# Buying harddisk- Questions



## gamefreak4770k (Dec 14, 2013)

I am interested in buying internal harddisk for my old aging laptop.

I was thinking in the terms of 1tb but someone told me in 32 bit computer there is a limit for only 500gb of harddisk. Is it true???

and what if i buy external harddisk and connect it via usb then will it be detected???

Help


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## harshilsharma63 (Dec 14, 2013)

> there is no such relation between size of hard disk and OS architecture.

> External hard disks are meant for that exact purpose


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## flyingcow (Dec 14, 2013)

gamefreak4770k said:


> I am interested in buying internal harddisk for my old aging laptop.
> 
> I was thinking in the terms of 1tb but someone told me in 32 bit computer there is a limit for only 500gb of harddisk. Is it true???
> 
> ...



As harshil said there is no such thing that 32 bit has 500gb capacity, 32 bit has RAM capacity though (3.x GB only can be used for 32bit proccy)
yes it will be detected, given that you have no faulty usb port etc


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## gamefreak4770k (Dec 14, 2013)

Thanks guys....
You rock

Just one more question....
which one should i buy if i go for internal or external

suggestions for both would be appreciated....


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## flyingcow (Dec 14, 2013)

if you do a lot of sharing(big files like games etc) with your buddies then go for external, else go for internal, external has less speeds than internal. and internals are cheap too


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## powerhoney (Dec 14, 2013)

Food for thought, guys!!! Better study before replying:




> *In order for an operating system to fully support storage devices that have capacities that exceed 2 terabytes (2 TB, or 2 trillion bytes), the device must be initialized by using the GUID partition table (GPT) partitioning scheme.* This scheme supports addressing of the full range of storage capacity. If the user intends to start the computer from one of these large disks, the system’s base firmware interface must use the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and not BIOS.
> 
> This article outlines Microsoft support across all Windows versions since Windows XP. It also describes the requirements to address the full storage capability of these devices.
> 
> ...



Source: Windows support for hard disks that are larger than 2 TB



harshilsharma63 said:


> > *there is no such relation between size of hard disk and OS architecture.*
> 
> > External hard disks are meant for that exact purpose







flyingcow said:


> *As harshil said there is no such thing that 32 bit has 500gb capacity*, 32 bit has RAM capacity though (3.x GB only can be used for 32bit proccy)
> yes it will be detected, given that you have no faulty usb port etc







gamefreak4770k said:


> I am interested in buying internal harddisk for my old aging laptop.
> 
> I was thinking in the terms of 1tb but someone told me in 32 bit computer there is a limit for only 500gb of harddisk. Is it true???
> 
> ...




Read my post and you will understand all that you need to!!!


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## gamefreak4770k (Dec 14, 2013)

So i can upgrade to 2 tb????

i have a Compaq presario v3239 laptop year 2007 model with windows vista service pack 3 
32 bit of course and according to windows experience index cpu is not 64 bit compatible....

now suggest something


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## powerhoney (Dec 14, 2013)

gamefreak4770k said:


> So i can upgrade to 2 tb????
> 
> i have a Compaq presario v3239 laptop year 2007 model with windows vista service pack 3
> 32 bit of course and according to windows experience index cpu is not 64 bit compatible....
> ...



Yes, you can upgrade to 2 TB... What are your needs, btw??? If you need portability, external HDDs are the way to go whilst for speed, choose internal HDDs!!!


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## gamefreak4770k (Dec 14, 2013)

I think I'll go for 2 tb internal if budget allows otherwise 1tb external....

btw my budget is MAx 7k


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## powerhoney (Dec 14, 2013)

gamefreak4770k said:


> I think I'll go for 2 tb internal if budget allows otherwise 1tb external....
> 
> btw my budget is MAx 7k



Whatever you go for, make sure you choose WD!!!


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## flyingcow (Dec 14, 2013)

@powerhoney i was telling from my own experience, i used to use 2 tb hdd for my system (32 bit) and had no problems so i said op to go for it and btw that is an mbr limitation you still can use >2tb by initializing hdd via guid partition table
so seems like someone else needs to do some research


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## powerhoney (Dec 14, 2013)

flyingcow said:


> @powerhoney i was telling from my own experience, i used to use 2 tb hdd for my system (32 bit) and had no problems so i said op to go for it
> so "technically" this statement made by me is correct "there is no such thing that 32 bit has 500gb capacity"
> but thanks for the info and i will research before giving any answers



No hard feelings, mate...


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## flyingcow (Dec 14, 2013)

powerhoney said:


> No hard feelings, mate...



I am sorry look at my edit


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## whitestar_999 (Dec 14, 2013)

summary of @powerhoney long post above:
as long as hdd is not larger than 2tb & not used as a boot device there is no issue.UEFI is required only for windows vista/7/8 64bit os boot from a GPT drive.if larger than 2tb hdd is secondary hdd then windows 7/8 can initialize it using GPT without any need for UEFI.linux & BSD can boot from a GPT hdd on a non-UEFI system.


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## powerhoney (Dec 14, 2013)

flyingcow said:


> I am sorry look at my edit



He he!!!


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## powerhoney (Dec 14, 2013)

whitestar_999 said:


> summary of @powerhoney long post above:
> as long as hdd is not larger than 2tb & not used as a boot device there is no issue.UEFI is required only for windows vista/7/8 64bit os boot from a GPT drive.if larger than 2tb hdd is secondary hdd then windows 7/8 can initialize it using GPT without any need for UEFI.linux & BSD can boot from a GPT hdd on a non-UEFI system.



Thanks for adding the summary!!!


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## gamefreak4770k (Dec 15, 2013)

whitestar_999 said:


> summary of @powerhoney long post above:
> as long as hdd is not larger than 2tb & not used as a boot device there is no issue.UEFI is required only for windows vista/7/8 64bit os boot from a GPT drive.if larger than 2tb hdd is secondary hdd then windows 7/8 can initialize it using GPT without any need for UEFI.linux & BSD can boot from a GPT hdd on a non-UEFI system.



Now I'm confused if the harddisk is used as boot device then what???

because i guess as usual the primary boot device would be the internal hdd itself i guess....

I'm no expert. Please explain

I just wanted a simple answer will 2 tb work with mbr and the hard disk will be used as a boot device too... as usual i guess
if no then what's the limit for upgrading a harddisk for the above criteria...

thanks

bumper


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## powerhoney (Dec 15, 2013)

gamefreak4770k said:


> Now I'm confused if the harddisk is used as boot device then what???
> 
> because i guess as usual the primary boot device would be the internal hdd itself i guess....
> 
> ...



Okay, simple answer... You can use any hard disk of capacity less than 2 TB without any problem... It can be used as a secondary hard drive as well as a primary boot hard drive... 

If, in the unlikely case, you purchase a HDD with storage capacity greater than 2 TB, then you need to understand all the jargon that was written in my post...
So, in conclusion:
A. If less than 2 TB, purchase the HDD!!!
B. If greater than 2 TB, read that post!!!


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## whitestar_999 (Dec 15, 2013)

even more simpler answer:
hard disk=2tb or less as boot device works in old mbr systems.
hard disk more than 2tb works fine as secondary hard disk in old mbr systems.
only hard disk more than 2tb don't work as boot disk in old mbr systems.


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## harshilsharma63 (Dec 15, 2013)

So as OP intends to purchase HDD for an OLD laptop which most probably does not have UEFI, he is fine with capacity upto 2 TB.


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## gamefreak4770k (Dec 15, 2013)

Thanks guys


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## powerhoney (Dec 15, 2013)

gamefreak4770k said:


> Thanks guys



Welcome... Do let us know what you bought...


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## gamefreak4770k (Dec 16, 2013)

I couldn't find 2 tb anywhere but found 1 tb internal so i think I'll go for external harddisk with usb 3 interface of western digital


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## powerhoney (Dec 16, 2013)

gamefreak4770k said:


> I couldn't find 2 tb anywhere but found 1 tb internal so i think I'll go for external harddisk with usb 3 interface of western digital



Okay... I just bought a 2TB WD Elements USB 3.0 external HDD sold by croma from Amazon at a sweet price of Rs. 6999 during GOSF!!!  
You could wait to see if that same deal comes back...


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## gamefreak4770k (Dec 16, 2013)

Thanks for the information

I'll look into


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