Getting Help
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Frequently Asked Questions
This section contains some answers to questions frequently asked by our customers.
What is a BIOS Capacity Barrier?
The BIOS capacity barrier is the computer’s inability to recognise hard drive capacities larger than allowed by the
hard-coded programming contained in your system BIOS. For example, your system BIOS might only be
capable of understanding a hard drive capacity of up to 32 GB. If you then attempt to install and auto-detect a
40 GB hard drive, the system will freeze because the BIOS is not capable of understanding the capacity reported
by the hard drive. On many systems, the cylinder limitation jumper setting on the hard drive and the Dynamic
Drive Overlay (DDO), which is a feature of the MaxBlast 3 installation software, can be used together to address
BIOS capacity limitations. Other systems may require the installation of an Ultra ATA PCI card such as the
Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 PCI Adapter Card.
Why do I need to format my hard drive? Does it come from the factory already
formatted?
Many operating systems are available that each have their own type of hard drive format. Maxtor hard drives
come from the factory with a low-level format, but require a high-level format for your specific operating system
to store and retrieve data properly.
Why did my CD-ROM drive letter change after installing my Maxtor hard drive?
The operating system assigns a drive letter to each installed storage device, giving priority to the hard drives. The
primary master hard drive (the boot drive) always appears as drive letter C. Any other storage devices are listed as
D, E, and so on. CD-ROM, DVD, and any other storage devices always show up last; you cannot change these
assignments.
