GPT Loader – known issues

1) BSOD on Windows boot after installing GPT Loader driver

Windows XP on FAT32 partitions supports only 8-character driver names. Windows registry need to be corrected after driver is installed:

 - Select "Last known good configuration" to boot up Windows
 - Install GPT Driver
 - Do NOT reboot
 - Run install_xp.reg and apply registry changes (http://ftp.paragon.eu.com/support/GPT/install_xp.zip)
 - Reboot

2) Only 746.5 Gb available (the part beyond 2Tb)

Usually it happens when there are/were Acronis or some other software installed causing driver conflict with GPT Loader. There is a registry key where driver order is written:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/ControlClass/{4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Example of driver mess in the registry.

Normal registry:

Try reinstalling the GPT loader.

3) Only 127 Gb detected even after GPT conversion

Most probably hardware level limitation.

– Drive should be connected directly to motherboard SATA/eSATA ports – Windows does not support capacity beyond 2Tb over USB

– External controllers (especially RAID) could have 2Tb capacity limitation (usually SCSI detected drive in logs is a sign): switch off controller, uninstall controller drivers from Windows and connect 3Tb drive directly to motherboard.

– If not external then on-board controller could work in RAID mode (even without RAID configured, usually drive is detected as SCSI too), then controller mode should be switched to SATA (non-RAID) or something like this.

Once your 3TB drive is recognized as ATA  SATA, you should re-convert it to GPT:
1) Convert back to MBR :
* go to C:Program FilesParagon SoftwareGPT Disk Managerprogram
* find explauncher.exe and rename it to explauncher1.exe 
* run GPT Disk manager 
* in Full Scale launcher select your 3TB drive and go to Hard Disk -> Convert to MBR menu
* press apply to perform changes. 
2) Convert to GPT
Once completed, your 3TB drive will be shown as 2 parts: 2047 GB + 746 GB.
* Then close GPT Disk Manager, rename explauncher.exe back to original name. 
* run GPT Disk Manager and convert your 3TB drive back to GPT

4) Incorrect drive size after all previous solutions

Re-initialize drive device:

1) Open Device Manager (Start - Run - devmgmt.msc)
2) Find you 3Tb drive under Disk Drives - right click - Uninstall
3) Uninstall drive, turn off PC and disconnect them from PC
4) Boot PC without drive
5) Turn off PC, connect drive and boot PC now, drive should be reinitialized
6) Convert it to GPT

5) Drive is converted correctly but different Windows errors occur during its usage

Some versions of Intel RST (Rapid Storage Technology) driver, iastor.sys, (known are 9.x and 10.x) could cause conflicts with GPT loader on a certain hardware and softrware configurations. Solution is using older drivers version or unistalling Intel RST at all (it is not critical for Windows work) or disabling Intel RST service.

GPT Loader
Tags: gpt, issue

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