SOLVED How to partition remaining unallocated space on large drive

[irishman33153]

I have as my hard drive configuration a 640 Gb drive for my C drive and a 2 Tb for everything that normally would go in the main drive such as Program Files (x86). I use CrystalDiskInfo as something I check in on occasionally but not as regularly as I should.

A week ago I opened CrystalDiskInfo and saw caution icons for C. It’s got a lot of miles on it (more than 56,000 hours) and it was supposed to be a storage disk anyway, so I bought a 5 Tb drive to replace it.

In the disk management utility I made a 2Tb partition mostly because I kept reading that Windows would not recognize any drive or partition larger than 2Tb, So what’s left over is approximately 2.6 Tb of unallocated space. I cannot do anything with that partition. I can’t format it and I can’t make new drives out of. I should mention that I boot through BIOS and not UEFI

I’ve kept my old C drive as is until I get this down. So if part of my solution is to delete the files I had copied over to it, it’s not a big deal. If anyone can tell me where to look for an answer, great. Or if anyone knows that I’ve missed a step or something of that nature, please let me know Thanks for reading

Basic Details of my Machine:

Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Intel DP67BG Mainboard
Intel quad core i5 2320

16 Gb Kingston DDR3

 

[clifford_cooley]

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/218619en

Most legacy systems built before 2011 have a traditional PC BIOS. This type of BIOS uses a Master Boot Record (MBR). The MBR Partitions can define a disk drive capacity up to 2.2TB. Windows operating systems that boot from an MBR are therefore limited to 2.2TB per MBR. A 3TB disk drive in a legacy BIOS and Window system will need a DiscWizard device driver to access the full capacity of a 3TB disk drive. Two partitions will be necessary because of the MBR limitation. The device driver mounts the capacity above 2.2TB with another MBR which looks to the system as a second virtual “physical” device.
GUID Partition Tables (GPT) can define drives larger than 2.2TB. You can use GPT today on any Windows 10/ 8.1/8/7 and Vista system as a non-booting data drive. Windows can only boot a GPT partition on a new type of BIOS called UEFI.

UEFI BIOS desktop systems are new since 2011. Windows 10/8/8.1/7 64-bit and Vista 64-bit operating systems support booting from UEFI and GPT without the need of a non-Microsoft device driver. This is the Windows native solution for booting a 3TB drive to a single partition.


Quick facts about Windows and 3TB drives:

• Windows 10/8/8.1/7 and Vista support GPT 3TB single partitions
• Windows 10/8/8.1/7 and Vista can only boot GPT on systems with UEFI BIOS
• Windows 10/8/8.1/7 and Vista can mount a GPT non-booting data drive
• Intel RST device drivers before v10.1 do not support 3TB disk drives
• Windows systems with Legacy BIOS and MBR boot drives are limited to 2.2TB partitions
• Windows XP does not support GPT
• Windows XP sees a 3TB drive as 800GB on boot or data drives
• DiscWizard software can install a device driver which opens the full capacity of a 3TB. You can use it to create a second partition for the capacity above 2.2TB

DiscWizard with support for 3TB drives is now available.

• For a Flash tutorial: Cloning your old drive to a 3TB using DiscWizard. Part 1, Part 2.
• For a Flash tutorial: How to use the Seagate DiscWizard application to utilize the full capacity of a three terabyte or larger drive in a Windows 7 and a Windows 8 Operating System.

For Downloads and DiscWizard User Guides please visit our DiscWizard support page.

Product support for disk drives greater than 2.2TB is rapidly evolving. Please contact your suppliers directly for the latest status and capacity support limitations of their products.

For non-Seagate drives, you will likely need to lookup their support pages. DiscWizard can split large drives making them look as if they are several physical drives. With each MBR partition being no larger than 2TB.

 

[irishman33153]

Thanks very much. That is exactly what I needed. I'm not in a bind for time yet as far as I know. I'm hoping the old WD 650 holds out until I undo all of this. It makes sense now why Windows originally broke the drive into 5 parts of roughly 1 Tb each but refused to load the O/S on a drive formatted under GPT. I bought that board in 2011 and even though there is an option in the BIOS settings for UEFI, it cannot be enabled. Since things are swinging the way of GPT, I'd be money ahead to get a new main board and not get stuck with a Beta as opposed to VHS. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Kinga]

i could not do it