W200EB with only 10GB!

WD Internal Drives Desktop & Mobile Drives
1

Hello, On an old computer, I found a W200EB (typically 20 GB) who was only 10 Gb. Is it normal? How to restore the 20 GB? Thanks for your answer

2

did you run disk management?? to check the unlocated space???

in xp

start- run – diskmgmt.msc

3

Was the old computer a Dell / HP / Compaq? Sometimes the OEMs will replace an existing drive with a larger drive that has been cut down to a smaller size using a HPA (Host Protected Area).

If this is the case, then you should be able to use HDAT2 or the HDD Capacity Restore Tool to restore the drive’s native, factory capacity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_protected_area
http://www.hdat2.com
http://www.hdat2.com/hdat2_faq.html
http://hddguru.com/software/2007.07.20-HDD-Capacity-Restore-Tool

4

Thanks, Whe i look at the drive with the Windows Disk Manager, there is no unlocated space ! Is the a tool from Western Digital to look and repair the drive ?

5

You can use  DLG , this software allows you to erase and test the drive .

Hope this helps.

6

Hi There

I will also recommend to verify your CMOS Settings (BIOS) to see if the Bios is recognizing the full capacity of the drive, since you said you have an old computer that may be the situation, if that’s the problem you can contact the Bios manufacturer to update it

7

Ricardodegracia, it is actually a good idea to explore. But this should not be the solution because I tested this disk, later, on another machine and the problem is the same. Wizer , I was back up the entire disk before i try the solution proposed by fzabkar, but maybe DLG will be easier to use than hdat2 software appears to be full of possibilities ! Thank you all for the help you brought me, I’ll let you know the results