6tb external hard drive reads 1.5tb unallocated in Windows 10?

GARoss · 30 Aug 2017

Using a new 6tb external hard drive plugged into a USB port for backup. Need to format but it only reads 1.5tb of unallocated space in Windows 10? Is this an Intel RST driver issue? If so, how can I tell if the RST driver need updating?

Windows 10 64-bit ver 1703 OS Build 15063.540
AMD 1700 8-core
Asus Prime X370-Pro MB

NavyLCDR · 30 Aug 2017

Try using diskpart. With the drive connected, open a Command Prompt (Admin) or Powershell (Admin) and run:

diskpart
list disk
select disk # <- replace the # with the actual number assigned to the 6TB external hard drive
clean <- this will completely erase the drive selected above, make sure it is the new external drive!
convert gpt
exit
exit

You should then see 6tb unallocated space in Windows that you can partition and format however you like.

GARoss · 30 Aug 2017

NavyLCDR said:

Try using diskpart. With the drive connected, open a Command Prompt (Admin) or Powershell (Admin) and run:

diskpart
list disk
select disk # <- replace the # with the actual number assigned to the 6TB external hard drive
clean <- this will completely erase the drive selected above, make sure it is the new external drive!
convert gpt
exit
exit

You should then see 6tb unallocated space in Windows that you can partition and format however you like.

Thanks. It appears the issue was because I had the new, unformatted drive setup as an external USB drive. I have since connected the drive in my case via SATA & now able to format to NTFS all 6Tb. I'll move it back to USB but I'm guessing it will be okay now that it's formatted.