[Big_Al_C]

Guys,

Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-Bit with an ASRock P67 PRO3 (B3) MoBo

that has a UEFI BIOS, i5-2500K and Corsair Vengeance 16 Gigs.


My C, D and E partitions are on a 120 GB NTFS SSD with a MBR.

My present STORAGE HDD is a 2TB Toshiba with a MBR.


I recently purchased a Toshiba PH3300U-1I72 3TB to replace the 2TB.


I always Ghost with DOS Bootable CDs I make with custom

Autoexec.bat files I write, never Windows.

I found out from Symantec that Ghost has issues with GPT.


I found a way to make my 3TB FULLY accessible and set as MBR.

It's Acronis True Image, aka Seagates DiskWizard aka WD's version

of DiskWizard. It puts an "Extended Capacity Manager" in the boot

sector so you get one 2.1TB and one 700+GB partition, BOTH MBR.

See: Seagate DiscWizard CloneDisc for drives larger than 3TB_Part-2



Guys,

I just found this and would like some input before opening the

Toshiba 3TB's box:

Make SURE the 3TB is EMPTY as this will wipe ALL data on the drive

To make a fully accessible 3TB with 4k sector:


1. Boot to desktop.

2. Open "My Computer" in Windows Explorer.

3. Click on the EMPTY 3TB HDD.

4. If the factory made some partitions on it, delete them all.

5. Once it is just one disk, right-click it and click "Format"

6. Select "4096", "NTFS" and "Format".

7. Click OK. Since the 3TB is EMPTY, it should be real quick.

8. It's now ready to be partitioned to your liking up to 2.7 or so

TB's total and is set as MBR.

The reason that I'm posting this is to get feedback from anyone who

has used these programs or the "4096", "NTFS" and "Format" method

to see if the 3TBers work as any other HDD would or are there any

quirks that have come up since partitioning your 3TB?

Please post to me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Big Al

Edited by Big_Al_C, 22 December 2013 - 07:45 PM.

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Sorry to say that I've heard from numerous people with 3+ TB's

and they have grave reservations about Acronis/Seagate/WD's

Extended Capacity Manager to get full MBR 3TB HDD's and they

say that the "4096", "NTFS" and "Format" won't work.


Well, I HATE to admit defeat, but since I CANNOT find the

Ghost v11.5.1.2298 from GSS 2.5.1 that DOES see GPT HDD's,

I've concluded that my only recourse is to relegate my 3TB to

GPT and to BACKUP status to my 2TB Toshiba and dusted-off 1TB

Hitachi MBR HDD's that I'll be using as my main drives.


After numerous E-Mails to a bunch of Cloning Software companies,

I've settled on MiniTool Partition Wizard v8.1.1 from

http://www.partitionwizard.com (To top it off, it's FREE!!!)

to pre-partition my 3TBer and to do the "Copy partitions from

my 1 and 2TB MBR's to partitions on my 3TB GPT" and use my

Ghost v11.5.1.2269's Make and Restore Bootable CD's to do my

MBR C and D Drive imaging chores.

It's been fun--NOT!

Big Al

[Big_Al_C]

Sorry to say that I've heard from numerous people with 3+ TB's

and they have grave reservations about Acronis/Seagate/WD's

Extended Capacity Manager to get full MBR 3TB HDD's and they

say that the "4096", "NTFS" and "Format" won't work.


Well, I HATE to admit defeat, but since I CANNOT find the

Ghost v11.5.1.2298 from GSS 2.5.1 that DOES see GPT HDD's,

I've concluded that my only recourse is to relegate my 3TB to

GPT and to BACKUP status to my 2TB Toshiba and dusted-off 1TB

Hitachi MBR HDD's that I'll be using as my main drives.


After numerous E-Mails to a bunch of Cloning Software companies,

I've settled on MiniTool Partition Wizard v8.1.1 from

http://www.partitionwizard.com (To top it off, it's FREE!!!)

to pre-partition my 3TBer and to do the "Copy partitions from

my 1 and 2TB MBR's to partitions on my 3TB GPT" and use my

Ghost v11.5.1.2269's Make and Restore Bootable CD's to do my

MBR C and D Drive imaging chores.

It's been fun--NOT!

Big Al

[phillpower2]

Thanks for sharing the information so that it may help others Big_Al_C

A belated welcome to GTG btw.

[Big_Al_C]

Phil,

Thanks for the reply. We all have to contribute to keep the info flowing and learn from those

who have "Been there, done that", so we don't duplicate useless effort.

I just wish there was SOMEONE who had a way to partition a 3TB as NTFS and still keep it as MBR.

Thanks again.

[phillpower2]

You are welcome Big Al and good luck with your quest

I will do some research on this once I have answered my outstanding emails.

[Big_Al_C]

Phil,

I'll keep this page on a shortcut and hopefully you'll have some good news for me,

or someone will direct me to Ghost v11.5.1.2298. Keepin' my fingers crossed!

Al