Large SATA drives (above 1.1 TB) will not completely format

As new disk drives are released with higher capacities, occasionally the capacity limits are seen. There is a capacity limit at 1.1 TB with some older SATA drivers.  If the motherboard is using an NVidia chipset, then updating the drivers can resolve the issue.

Seagate now has several large drives more than 1.1 TB in size. Compatibility testing has revealed that an older NVIDIA driver for Windows Vista has a limit of 1.1 TB.  NVIDIA drivers for Windows XP don't have this limit.
If you know which chipset your motherboard uses, check the list below to see if this issue applies to your motherboard.  If it does, then a drivers update from NVidia should resolve the issue.
If you don’t know the model of your motherboard, you can use the tool on this NVidia page to discover if the motherboard uses an NVidia chipset, and if there is a driver update available. 

Symptoms:

  • When building a new Windows Vista system, you are unable to partition and format the full 1.5 TB capacity on NVIDIA chipsets.  During the format, Windows Vista hangs with the message that it cannot continue the drive format.  
  • When adding a second drive to an existing Windows Vista system, you are unable to partition and format the full 1.5 TB capacity on NVIDIA chipsets.  It may hang at a certain percentage (70% for 1.5 TB drives or around 55% for 2 TB drives) or it may only allow you to partition the drive up to 1.1 TB.

List of nForce systems that may have used the older drivers.


15.23 (NO GPU Driver included)

15.24 (GPU Driver included)

nForce 790i Ultra SLI

nForce 780a

nForce 790i SLI

nForce 750a

nForce 780i SLI

nForce 730a / GeForce 8200

nForce 750i SLI

nForce 720a / GeForce 8100

nForce 680i SLI

nForce 710a

nForce 680a SLI

nForce 630i/GeForce 7150

nForce 680i LT SLI

nForce 630i/GeForce 7150

nForce 650i SLI

nForce 630i/GeForce 7100

nForce 650i Ultra

nForce 630a/GeForce 7050 PV

nForce 590 SLI Intel

nForce 630a/GeForce 7025

nForce 590 SLI AMD

nForce 610i/GeForce 7050

nForce 570 SLI Intel

nForce 430/GeForce 6150

nForce 570 SLI AMD

nForce 430/GeForce 6150LE

nForce 570 Ultra AMD

nForce 430/GeForce 6150SE

nForce 560

nForce 430/GeForce 6100

nForce 550

nForce 420/GeForce 6100

nForce 520

nForce 410/GeForce 6150LE

nForce4 SLI X16 Intel

nForce 410/GeForce 6100

nForce4 SLI X16 AMD

nForce 405/GeForce 6100

nForce4 SLI Intel

nForce 400/GeForce 6100

nForce4 SLI AMD

 

nForce4 SLI XE Intel

 

nForce4 Ultra Intel

 

nForce4 Ultra AMD

 

nForce4 AMD

 

NVIDIA has released an updated driver for Windows Vista that supports the capacity.
Version 15.23 - XP32, XP64, Vista32, Vista64 - NO Video (GPU) Driver included
Version 15.24 - XP32 , XP64, Vista32, Vista64 - Video (GPU) Driver included (GPU has the integrated graphics.)
Version 15.23 - XP32 - NO GPU Driver included
Version 15.23 - XP64 - NO GPU Driver included
Version 15.23 -Vista32 - NO GPU Driver included
Version 15.23 -Vista64 - NO GPU Driver included
(GPU has the integrated graphics.)
Version 15.24 - XP32 - GPU Driver included
Version 15.24 - XP64 - GPU Driver included
Version 15.24 -Vista32 - GPU Driver included
Version 15.24 -Vista64 - GPU Driver included