Solved Software to make whole 3TB HD usable without UEFI?

brocks

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I'm using Win8.1 now, but about a year ago, while I was still on Win7, I bought a 3TB Seagate internal hard drive. My motherboard doesn't have UEFI, so I used the DiskWizard utiiltiy from Seagate's website to make the drive look like two drives, one 2TB, the other about 800GB. Now I have my boot partition and several data partitions on the drive, and access to all 3TB of space. Works great on both Win7 and Win8.

I just saw an ad for a good deal on a Toshiba 3TB internal drive, but I can't find any indication that Toshiba has software that does the same thing for its drives as DiskWizard does for Seagate drives.

Can anyone tell me if there is such a utility, either from Toshiba or a third party?

Thank you.
 

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If the Seagate software doesn't work, download and install the Minitool Partition Wizard. It's free. I used it to partition a 3TB drive for my PC.
 

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I think they may have , made by Paragon or Acronis, if I recall. Don't they indicate that on their site?
 

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I think they may have , made by Paragon or Acronis, if I recall. Don't they indicate that on their site?

All I could find on their site was a recommendation to get a driver from Ontrack, and when I clicked on the link, it was for software to break the dreaded 137 GB barrier!
 

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Hi there
The problem with a totally SOFTWARE solution is that the BIOS might not recognize or be able to handle the Disk Geometry -- rather like LBA (Large Block Architecture) way back when a 20GB drive was considered absolutely enormous. Firmware / BIOS changes solved that particular problem - but in this case with non UEFI and 3TB disks the best solution is to convert it to a GPT drive then Windows will handle it.

Note though you won't be able to BOOT from a GPT drive without UEFI. So don't use it as the BOOT drive - you can mix GPT and non GPT (classical MBR) drives - no problem there. I'd also keep the 3GB partition too -- especially if you have a lot of music / multi-media files as splitting these over several drives gets a bit messy and difficult to manage decently.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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If the Seagate software doesn't work, download and install the Minitool Partition Wizard. It's free. I used it to partition a 3TB drive for my PC.

Thanks for the response, but are you sure it was an MBR-type format? Because I can't find anything in their feature list about making a 3TB bootable without UEFI. I already have Paragon software that can partition GPT drives, but GPT won't work with my BIOS.
 

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Are you going to be putting your os on this drive, or are your just sticking it in your system as an extra storage drive? also what motherboard do you have that it wont read a gpt drive?
 

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Are you going to be putting your os on this drive, or are your just sticking it in your system as an extra storage drive? also what motherboard do you have that it wont read a gpt drive?

Yes, I want to put my OS on the drive, and what I meant to say was that Windows won't allow that with my BIOS, but I assume a GPT drive will work for non-bootable storage.
 

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why wont your bios allow it what is your motherboard? you could use acronis and just backup you whole system then put the old image on the new disk and the disk will be formatted in what ever partition scheme you had before but will have the extra space as well. I use true image home 2013 atm for all my stuff related to that. you just need the space to backup your image to iv never backed up onto the disk your backing up before and i would not advise it. it is not free software but imo it is worth every penny you should be able to trial it to make your swap though. I in no way am affiliated with acronis btw its just what i have found works best for me and my environments i use it with. there is also Macrium reflect which is free (i have not used this in years but it seems like the same program i did use).
rvcjew
 

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    CPU
    Intel i7 4790K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
    Memory
    32GB(4x8GB) DDR3 Team Xtreem 2666 @ 2400 CL10 10-12-12-31
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x MSI GTX 780 Twin Frozr OC 3GB
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    ASUS Xonar Essence STX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PB278Q, HP 2311xi, UN46F7100AFXZA
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440p, 2x1080p
    Hard Drives
    256GB 840 PRO SSD
    10TB RAID 0 Array (Movies, Steam)
    6TB RAID 1 Array (Backups, Documents)
    3TB EXT Drive (Secure Backups)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760
    Case
    NZXT White Switch 810
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    Block: XSPC Raystorm, RES/Pump: XSPC Bay res W/D5 Vario, RAD: XSPC RX360, 6xNF-F12's
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    Rosewill RK-9000 with MX Blue switches Logitech G15 Rev 2 (gutted for LCD)
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    I also own a Lenovo Y510p, and Yoga 2 Pro
why wont your bios allow it what is your motherboard? you could use acronis and just backup you whole system then put the old image on the new disk and the disk will be formatted in what ever partition scheme you had before but will have the extra space as well. I use true image home 2013 atm for all my stuff related to that. you just need the space to backup your image to iv never backed up onto the disk your backing up before and i would not advise it. it is not free software but imo it is worth every penny you should be able to trial it to make your swap though. I in no way am affiliated with acronis btw its just what i have found works best for me and my environments i use it with. there is also Macrium reflect which is free (i have not used this in years but it seems like the same program i did use).
rvcjew

Windows requires a UEFI motherboard if you want to boot from a GPT drive. You will have to ask Microsoft why that is.
 

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oh didn't realize it was a windows 8 requirement. what is your current hdd setup? as in can you take a screen shot of it in computer management so we can get a better idea of the scheme you have currently. since it sounds like you currently have a gpt disk as your os drive which doesn't make sense with your answer.
 

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    ASUS PB278Q, HP 2311xi, UN46F7100AFXZA
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440p, 2x1080p
    Hard Drives
    256GB 840 PRO SSD
    10TB RAID 0 Array (Movies, Steam)
    6TB RAID 1 Array (Backups, Documents)
    3TB EXT Drive (Secure Backups)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760
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    I also own a Lenovo Y510p, and Yoga 2 Pro
If the Seagate software doesn't work, download and install the Minitool Partition Wizard. It's free. I used it to partition a 3TB drive for my PC.

Thanks for the response, but are you sure it was an MBR-type format? Because I can't find anything in their feature list about making a 3TB bootable without UEFI. I already have Paragon software that can partition GPT drives, but GPT won't work with my BIOS.

Hi there
GPT works fine on a NON UEFI system -- you just can't BOOT from a GPT drive. Keep MBR for the BOOT drive, convert the others to GPT - will work fine - Windows will convert.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Oops, I didn't realize there was a page 2 until just now. But it looks like I'm not making myself clear. Let me try again.

1. I have a motherboard with BIOS, not UEFI. That means that Windows will not allow me to boot from a GPT drive.

2. I have a 3 TB drive. That exceeds the capacity of an MBR, so if I want to be able to use all 3TB, I either have to format it as GPT, or I have to use a special driver that makes it look like two physical drives, each <= 2TB.

3. Item 1 above prevents me from formatting it as GPT. I realize it would work as a storage drive, but I want to boot from it, and Windows doesn't allow that without UEFI.

4. So my only recourse is a driver. Seagate provides one for their 3TB drives, but it only works with Seagate drives. Note that it is not just a matter of how the drive is formatted, but the driver must be running also, to intercept disk accesses and direct them to the proper partition. It evidently works at a very low level, because it works with TrueCrypt, which itself is intercepting disk accesses before Windows. If the driver is not running, only 2TB of the disk is accessible to Windows, even after it's been formatted and shows 3TB with the driver running.

My drive is a Toshiba. I can't find a similar driver on the Toshiba website. There is nothing in or on the box the drive came in about a driver.

My question is, does anyone know of a 3rd party or Toshiba driver that will allow me to see all 3TB of my drive, AND BOOT FROM IT, without a UEFI motherboard. That is my only question. Again, I realize I can use it as a storage drive, but that's not what I want to do.

Thank you.
 

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I know what you are asking. I recall Paragon made a gpt loader for some drive manufacturer- just remembered - Hitachi.

EDIT - just had a look. It only wants to install if you have an hgst drive.:(

PARAGON Software Group

 

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A gpt loader is included in my other paragon products. HDM12 Pro , Business, Server, etc. Maybe it is in some other products, you could check out the features on the Paragon Site. Maybe it is not suitable , I just noticed:

The HGST GPT Disk Manager for HGST Deskstar 3.5" internal hard drives does not support RAID configurations and the resulting hard disk drive cannot be used as a boot drive.

The seagate thing must be doing something different.
 

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it seems you cant unless your can find a 3rd party boot-loader like above that can boot windows 8 that supports that. and i can not finda driver like seagates disc wizard anywhere. maybe its time to invest in a newer motherboard?
 

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  • OS
    WIN 7 PRO x64, WIN 8.1 PRO x64
    Computer type
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    System Manufacturer/Model
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    CPU
    Intel i7 4790K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
    Memory
    32GB(4x8GB) DDR3 Team Xtreem 2666 @ 2400 CL10 10-12-12-31
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    2x MSI GTX 780 Twin Frozr OC 3GB
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    ASUS PB278Q, HP 2311xi, UN46F7100AFXZA
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440p, 2x1080p
    Hard Drives
    256GB 840 PRO SSD
    10TB RAID 0 Array (Movies, Steam)
    6TB RAID 1 Array (Backups, Documents)
    3TB EXT Drive (Secure Backups)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760
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    NZXT White Switch 810
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    Block: XSPC Raystorm, RES/Pump: XSPC Bay res W/D5 Vario, RAD: XSPC RX360, 6xNF-F12's
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    Rosewill RK-9000 with MX Blue switches Logitech G15 Rev 2 (gutted for LCD)
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    Logitech G400
    Browser
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    I also own a Lenovo Y510p, and Yoga 2 Pro
If the Seagate software doesn't work, download and install the Minitool Partition Wizard. It's free. I used it to partition a 3TB drive for my PC.
I highly recommend MiniTool partition wizard too. its free and I've been using it for a couple of years with out any failures what so ever.
Unless your going to use the 3 TB drive to boot from, you don't need any software at all.
 

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If the Seagate software doesn't work, download and install the Minitool Partition Wizard. It's free. I used it to partition a 3TB drive for my PC.
I highly recommend MiniTool partition wizard too. its free and I've been using it for a couple of years with out any failures what so ever.
Unless your going to use the 3 TB drive to boot from, you don't need any software at all.
he wants to boot off it that's his problem he's encountering.
 

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System One

  • OS
    WIN 7 PRO x64, WIN 8.1 PRO x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7 4790K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
    Memory
    32GB(4x8GB) DDR3 Team Xtreem 2666 @ 2400 CL10 10-12-12-31
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x MSI GTX 780 Twin Frozr OC 3GB
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar Essence STX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS PB278Q, HP 2311xi, UN46F7100AFXZA
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440p, 2x1080p
    Hard Drives
    256GB 840 PRO SSD
    10TB RAID 0 Array (Movies, Steam)
    6TB RAID 1 Array (Backups, Documents)
    3TB EXT Drive (Secure Backups)
    PSU
    Corsair AX760
    Case
    NZXT White Switch 810
    Cooling
    Block: XSPC Raystorm, RES/Pump: XSPC Bay res W/D5 Vario, RAD: XSPC RX360, 6xNF-F12's
    Keyboard
    Rosewill RK-9000 with MX Blue switches Logitech G15 Rev 2 (gutted for LCD)
    Mouse
    Logitech G400
    Browser
    Chrome
    Other Info
    I also own a Lenovo Y510p, and Yoga 2 Pro
A gpt loader is included in my other paragon products. HDM12 Pro , Business, Server, etc. Maybe it is in some other products, you could check out the features on the Paragon Site. Maybe it is not suitable , I just noticed:

The HGST GPT Disk Manager for HGST Deskstar 3.5" internal hard drives does not support RAID configurations and the resulting hard disk drive cannot be used as a boot drive.

The seagate thing must be doing something different.

I have Paragon HDM 2012 (I think I recognize your name from helping me with another question on the Paragon board a couple years ago), and I couldn't find anything in it. I guess Seagate is the only vendor to have it. I'm surprised they don't sell it under another name, because it's pretty slick. As I said, it even gets underneath TrueCrypt.

I guess I'll have to just reserve a small boot partition and leave it empty for now (until I get a UEFI MB), and use the rest as a data drive.
 

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    Graphics Card(s)
    brocks
it seems you cant unless your can find a 3rd party boot-loader like above that can boot windows 8 that supports that. and i can not finda driver like seagates disc wizard anywhere. maybe its time to invest in a newer motherboard?

I figure I'll keep my current rig until it croaks. It's been a little flaky starting up lately, so that might not be long. Ideally, it will give a clear indication that it's about to die right before Black Friday :).
 

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