new maxtor 160gb HD problems with format!!

[laptophelp]

Hi my old 120gb HD was failing so i went and purchased a new 160 gb HD from maxtor...but when i installed and formatted with windows xp pro, the computer only detected 137 gb....and now my computer doesn't function correctly...every program i try to open crashes...for example: i try to open my computer and open C:, i double click and c drive doesn't open...then i try to close the program and the error message comes up the tell me to either end task or cancel....i click endtask but that doesn't even close the program and. Do i need some special addition to the computer to run 160 gb???...
I have an AMD about 1 ghz processor with 512 ram....please help...i don't know what's going on...thanks

 

[Freestone]

This sounds like a 48-bit LBA issue. 48-bit LBA extends the limit of IDE drives beyond 137GB. Please review the information at

http://www.48bitlba.com/

In a nutshell, to support drives larger than 137GB, two things are needed:

1) BIOS support
2) OS support

For number 1, does your BIOS see the full capacity of the drive? If not, perhaps there is a BIOS update.

For number 2, XP Professional must be at least at Service Pack 1 level during (re)installation. If your CD is not at SP1 or better, there is a method of creating a CD with the Service Pack integrated. This process is called slipstreaming.

Both BIOS and XP issues are discussed here:

http://www.48bitlba.com/winxp.htm