Help! Harddrive onyl shows 127GB

I looked all over the net and tried almost everything.... I can't figure thi sout
I bought a new comp and I have SATA2 Seagate 320GB drive but it only shows 127GB

I have service pack 2 already, and enabled this tihng (searched on google about this thing you need to enable)

I still can't get my maxed 320GB

its most likely a bios limitation. try updating it.

partition it in to 3 drives.. lol

maybe you got ripped off =O

no, he did not get riped off.. it is a bios limitation as think.correctly said..

yeah, but doesn't bios limitation is usually 145GB?

Cause even my old 900Mhz has a bios limitation reads 145GB when I plug a 250GB
and he said it is a new computer too...

no, the limitation is most commonly between 127-137 gb and is also caused by the fat and fat32 file system.

hey, this might sound dum but i just but a 280g hardrive its in my machine, its displaying 300g? im confused and dont have any clue how that can happen?
And is that bad?

I wouldn't worry about it. I've never heard of a 280Gb drive for sale. 250Gb and 300Gb I have heard of but a 280, can't seem to think of one.

Its very old (I think) I dont know who made it and I cant find a cerial number. All I know is that I got it from my cousin for a very small amount of money, no questions asked.

He is a shadey fellow and I'm kinda of tight on money, I would rather have something newer and, well know who made it if I have questions, but hey it works.

Ok thanks for the reply guys!
I partitioned it and got my full 320GBs

But was there anyway to NOT partition it and keep it all in one drive (Just wondering)

Flashing your motherboard BIOS to a newer version would have solved your problem.

it is good to have a large drive partitioned anyway..
helps performance like os and programs on one partition. then whatever you save on the other(s)

Well, I am having the same problem, but kind of worse... I don't know, it's weird. I bought a 300 GB ATA drive a few months back, and installed it in my way-too-old gateway piece of trash that I have kept upgrading over the years. So of course when I go to format it with my XP pro CD, it only sees 127 GB. I do what i can anyway, including formatting with partition magic, but no luck. I of course realized it was most likely the result of my BIOS, but given the given the "We suck where it matters most" nature of Gateway, there is no update.

Here's the weird part. After a month or so, i just randomly decide to look at the drive again in the Drive Manager. And lo and behold, it sees the unpartitioned space. I'm all like “That wasn't there before..." and then I’m like "Who cares? Happy!" I naturally proceed to immediately partition the drive with partition magic. Life is good. I continue to write stuff to the new partition, access it, and do everything in a completely working manner for about two weeks. Then I decide to reboot for some unknown reason, as I never turn off my computer (standby is my homeboy).

Instead of booting like a good little computer, I instead am greeted by a screen full of gibberish. I proceed to boot from my original HD, and check out the drive in Explorer, which promptly tells me that the drive is unformatted. I shed a quick tear then look at it in Partition Magic. It tells me that the drive is formatted and partitioned like it should be, but that the partitions have errors. Oddly enough, of I use PMs built in drive explorer, I can see all of my data on the hard drive.

Eventually, I end up doing a full reformat of the drive, and I'm back to 127 GB. Again, weeks pass, and again the unpartitioned space magically reappears. This time, I format it with windows Drive Manager, thinking that PM caused the problem. Again, weeks pass before I reboot. Again, I am greeted with Gibberish. Except this time, PM tells me that the drive is "BAD" in big flashing yellow and black letters. It errors up on the 127 GB partition and doesn't feel like seeing the new partition. I have no Idea why.

I naturally Reformat once again, and have been working fine for about two months. The phantom space has yet to rear its ugly, and yet undeniably attractive, head.

Umm... wtf is going on?