# Want to add a 4tb hdd



## Kushal1990 (Mar 17, 2016)

As the title suggests, I want to add a 4tb hdd to my current pc which already has 2tb hdd and a 512gb ssd. I read somewhere that hdd's more than 2.2tb won't support on bios. You need to have something called UEFI. Is this true? Also, what is UEFI? And what do I need to do to make my 4tb hdd run? I would be using it on Windows 10 PRO


----------



## topgear (Mar 17, 2016)

Your motherboard make and model ? Make sure you are using 64 bit version of windows and your motherboard needs UEFI support if you are planning to make the 4TB HDD a boot drive.

If you are planning to use it as a data drive you need to use GPT [ in disk management ] instead of MBR.

You are all good to go regardless of bios support if can use the HDD with Linux OS.


----------



## Lincon_WD (Mar 17, 2016)

Kushal1990 said:


> As the title suggests, I want to add a 4tb hdd to my current pc which already has 2tb hdd and a 512gb ssd. I read somewhere that hdd's more than 2.2tb won't support on bios. You need to have something called UEFI. Is this true? Also, what is UEFI? And what do I need to do to make my 4tb hdd run? I would be using it on Windows 10 PRO



Hi     [MENTION=320806]Kushal1990[/MENTION], 

I am glad to help you out, +1 to     [MENTION=15026]topgear[/MENTION], if you are planning for high storage like up to 4TB, you have to set the BIOS to UEFI  and the drive in GPT format.  

Normally, the MBR format supports up to 2.2 TB so your MOBO is fine for that. If you need a 4TB, so I advise to update the BIOS.
For specific model for the HDD, it depends on your requirement.

If you are planning for storage, so I’d suggest you to go with the WD Blue drives are available  up to 6TB of capacity.
You can have a look at the link below for more details on the hdd:

Support Answer

To know more about the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) Firmware, I'd recommend you to go through  this article from Microsoft:

What is UEFI? - Windows Help

I hope it helps, keep me posted.


----------



## Hrishi (Mar 17, 2016)

I doubt OP would need to make the new high capacity storage HDD as boot drive. He already has a half terabyte of SSD which should suffice for Boot Drive.



Sent from my LG Optimus G using Tapatalk


----------



## Kushal1990 (Mar 17, 2016)

My motherboard is ASUS Z97-A. Don't know whether it supports uefi. I am currently running windows 10 PRO 64 bit. I will be using it as a storage drive for movies and tv series mostly. Windows will remain on ssd. Also, I don't know how to set bios to uefi or mbr. Would be getting a seagate mostly.


----------



## topgear (Mar 18, 2016)

You are all good to go. Your motherboard indeed has UEFI. As you are using the new HDD as data drive you don't need to set Bios to UEFI / or any other sort of tinkering. Just install the HDD normally just like any other HDD. When you are presented with a dialogue box [ in Disk management ] for initializing the HDD Select GPT instead of MBR.

BTW, go through this article and you will have a fare idea : [ or better you can boot from a Gparted bootable ISO to set new HDDs partition type as GPT and format as NTFS ] :
Using the New GUID Partition Table in Linux (Goodbye Ancient MBR)  | Linux.co


----------



## Kushal1990 (Mar 18, 2016)

So, I don't need to change anything in the bios or anywhere else, right?
Just set GPT instead of MBR.


----------



## Hrishi (Mar 18, 2016)

Kushal1990 said:


> So, I don't need to change anything in the bios or anywhere else, right?
> Just set GPT instead of MBR.


Yes. As long as they are intended to be just storage drives and not boot drives.

Sent from my LG Optimus G using Tapatalk


----------



## Kushal1990 (Mar 18, 2016)

So, how can I convert mbr to gpt?


----------



## Lincon_WD (Mar 18, 2016)

Kushal1990 said:


> So, how can I convert mbr to gpt?



Hi Kushal1990, 
To change a master boot record disk into a GUID partition table disk using the Windows interface
1) Back up or move the data on the basic master boot record (MBR) disk you want to convert into a GUID partition table (GPT) disk.
2) If the disk contains any partitions or volumes, right-click any volumes on the disk and then click Delete Partition or Delete Volume.
3) Right-click the MBR disk that you want to change into a GPT disk, and then click Convert to GPT Disk.
To change a master boot record disk into a GUID partition table disk using a command line
1) Back up or move the data on the basic master boot record (MBR) disk you want to convert into a GUID partition table (GPT) disk.
2) Open an elevated command prompt (right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator) and type diskpart. If the disk does not contain any partitions or volumes, skip to step 6.
3) At the DISKPART prompt, type list disk. Make note of the disk number you want to convert.
4) At the DISKPART prompt, type select disk <disknumber>.
5) At the DISKPART prompt, type clean.
Important note:
Running the clean command will delete all partitions or volumes on the disk.
6) At the DISKPART prompt, type convert gpt.
Hope it helps.


----------



## Kushal1990 (Mar 18, 2016)

Oh. Thanks. In case, I am not able to do this when I get the hdd, I will again post here.


----------



## gagan_kumar (Mar 18, 2016)

Lincon_WD said:


> Hi Kushal1990,
> To change a master boot record disk into a GUID partition table disk using the Windows interface
> 1) Back up or move the data on the basic master boot record (MBR) disk you want to convert into a GUID partition table (GPT) disk.
> 2) If the disk contains any partitions or volumes, right-click any volumes on the disk and then click Delete Partition or Delete Volume.
> ...



Is there any specific retail store we can get those directly??? 

Even I needed WD blue storage drive 4TB + capacity

I have checked some local shops here at bangalore unable to find them, so before this I went with seagate because of unavailability......


----------



## Kushal1990 (Mar 18, 2016)

Here you go

WD Caviar Blue 4TB Sata 3 5&quot; 64MB Cache Desktop Hard Drive 4 TB WD40EZRZ | eBay

Just curious, why wd? Why not seagate?


----------



## Zangetsu (Mar 18, 2016)

Kushal1990 said:


> Here you go
> 
> WD Caviar Blue 4TB Sata 3 5" 64MB Cache Desktop Hard Drive 4 TB WD40EZRZ | eBay
> 
> Just curious, why wd? Why not seagate?


Better ASS and RMA process


----------



## Kushal1990 (Mar 20, 2016)

SO, you mean to say Seagate is bad?


----------



## Zangetsu (Mar 21, 2016)

Kushal1990 said:


> SO, you mean to say Seagate is bad?



Seagate product is not bad both Seagate and WD are head to head but only thing where WD excels is RMA process.

I had bad experience with Seagate RMA.


----------



## bubusam13 (Apr 17, 2016)

Hi, if I use a 4TB WD desktop external drive, do I need my motherboard to support UEFI ?

I am running out of space. I have lots of RAW images which I need to copy to my hard drive. I edit them in my free time. So what should I purchase ? A internal drive or an external hard drive.


----------



## topgear (Apr 21, 2016)

No ...


----------

