Installing Windows NT on a Large IDE Hard Disk (197667)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
- Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server 4.0
- Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server 4.0a
This article was previously published under Q197667 SYMPTOMS
During the installation of Microsoft Windows NT to an 8 gigabyte (GB) or larger IDE hard drive, the computer may stop responding (hang) during the format portion of setup. If the drive was previously formatted as file allocation table (FAT) and designated to be converted to NTFS file system (NTFS), the computer may hang during the conversion process. Other symptoms include the drive taking an extremely long time to format or Windows NT not recognizing the entire size of the drive.
CAUSE
The Microsoft supplied generic IDE driver (Atapi.sys) may not be fully
compatible with drives larger that 8GB. This issue only affects IDE-based
drives 8 GB and larger.
RESOLUTION
Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 (SP4) has a new Atapi.sys file that allows
the drive to be formatted during setup of Windows NT. SP4's Atapi.sys can
also access space beyond 8GB on these IDE drives.
The system partition (boot partition) is still limited to 7.8GB whether an updated version of the Atapi.sys file is installed or not.
For more information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 114841 Windows NT Boot Process and Hard Disk Constraints
: The system board basic input/output system (BIOS) must support and recognize drives larger than 8GB before Windows NT can access the entire drive. You can verify this ability by entering into the BIOS or contacting your system board manufacturer.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be an issue in the Microsoft products
listed at the beginning of this article.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 6/24/2004 |
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| Keywords: | kbbug kbpending KB197667 |
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