Who to Believe?

backinblack · October 15, 2015, 1:24am

I have a WD Gaviar Green HD Mod# WD20EARS-OOMVWBO [deleted]

Accrding to the label this is a 2 TB HD, but Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit is recognizing only 1 TB.

This is part of a project to recover data, so the first step seems to be to find exactly what I’m dealing with.

The Intel motherboard was swapped out in favor of an ASUS, so I’m trying to prevent a complete reinstall but without much luck.

Any hints or suggestions will be deeply appreciated.

Thanks.

Mabkay · October 15, 2015, 2:46am

Changing motherboards with same OS installation is a bad idea. Copy back whatever you need in that drive using the old setup with Intel (hope this would work). Or you could use an external USB enclosure with another PC but recovering contents on your profile will be a bit of pain. (Folder Rights – You may have to take the ownership on Security Tab)

Once you’re happy, setup Win7 booting from DVD. Choose Advanced Disk Option and delete all existing partitions and create new partition(s) and install Win7. Tip: Create 600GB partition for Win7 and create another for your data for the remaining free space.

backinblack · October 15, 2015, 2:46am

Mabkay, thank you for the sugestions.

The one about an external drive might be my best bet.

The original Intel motherboard can be reinstalled, and hopefully(!), the data will return.

If this is the case, then an external drive might be my best option.

Your other suggestion about partitioning also makes sense.

Still, I was under the impression that 64-bit OS’s were or are better able to recognize and manage TB sized HD’s.

Is this incorrect?

Mabkay · October 15, 2015, 2:46am

backinblack,

"Still, I was under the impression that 64-bit OS’s were or are better able to recognize and manage TB sized HD’s.

Is this incorrect?"

I don’t see any advantage on 64bit OS for larger drives. But it can address larger RAM (efficiently) over 32bit OS. (As I can remember it should be 256GB Max).

WinXP cannot use TB drives unless it is SP2 or SP3. Microsoft is discontinuing its support for SP1 & 2 in the near future. If someone elect to use XP any longer, he needs to update to SP3.