everyone for your efforts on my behalf.
Thank you everyone for your efforts on my behalf.
to upload a screen shot select attach file and select the file to upload and then select upload https://www.screencast.com/t/U9P2jSF6adkK
Great that you have made it.
But please be careful with 3rd party tools in the future. It is always recommended to use what's built-in for partitioning operations unless we have no other choice, since you can't be sure that these tools keep up with the ever changing windows system. Here, since that tool even uses what's built-in and does not add anything useful, it was nothing but extra work for you. As mentioned, MBR2GPT takes care of the repartitioning and boot options.
But please be careful with 3rd party tools in the future. It is always recommended to use what's built-in for partitioning operations unless we have no other choice, since you can't be sure that these tools keep up with the ever changing windows system. Here, since that tool even uses what's built-in and does not add anything useful, it was nothing but extra work for you. As mentioned, MBR2GPT takes care of the repartitioning and boot options.
ASKER
Thanks McKnife, however I was not able to get Windows partitioning tool to work. Sometimes third parties know Windows better that Windows knows Windows !!!!!
This question is now closed.
This question is now closed.
It seems your disk is either formatted MBR (max partition size = 2 TB) or it did not utilize the whole size.