I had a 3 TB HD which was mistakenly plugged into a Windows 7 laptop losing everything on the drive and corrupting it. The good news was that I was able recover all my media off the drive with software, the bad news is that my MBP thinks that the drive is only 800 gigs large now? I was able to create a new partition but my computer says it is only 800 gigs. Is there any way I can recover all the missing space and clean out the drive from scratch?
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Over 2 Terabytes missing?!?
- Thread starter rlolson2
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What GGJstudios said is the answer, but in case it wasn't clear enough:
Open Disk Utility. Select the drive itself in the list at left (that is, the least-indented item that has some kind of hardware name followed by "Media", rather than the indented partition beneath it).
Select the "Partition" tab, and under "Partition Layout", select "1 Partition" (do this even if there is only one partition showing currently--it's the key point). Just to be sure, also click "Options" and make sure GUID is selected.
Finally, click "Apply" at lower right, confirm when it tells you it's going to erase everything on the disk, and you should be good.
If that doesn't work, post back.
Open Disk Utility. Select the drive itself in the list at left (that is, the least-indented item that has some kind of hardware name followed by "Media", rather than the indented partition beneath it).
Select the "Partition" tab, and under "Partition Layout", select "1 Partition" (do this even if there is only one partition showing currently--it's the key point). Just to be sure, also click "Options" and make sure GUID is selected.
Finally, click "Apply" at lower right, confirm when it tells you it's going to erase everything on the disk, and you should be good.
If that doesn't work, post back.
Hmm... I have vague memories of a drive that got something hosed in the partition map such that even what I suggested wasn't sufficient to restore it to a clean state, but I haven't seen a case like that in years. Usually, though, the hardware item (the least indented one in Disk Utility) shows the hardware capacity regardless of what has happened to the partition map.
Assuming it's not a hardware problem (which it probably isn't), you could try what eljanitor suggests and select the drive in the list and instead of using the Partition tab go to Erase and use that. Go ahead and let it erase even if it looks like it will only be 800GB, and it's possible after the erase (when it has finished wiping it) you'll be able to repartition to the full size.
It's also possible that the case is doing something odd based on WD-specific commands it got from Windows (maybe WD's software was installed?). In which case the solution might actually be to download whatever Windows software WD gives out with the drive, hook it to a Windows box, and try to completely wipe it there (and/or reformat using GPT to whatever--you can always repartition later on the Mac). A quick search does come up with a few similar-sounding cases to yours, the generally suggested solution for which (apart form using GPT, which is a given on a Mac now) is using WD's tools to wipe the drive.
Even if my suggestions turn out to be useless, please do tell us when you eventually figure it out--it'll be useful for future reference.
Assuming it's not a hardware problem (which it probably isn't), you could try what eljanitor suggests and select the drive in the list and instead of using the Partition tab go to Erase and use that. Go ahead and let it erase even if it looks like it will only be 800GB, and it's possible after the erase (when it has finished wiping it) you'll be able to repartition to the full size.
It's also possible that the case is doing something odd based on WD-specific commands it got from Windows (maybe WD's software was installed?). In which case the solution might actually be to download whatever Windows software WD gives out with the drive, hook it to a Windows box, and try to completely wipe it there (and/or reformat using GPT to whatever--you can always repartition later on the Mac). A quick search does come up with a few similar-sounding cases to yours, the generally suggested solution for which (apart form using GPT, which is a given on a Mac now) is using WD's tools to wipe the drive.
Even if my suggestions turn out to be useless, please do tell us when you eventually figure it out--it'll be useful for future reference.
This article should help.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/235088/everything_you_need_to_know_about_3tb_hard_drives.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/235088/everything_you_need_to_know_about_3tb_hard_drives.html