This info came from the maxtor website, but some info. is relevant to all hdd's; ie. bios detection limitations. Hope this helps.
If the operating system, BIOS, or MaxBlast can only recognize 32 GB of the drive it may be caused by one of the following:
Drive Jumpers: Applies to Mac and Window users. On drives that are larger than 32 GB there is a Capacity Limitation Jumper (CLJ) or the Alternate Capacity (AC) Jumper setting. This jumper will limit the capacity of the drive to 32 GB and should only be used when the BIOS hangs when trying to auto-detect the drive. If you have two jumpers shunts on the drive you will need to remove the CLJ or AC jumper. To resolve the issue use the standard jumper settings.
If you format the drive with the CLJ or AC jumper then the drive capacity will be limited to 32GB. After removing the CLJ or AC jumper the drive will still be recognized as 32GB. You must reformat the drive without the CLJ or AC jumper to gain the full capacity of the drive.
For more information on Windows XP/2000 installs and the Cylinder Limitation jumper please reference Answer ID: 1374
BIOS: On older systems (pre- November 1998) the BIOS may not support drives that are larger than 32 GB. In the BIOS setup please set the drive type to AUTO detect. If the BIOS detects the full capacity of the drive then the BIOS will support the capacity of the drive. If not please perform one of the following:
Check with the system or motherboard manufacturer for any BIOS upgrades for the system.
If a BIOS update is not available from the manufacturer you can also visit the following site:
www.esupport.com and download the BIOS Agent to determine if an update is available for purchase for your system. The BIOS Agent will identify the BIOS on your system and provide you with all of the information that you will need for ordering a BIOS update. Maxtor® Corporation provides this information as a courtesy to its customers and has no official affiliation with esupport.com.
(Recommended) Purchase a PCI ATA controller card that will support the capacity of the drive. The two benefits of ATA controller cards are:
The ability to support large capacity drives
The ability to support the faster transfer rates of the drive. Maxtor's online store,
www.maxtordirect.com, has a complete selection of ATA controller cards that support all Maxtor drives.
The last option would be to use our MaxBlast software. The MaxBlast software will install an overlay (EZ-BIOS) on the hard drive to support the full capacity of the drive.
Operating System: Windows XP and 2000 have a 32 GB format limitation for FAT 32. That means if you formatted the drive in FAT 32 with Windows XP and 2000, the largest partition supported is 32 GB. You will need to format the drive in NTFS if you want to partition the drive larger than 32 GB.
