40 Gig HD Only Using 9.95 GB Capacity? Tech Question...

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  • shermo
    • Jul 2026
    #1

    40 Gig HD Only Using 9.95 GB Capacity? Tech Question...

    I'm far from a tech wizard so please try not to laugh too hard. I gave my wife my old laptop and put in a new 40 gig internal HD once the old one took a crap. She's trying copy a disc to her HD and it's saying that the drive is full. I looked at the capacity, and it's quoted as being 9.95 gigs TOTAL with only 100 megs left...The drive is a 40 gig drive. Is there a way to unlock whatever it is that may be cutting the capacity down from 40 gigs to 10? I'm stumped.
    Tags: None
    • GrouchyAdmin
      Now choke yourself!
      • Apr 2006
      • 12085
      #2
      10G total is odd. 8GB would be an IDE technical limitation. If it's an old laptop, it probably just doesn't recognize something that large. Check your BIOS, look for updates, and finally, install software such as MaxBlast or whatever you can find that is capable of installing a bootloader/bios chaining system.

        Comment

        • Shoplifter
          Richest man in Babylon
          • Jan 2002
          • 5849
          #3
          Sounds like it may not have been partitioned correctly.
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            Comment

            • shermo
              #4
              Originally posted by toonpornblog
              10G total is odd. 8GB would be an IDE technical limitation. If it's an old laptop, it probably just doesn't recognize something that large. Check your BIOS, look for updates, and finally, install software such as MaxBlast or whatever you can find that is capable of installing a bootloader/bios chaining system.
              It's not that old. It's a Dell Inspiron 1150. It was an 80 gig in there before that took a crap.

                Comment

                • shermo
                  #5
                  Originally posted by Shoplifter
                  Sounds like it may not have been partitioned correctly.
                  I'm betting on that... How can I repartition without erasing what's on there already? I've searched for other partitions without any luck and I'm pulling my hair out.

                    Comment

                    • Martin3
                      Confirmed User
                      • Oct 2005
                      • 1529
                      #6
                      Probably just set the wrong partition size when you setup the new drive.
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                        Comment

                        • GrouchyAdmin
                          Now choke yourself!
                          • Apr 2006
                          • 12085
                          #7
                          Originally posted by shermsshack
                          It's not that old. It's a Dell Inspiron 1150. It was an 80 gig in there before that took a crap.
                          Then your partitioning was fucked.

                          Make a DBAN CD. Boot from that and let it entirely nuke the HD, then reinstall Windows. This is one of the most non-techy ways to correct a messed up partition table.

                          Alternatively, you should be able to change the size of the partitions with resize utilities such as Partition Magic - but if the BIOS sees it as 10GB, DBAN can usually coax it back to a 'never used, don't override' for some really strange IDE firmware.

                            Comment

                            • baddog
                              So Fucking Banned
                              • Apr 2001
                              • 107089
                              #8
                              Originally posted by Shoplifter
                              Sounds like it may not have been partitioned correctly.

                              exactly. you have a full partition, not a full drive

                                Comment

                                • Shaze
                                  Confirmed User
                                  • Oct 2003
                                  • 2662
                                  #9
                                  what operating system are you using? if your using an old operating system like 95 it can't see NTFS partition for the new Windows partitions, that can be one problem. Another one is that only 10gigs of the whole hard drive is formated for a partiition and the other part isn't formatted. The hard drive should have came with a disc so you can check how the hard drive partitions are setup. or u can use something like PQmagic to check it.
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                                    Comment

                                    • ssp
                                      Confirmed User
                                      • Jan 2005
                                      • 7990
                                      #10
                                      You can use the computer management tool in Windows XP Pro.

                                        Comment

                                        • shermo
                                          #11
                                          Originally posted by Shaze
                                          what operating system are you using? if your using an old operating system like 95 it can't see NTFS partition for the new Windows partitions, that can be one problem. Another one is that only 10gigs of the whole hard drive is formated for a partiition and the other part isn't formatted. The hard drive should have came with a disc so you can check how the hard drive partitions are setup. or u can use something like PQmagic to check it.
                                          Windows Xp. I will get PQ magic now. Thanks!

                                            Comment

                                            • shermo
                                              #12
                                              Originally posted by ssp
                                              You can use the computer management tool in Windows XP Pro.
                                              Awesome... Got it now. Had to add a new pertition. Thanks!

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