HDD upgrade on ACER EXTENSA 6600.

Don't ask how to hack password. (BIOS Passwords)
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caidur
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Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:10 am

Hello all,

I have a ACER EXTENSA 6600, 60 GB HDD which i upgraded to 160 GB. The Phoenix BIOS shows the model of the new harddisk correctly which is a Samsung HM 160HC, but no BIOS options of changing HDD parameters.

Windows XP reports the HDD as 103.3 GB. The Service pack is SP3 and BigLBA in registry is also enabled. I tried using Partition magic but PM also reads the HDD as 103.3 GB. Strange!

Since i was expecting this problem i started with a 40 GB single partition in the new harddisk to install XP and later updated to SP3. Now in XP disk management I see the new HDD as 103.3GB. What should i do?
CharredPC
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Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:41 pm

You're right, the Acer laptop BIOS has no options to speak of. Here's what I would do in your case:

Solution 1.
Click Start, Run, and enter:

%SystemRoot%\system32\compmgmt.msc /s

Click OK. That should open Computer Management. Under Storage, click Disk Management. Look for your hard drive. Is there unused space? I'm wondering if you still have that 40GB partition hidden somewhere, and are now using the leftover space. If this is the case, I'm not sure why Partition Magic wouldn't see it. There's a few ways to solve it, though.

Solution 2.
Ensure that you have the latest BIOS for your laptop. If not, update it. Now double-check everything in Computer Management and Partition Magic. If that doesn't solve it, try checking the jumper settings on the new drive. Master mode is no jumper, slave mode is a jumper on the lower two pins, and cable select mode is a jumper on the upper two pins (instructions should also be printed on the hd label). Try all three modes to see if that changes anything.

Solution 3.
If you have an external USB enclosure, or a laptop to desktop IDE adapter, or access to a different IDE laptop, I would hook the drive to an existing computer and see how it reads it, both normally and using Computer Management. If the drive will not format properly on your Acer, maybe the solution is as simple as reformatting it on an alternate one. Also, there is always the very slim chance that if this is a used disk, it has been modified or damaged in some way so that one of the platters are not functioning.

If #1 and #2 produce no results and #3 is not an option, try this, just to gather information- boot with an XP install CD (SP2 or SP3... SP1 has a 137GB limit, IIRC). Go into setup, as though starting everything fresh. When it shows the partition information, take note. Is there more than one? How large are they? Any unused space? As long as you cancel out or turn off your computer at this point, no changes will have been made, don't worry.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!
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