Using a Drive Larger than 137 GB

To properly access the full capacity of a drive larger than 137 GB, you must install one of the solutions described below. Using a drive that has been formatted past the 137 GB barrier on a system without an installed 137 GB solution can result in data loss.

Ultra ATA/133 PCI Card Solutions

If your Maxtor hard drive came bundled with an Ultra ATA/133- compatible PCI card (such as the Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 PCI Card or Maxtor SATA/150 PCI Card), or you have an installed Ultra ATA/133 PCI card, you can safely use your drive with the card on Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, and XP. Note that ATA/100, 66, and 33 PCI cards do not support drives larger than 137 GB unless specifically noted by the manufacturer. Some system BIOSes do not support booting to drives attached to an ATA card, so you may only be able to use this drive as additional storage and not as the boot drive.

If your are interested in adding an Ultra ATA/133 card to your system, the Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 PCI Card and Maxtor SATA/150 PCI Card are fully compatible with all Maxtor ATA drive capacities. These Ultra ATA/ 133-compatible products are available from www.maxstore.com or from your local computer retailer.

Operating System Solutions

The Windows operating systems that natively support the full capacity of drives larger than 137 GB are:

• Windows XP Home, Service Pack 1 (SP1) and higher

Windows 98/Me Note: Some tools built into Windows 98/ME, such as Scandisk and Defrag, do not function properly on hard drive partitions larger than 137 GB. Third-party utilities such as Norton Utilities 2002 can be used to replace the functionality of Scandisk and Defrag for partitions larger than 137 GB.

Macintosh Note: Most Mac systems require a Mac-compatible Ultra ATA/ 133 PCI card (not included) to access the full capacity of a drive larger than 137 GB. Mac-compatible ATA/133 cards are available from Sonnet (www.sonnettech.com), Miglia (www.miglia.com), and ACARD (www.acard.com).

22	Formatting the Hard Drive