Unformatable Unallocated Space

satanrules666 · Jun 4, 2011

Hi guys

i recently am in the process of reinstalling everything on windows 7 though i have only one problem

I got myself a western digital 3 tb sata 3 drive and have dual booted it well in the process i stuffed up somewhere after deleteing a partition of 700 gb i cannot get it back it shows in drive management but i cannot do anything to it if i try to format it using the windows 7 disk it just gives me some error

i would like to be able to use that partition again and format it so that i can use that space aswell in windows 7

as on the other partition that is fine i have windows xp and thats all going fine

i just want to get back this 3rd unallocated space partition that for some reason i cannot format

essenbe · Jun 4, 2011

When you right click on it do you have any options? Are you sure there is no partition on it?

kado897 · Jun 4, 2011

If it's is showing as unallocated there is no partition. You need to either create a new partition and format that or extend an existing one.

Can you post a screenshot of disk management.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

satanrules666 · Jun 4, 2011

ive read that its because i have a 3 terbayte drive and the MBR is what windows seven uses apartently if i can convert it to GPT or something then i can use the extra 700 gig i payed for

is there anyway i can do this with the windows 7 disk as ive stuffed up and have to start again anyway

kado897 · Jun 4, 2011

Um I missed the 3TB bit. I'm not sure but I think I read (I can't remember where but I will try to search) that you can use more than 2TB provided the final partition starts before the 2TB boundary and is less than 2TB in size. Perhaps someone else can correct me if I am wrong.

essenbe · Jun 4, 2011

You may check the MB bios for your MB. It is my understanding that a bios update is required to overcome the 3TB limit. My MSI board came out with a new bios to address that issue. Failing that, you said you were using that 700 GB partition previously, can you extend the partition before that one to include that 700GB. Kado may have been correct about the 2TB limit. If you can extend the partition before that it would at least give you the use of that space.

kado897 · Jun 4, 2011

Thanks essenbe. I think the 2TB limit applies to both the start address and the partition length so the op could have 2x 1.5TB partitions provided of course the total number of physical partitions is not greater than four.

SIW2 · Jun 4, 2011

It could be the Intel storage Driver.

There are some app. that do gpt loading - but you won't be booting windows from a drive that does that.

There might be a mobo update you could try.

it just gives me some error

What error does it give?

satanrules666 · Jun 4, 2011

mmmm so im basicly stuffed unless windows 8 will support 3 terbayte drives

yay 700gig of waste
until then

or are you saying to do a bios update then it might support it installing windows gets a bit annoying after the 4th time in one day with no real progress

essenbe · Jun 4, 2011

SIW - I believe he has a nvidia chipset and an AMD board. I don't believe an Intel storage driver would work.

Kado- If according to the OP, he was using that 700GB before, that should indicate there is some scenario where he can use it again. Perhaps 3 partitions of 1TB/500GB/1.5TB or 2X1.5 as you said.

SIW2 · Jun 4, 2011

LOL - what I meant was - most intel storage controllers don't support disks that size.

Probably others don't normally either.

Therefore - whatever storage conbtroller you have - might be intel , might be something else - could be the issue.

Ther may be an update for whatever you are using from the mobo website.

Paragon make an app, to overcome it - but you can't use it to boot from if you do that.

essenbe · Jun 4, 2011

Whay I think we are saying is that a bios update may resolve the problem if Asus decided to address it. If that is not the case, try to devide the partitions into 2 1,5 TB partitions or 3 partitions max. I have no reason to doubt Kado. He is saying to limit partitions to 3. Also no partition can be more than 2TB (less is better) the last partition must begin before the 2 TB mark on your drive. Correct me if I am wrong Kado.

kado897 · Jun 4, 2011

You can have 4 partitions with mbr but usually one of those is the 200Mb system partition. Otherwise what you said is correct I beleive.

SIW2 · Jun 4, 2011

I don't think the dividing partitions thing will work for mbr style.

You will need to use gpt style.

Did you have the whole drive usable before?

You still didn't say what the error message is when you try and create a partition with Disk Management.

satanrules666 · Jun 4, 2011

mmmm well i should prob state that the computer is a new build i havent listed yet

coolermaster cm690 -case
coolermaster gx750 - power supply
gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H Motherboard
sapphire hd5850 -graphics card
amd phenom x2 965 -cpu
kingston ddr3 1333 mhz -ram
asus blu ray writer
wd 3tb sata 3 hard drive

so the problem is even if its just out of the anti static bag i got the hard drive in if i run the windows 7 install instantly as soon as i got to the partition screen of the windows 7 it will partition it automaticly and make one partition 1.99 tb and the other 750 gigabyte

i go to make the 750 gig part of it allocated space and i get an error message 0x80042468

i have converted the drive to gpt no difference so im guessing it is as said the sata controller can not read more than 2 tb so im anal raped i guess until i get a newer motherboard that supports 3 tb drives

essenbe · Jun 4, 2011

SIW- could you create 2 i.5TB primary partitions and format them before installation so that windows does not create the 100MB sys reserved partition?

kado897 · Jun 4, 2011

I think what you may need to do is shrink the 1.99 Tb partition to get the start address for the rest below 2Tb.

satanrules666 · Jun 4, 2011

mmm well heres a screen shot

ill give shrinking it a try but i think it will just creat another partition and stillnot let me use the unallocated 750 gig that i cannot even touch/allocate

SIW2 · Jun 4, 2011

Big drives like that are an additional complication to use. Not too bad if you juat want it for storage - more so if you want to boot from it.

I suggest home users are better using drives up to 2tb - saves a lot of hassle.

pallesenw · Jun 4, 2011

The beginning of the partitions are given in absolute values. So 2TiB is the combined size when using mbr.

Unformatable Unallocated Space

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