Specifications

Windows 137GB Capacity Barrier Version 1.0
3 7-Mar-2003
If you intend to install a new hard disc drive and also upgrade an older version of Windows to
Windows XP SP1 or Windows 2000 SP3, the preferred approach is to do the OS upgrade prior to
installing the hard drive.
If you do not have one of the operating systems listed above, Seagate recommends that you limit
the partition size to 137GB or upgrade your operating system or try one of the solutions listed
below.
2) Ultra ATA/133 PCI Controller Card for Windows XP, 2000, Me, 98SE and NT 4.x (partial)
One of the easiest solutions is using an Ultra ATA/133 PCI controller card (host adapter) that is
fully compatible with all capacities of Seagate ATA hard drives. Be sure to verify that the
controller card in fact breaks the 137GB barrier. You should contact or visit your controller card
manufacturer's website to see if they have information about the 137GB Windows operating
system limitation and drivers available for your operating system.
Some system BIOS do not support booting to drives attached to alternate adapters, so you may
only be able to use the drive as additional storage and not as the boot drive.
Seagate is not responsible for controller card support issues.
Note: Controller card manufacturers may provide new ATA or ATAPI disk device drivers that are
optimized for the controller. The Windows XP or Windows 2000 operating system
installation will pause briefly and ask for you to insert an OEM floppy diskette. This pause
for new "adapter" drivers happens soon after the boot near the beginning of the
installation. See your controller card documentation for specifics. These drivers may have
137GB limitations. Be sure to check for driver updates.
3) Intel Chipset Solutions for Windows Me, 98SE and NT 4.x (partial)
Intel offers drivers to support the full capacity of drives larger than 137 GB on motherboards
equipped with the Intel 810, 810E, 810E2, 815, 815, 815E, 815EP, 815P, 820, 820E, 830M,
830MP, 830MG, 840, 845, 850, or 860 chipset. The Intel Application Accelerator v2.3 or above is
compatible with Windows XP, Me, 2000, 98SE and NT operating systems. Detailed information
and the latest version of the driver can be downloaded from www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/.
If you are not sure what kind of chipset your motherboard has, contact your system or
motherboard manufacturer. See the section below titled Chipset Identification.
Seagate is not responsible for Intel Application Accelerator support issues.
Caution: If your system boot drive uses a drive overlay program (DDO) to overcome a previous
BIOS capacity limitation (such as Disk Manager or DiscWizard and identifiable as a blue
banner box before the operating system loads), then the Intel Application Accelerator is
incompatible with your system. If you have this configuration, the Ultra ATA controller
card is the only solution for these operating systems.
Motherboards and PCI ATA cards equipped with VIA, SiS, ALi, NVIDIA, HighPoint, and Promise
chipsets may have drivers or updates that will allow you to access the full capacity of a drive
larger than 137GB. You should contact or visit your chipset, system or motherboard
manufacturer's website to see if they have information and 48-bit addressing drivers for the
Windows operating systems.
If chipset and operating system device drivers are not available, you could consider the purchase
of an Ultra ATA/133 PCI Controller Card, available from most retail and online computer stores.