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Author Topic: Bought a new 1TB hard drive but my computer only recognizes 58GB?  (Read 5807 times)

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njn118

    Topic Starter


    Newbie

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    • OS: Unknown
    My hard drive crashed so I went out and bought a new (and bigger) one.  I went through the system restore with the recovery discs without any problems, but now when I open the My Computer folder, the total storage space between the C: drive and D: drive is only 58GB!  Did I miss some crucial step in the system restore?  Does anyone have any experience with this problem?  I thought there was a chance it was just displaying the wrong amount of storage space, but I tried to install a game and it told me I didn't have enough space for it.

    Windows Vista Home Premium
    HP Pavilion Media Center PC - Desktop
    WD Caviar Black Desktop Hard Drive - the box says it's compatible with Vista

    This is my first time posting, so if I didn't provide some needed information let me know!

    Thanks guys!  This site is wonderful, it's great that people that know how to fix computers would give some of their time to those of us less knowledgeable!

    Computer_Commando



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    Re: Bought a new 1TB hard drive but my computer only recognizes 58GB?
    « Reply #1 on: April 09, 2011, 04:52:46 PM »
    The remainder of the space is "unallocated", you have to grow (resize) the partition.
    Vista allows you to shrink or extend the partition:  http://www.vistarewired.com/2007/02/16/how-to-resize-a-partition-in-windows-vista
    If Vista won't do it, use this:  http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm

    Geek-9pm


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    Re: Bought a new 1TB hard drive but my computer only recognizes 58GB?
    « Reply #2 on: April 09, 2011, 09:04:21 PM »
    What the OP describes sounds like a known issue(s).
    But to correctly answers his question, he needs to provide some more information about the model numbers of both the drive and the computer.
    His OS is:
    Windows Vista Home Premium
    But has it been keep up to date?
    When was the drive manufactured?

    JJ 3000



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    Re: Bought a new 1TB hard drive but my computer only recognizes 58GB?
    « Reply #3 on: April 09, 2011, 11:23:42 PM »
    Click Start and type diskmgmt.msc in the search box and press enter. This will open disk management. Disk management will show all of the drives connected to your computer. In the bottom pane, your hard drive should show up as Disk 0. Right click on the partition and choose Extend Volume.
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    Geek-9pm


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    Re: Bought a new 1TB hard drive but my computer only recognizes 58GB?
    « Reply #4 on: April 09, 2011, 11:45:55 PM »
    Here are explicit information from WD. For mature viewers only. **
    http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3865

    ** has screen shots some have never seen.

    njn118

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      Re: Bought a new 1TB hard drive but my computer only recognizes 58GB?
      « Reply #5 on: April 10, 2011, 01:57:42 AM »
      Thanks guys!