Hard Disk Drives Capacity Limits

By BXTra |

I found an article about a summary table of Hard Disk Drives Capacity Limits which I think it's a good reference.

Check this link -> http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/482/6

Limit

Operating System

Solution

128 PB (144 PB)

All

None so far, as this limit is far from being reached, but probably a BIOS upgrade.

256 TB

Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista using NTFS

This is the 32-bit NTFS file system limit. No solution so far, but probably a new NTFS version using more than 32 bits to address the clusters.

16 TB

Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista using NTFS

Use a partitioning utility or the command Format c: /a:xxxx to increase the size of the clusters allowing partitions up to 256 TB (see page 4 for more details).

2 TB

Windows ME, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista using FAT32

Change file system to NTFS.

2 TB

Windows 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista using NTFS

These operating systems donโ€™t allow the boot partition to be larger than 2 TB. There are two solutions: create a bootable partition with 2 TB and create a second partition with the rest of your hard driveโ€™s capacity or if you want a single partition create a dynamic volume.

128 GB (137 GB)

Windows 98

No solution. Upgrade your OS with at least Windows ME and execute the procedures described below.

128 GB (137 GB)

Windows ME, NT, 2000 and XP without any SP installed.

BIOS upgrade AND running a utility.

32 GB

Windows 95

No solution. Upgrade your OS with at least Windows 98 (keep in mind that Windows 98 has its own 128 GB limit).

7.84 GB (8 GB)

All but MS-DOS

BIOS upgrade. Besides that Windows NT canโ€™t boot from partitions larger than 7.84 GB, you will need to create a bootable 7.84 GB partition and put the rest of the hard disk drive available space on one or more extra partitions.

7.84 GB (8 GB)

MS-DOS 6.x

No solution. Upgrade your OS with at least Windows 95 AND upgrade your BIOS.

2 GB

All

This is the FAT-16 limit. You can divide your hard disk drive into several 2 GB partitions or use an operating system that supports FAT-32 or NTFS to access your entire hard disk drive into a single partition.

512 MB

MS-DOS 5.0

Upgrade your operating system.

504 MB (528 M)

All

BIOS upgrade.

128 MB

MS-DOS 4.0

Upgrade your operating system.

32 MB

MS-DOS 3.x

Upgrade your operating system.

16 MB

MS-DOS below 3.0

Upgrade your operating system.

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