Windows – OS reads only 1600GB of the 4TB hard drive

gptwindows-server-2008-r2

I'm trying to format a 4 TB hard drive as a single partition. I am running Windows 2008 Server R2 Standard, Service Pack 1. I have already tried converting my disk to GPT, successfully, but that only increments the number read by the OS by something like 20 GB. It's something like 1600 GB MBR and 1620 GB after converting it to GPT. How do I get the OS to recognize all 4 TB as a single partition?

Best Answer

This type of problem has two common sources:

  • An external enclosure that's limited to 2TiB. If you've placed a 4TB disk in an external enclosure (especially an older one), I'd investigate this option first. Unfortunately, the only solution I've ever heard of working is switching to another enclosure (moving the disk to an internal connector counts as "another enclosure").
  • A disk driver that uses a 32-bit pointer somewhere that it should not. Upgrading your disk driver software can often work around this problem, although if your manufacturer has stopped providing updates, you may be out of luck. This problem is most common with 32-bit versions of Windows, but I've seen one or two reports of it even with 64-bit versions of Windows, too. Switching to another OS is another possible (albeit radical) solution.