Maximum Primary Partition Size Windows XP SP3

Question

_{Monday, October 31, 2011 2:07 PM}

I would like to know the maximum primary partition size on an NTFS file system running Windows XP SP3.  An engineer at Corsair told me that it is 128 MB and I currently have C: at 192 GB, and it still runs so that would seem to be OK... if that really is a limitation he indicated that it might not run as it should.  In a forum someplace I read that there was a 128 MB limitation in WinXP SP1 but possibly this limitation was removed in a later Service Pack?

All replies (4)

_{Tuesday, November 1, 2011 9:05 AM | 1 vote}

Hi,

Windows XP SP3 forum is still working, so you can post your question there:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/itproxpsp/threads

For the question, the limitation cannot be 128MB though I cannot confirm the exact maximum size.

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_{Friday, November 4, 2011 6:23 AM}

Hi,

I did post it over there... sorry it probably is a more appropriate place over there, but in any case it was late and a type to put 128 MB.. I meant 128 GB.  But really correcting my typo by saying it can't be 128 MB, while true, I can't really consider an "answer" so I unmarked this an an answer.

There was no answer in the Windows XP SP3 forum either except somebody mentioned they had a 320 GB primary partition and it functioned.

It is a mystery to me why Microsoft apparently doesn't publish whatever limitation there might be.  I spent two days combing the technet and there doesn't seem to be an answer for this available anywhere!

_{Friday, November 4, 2011 9:00 AM | 2 votes}

For primary partition, the limit is 2 Tb. This is a native limit of MBR disks. To run 3 or 4 Tb hard disk with a single partition, you need to make it GPT-type. So did I for my 3 Tb disk. To boot from GPT disk, you need your BIOS to support EFI.

MCITP: Enterprise Administrator; MCT; Microsoft Security Trusted Advisor; CCNA; CCSI

_{Friday, November 4, 2011 1:11 PM}

Thanks a lot for the answer.  Actually it was late when I wrote that... I didn't word my question properly.

What I really meant to ask is what is the maximum size of the system partition of the MBR type using the NTFS file system for the Windows XP SP3 operating system boot partition.  

I shouldn't have said primary partition since that could include partitions other than the

Win XP SP3 operating sytem partition.