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3trbyte hard drive

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oldmanau

Active Member
Jul 4, 2019
25
2
i have a 3trbyte hard drive on my win10 computer but it only says i have a 2 trbyte hard drive.how do i get the rest of the hard drive active.now please remember i am an old man and a newb,the worst combination.
 
i have a 3trbyte hard drive on my win10 computer but it only says i have a 2 trbyte hard drive.how do i get the rest of the hard drive active.now please remember i am an old man and a newb,the worst combination.

Hi,

Please check this link, it may help you find what you are looking for.

Let us know how it goes.
 
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My first question would be is your operating system 32 bit or 64 bit?


I suspect you are running a 32 bit version of Windows. If so you are limited to 2 TB hard drives. Very simply a 32 bit system can only count to 2 TeraBytes or in this case can only index 2 TB of data. 64 bit systems can count to virtually unlimited numbers at least for all current practical purposes.
More than likely you can reload your system with a 64 bit version of Windows and index your 3 TB drive but you will lose all your installed programs in the process and should be replaced with 64 bit versions if they are available.
 
My first question would be is your operating system 32 bit or 64 bit?


I suspect you are running a 32 bit version of Windows. If so you are limited to 2 TB hard drives. Very simply a 32 bit system can only count to 2 TeraBytes or in this case can only index 2 TB of data. 64 bit systems can count to virtually unlimited numbers at least for all current practical purposes.
More than likely you can reload your system with a 64 bit version of Windows and index your 3 TB drive but you will lose all your installed programs in the process and should be replaced with 64 bit versions if they are available.
i do have a 64 bit system but i still cant access the rest of the hard drive.thumper sent me an suggestion but i am still unsure about what to do.i have seen disk management but i am still confused.
 
i do have a 64 bit system but i still cant access the rest of the hard drive.thumper sent me an suggestion but i am still unsure about what to do.i have seen disk management but i am still confused.
The drive may have multiple partitions then. Try AOMEI Partition Assistant (free edition) and have a look at the drive's data structure. The instructions are pretty easy to follow. You may just have to wipe out the partitions on that drive, make one large partition and format. This is pretty much the easiest way I can think of.

 
I recommend you DL and test the miniPartitionManager, easy to use and has a nice trial [period, it will also show you if you have unused space on your HHD/SSD, several other programs will also show you if you have unused or unformatted space-note there are several partitions shown here, the only 2 that are not needed or used by Windows 10 are the two named New Volume. a pic of what you 3tb drive shows would be nice,
1574268692386.png
also note that disk management shows the exact same - two partitions,
1574268862008.png
 
a completely different perspective would be to use something like kali linux or even just debian or linux mint on a flash drive or dvd-rom running as a live dvd/usb boot, so that you are not accessing your windows system or the computer at all from within the computer, but instead from outside it, using a flash drive or dvd drive/disc
.
then you use the disc tool or gparted to view and alter the disk drive in question; you can also use it to back up the drive first, or copy individual files
.
That's what I do, usually, in such a situation, where windows itself can't see the whole drive for some reason.
.
One pertinent question. Is this a proprietary computer like an HP? It may be that the part of the drive you can't see is another partition that has the 'recovery' information, so that when you use the HP recovery program it has the initialization files for a 'system reset'. Just a possibility, though unlikely considering it wouldn't need a whole TB, but sometimes they do stuff like that.
.
Lastly, as an easy 'other' option to the suggestions for a windows 3rd party partition program, try 'portableApps.com'. They have good stuff that doesn't need to be installed to run, usually used from a flash drive but also executable from your hard drive itself.
.
You can find individual programs on their sourceforge site, like: https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/
.
(turns out they don't have a partition program for the portableApps platform, but this forum post https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/ recommends the gparted liveCD)

[it is recommended to use a boot cd or dvd or usb so as to bypass whatever problem you are having with the windows partition manager, where using a 'portable' option may not do that. Also partition programs will need admin access and that is not really the purpose of pApps]

or you can also use this live CD dedicated to gparted: https://gparted.sourceforge.io/livecd.php
 
All right folks! Thanks for all the replies to help. That's what's going to make this board great.
 
please remember i am an old man and a newbe, the worst combination......

If I were you, and not familiar with all this computer stuff, bring the computer to a local computer store and get it done.
Sometimes there are smart computer-kids that love to fix this for you, check or place an adv. in a local supermarket.
It's more safe and less chance you loose your valuable data.
 
just a possiblity, did you look at the size of the HDD and see less than 3TB?
The manufacturer will say it is 3TB but Windows will show less than 3TB because some space is used up just to initialize the drive, such as for the file system. Also the way they calculate TB is weird because it usually is in exact bytes, whereas when the operating system calculates it they use the 1024 method, where 1024 mb = 1 gb
I may be not entirely correct, but the point is that though it says 3TB on the label it never really is 3TB in 'effect', when you get to using it.
Is this what you meant? Or are you actually missing a whole TB?
 
if you want to avoid the ridiculous prices of the fix it shops, then you should educate yourself, with online videos, courses, books, whatever you like; try various things
There are MANY beginner type books for computer knowledge.
Youtube videos are pelnty but can be repetitive and boring.
 
Come on. a 3tb that only shows 2tb - will maybe it has a hidden partition but here is my current
2tb Portable using MiniToolPartition as i suggested for the old timer/noobie
Old Timer-not noobie here.
1575058584641.png
 
Come on. a 3tb that only shows 2tb - will maybe it has a hidden partition but here is my current
2tb Portable using MiniToolPartition as i suggested for the old timer/noobie
Old Timer-not noobie here.
View attachment 5250
Repartition the drive as as a GTP instead of MBR and see if that clears up your problem. Otherwise you may want to contact Seagate and find out what's going on. They may have shipped your unit with the wrong drive installed. I take it this is a standard drive and not a SSD.
 
perhaps you could post a screen shot of the disk management window showing this drive's partitions?
 
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