48bitLBA.com - Windows XP Information

		Source for 48-bit LBA Information

Bios Upgrades

48-bit LBA and Windows XP

Windows XP supports 48-bit LBA with Service Pack 1. You must also have a 48-bit LBA compatible BIOS. The following are the major issues involving 48-bit LBA and Windows XP:

Service Pack 1. To use a 48-bit LBA hard drive with Windows XP you must upgrade to Service Pack 1 or greater. If Windows XP is already installed you can use Windows Update to install SP1. If you are doing a new install of Windows XP you need to make sure the installation CD is labeled "Including Service Pack 1".

BIOS support for 48-bit LBA. As stated in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 303013 one of the requirements to use 48-bit LBA support in Windows XP is that you must have a 48-bit LBA compatible BIOS. To test your system's BIOS for 48-bit LBA, refer to our HDInfo tool. If your 48-bit LBA hard drive is connected to a PCI ATA controller card, you should make sure the card supports 48-bit LBA. If the card was provided with the hard drive this should be the case.

New install of Windows XP to new 48-bit LBA hard drive. If you are doing a new install of Windows XP you need to make sure the installation CD is labeled "Including Service Pack 1". If your Windows XP install CD is prior to Service Pack 1, you can still utilize the full capacity of your 48-bit LBA drive by upgrading to SP1 after Windows XP is installed then using a 3rd party partition tool like PowerQuest Partition Magic to expand the partition created by Windows install to full capacity.

HDINFO
Having trouble installing your 48-bit LBA Hard Drive?
48-bit LBA BIOS Test.