max hard drive size

[thankyou2]

I was told that the max hard drive size for a HP6200Pro is 1TB. 

Is this true?

Can the max be increased somehow? 

thank you

[mdklassen]

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@thankyou2 wrote:

I was told that the max hard drive size for a HP6200Pro is 1TB.  Is this true? Can the max be increased somehow? 

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From: Software and driver results for: HP Compaq 6200 Pro Microtower PC

there are device-drivers for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

Most of those device-drivers were posted in 2014 -- giving me an approximation of the vintage of your computer.

From: HP Compaq 6200 Pro Small Form Factor PC Product Specifications

it states:

Internal drive:

SATA (7200 rpm):

From: 250GB

Up to: 1TB

So, when you purchased the computer from HP, a 1TB  disk-drive was an option for your order.

You could not order this model with a larger-capacity disk-drive.

My guess is that this antique motherboard will support up to 2TB, but not more.

This was a limitation in motherboards of that vintage.

Of course, if you have an empty drive-bay inside the computer, you could add a "secondary" disk-drive.

I cannot find any information about the number of SATA ports on the motherboard:

* one for the primary disk-drive

* one for the CD/DVD

* maybe, more, to allow the "secondary" disk-drive to be connected ???

Nor can I find whether the power-supply has an unused power-lead, to bring power to the secondary disk-drive.

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[thankyou2]

Thank you.

I recently bought this refurbished with Intel Core i7 2600 and a 500 GB hard drive installed with Windows 10 Pro. I added to the primary drive a 1TB existing hard drive, and moved the 500 TB drive to the second (of two existing) bay.  So I have two hard drives in the 6200 Pro now.  

Because my original hard drive that I imported/placed in the 6200 Pro primary bay is getting old, I want to replace it. Hoping to get 2TB or 3TB in there. 

Maybe I should just do all storage on an external drive or a cloud service, but that seems like slow performance.  And there is the problem of needing those stupid $60 added-csot bushings to make a hard drive fit the HP bays.

If I buy and install a drive that exceeds the max accommodated by the motherboard, will it not work at all, or simply  not access all of the storage but still work?

[mdklassen]

> If I buy and install a drive that exceeds the max accommodated by the motherboard,

> will it not work at all, or simply  not access all of the storage but still work?

Good question.  I have found nothing on the HP Support web-site that pertains to your question.

To repeat, I have my doubts whether a 3TB disk-drive will work, given the vintage of your motherboard.

Probably, when you purchased the computer (2012? 2014?), a 2TB disk-drive was not available.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi, @thankyou2

Your PC has a UEFI BIOS which means you can format a drive in excess of 2 TB in GPT, and use it as a boot drive.

You can be safe with a 2 TB hard drive as that does not even need a UEFI BIOS to work.

Here is a post from another forum member with an 8200 Elite (which is an upscale model of the 6200 Pro).

He is running a 2 TB HDD as the primary HDD with no issues.

He is having other issues with the other sata ports.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-PCs-Workstations-and-Point-of-Sale-Systems/Re-does-my-hp-elit...

Here is a HP whitepaper regarding UEFI BIOS', GPT disks...

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02826744

[thankyou2]

"My guess is that this antique motherboard will support up to 2TB, but not more.

This was a limitation in motherboards of that vintage."

A sticker shows that this was delivered with Windows 7. Though I just bought it refurbished last month, I'm guessing that you are correct about the original purchase date of 2012-14...but maybe earlier. I think the Intel Core i7 2600 was introduced in 2011. 

Does the motherboard limitation also limit external drive size?  I wish I had realized this. 

Thanks for your answers.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I think the BIOS is new enough to support 3 TB drives and beyond if you format the drives in GPT.

Look at the picture in the document I posted...page 5 shows the splash screen of a UEFI BIOS.

Your PC should have the same splash screen as that picture (UEFI).

[thankyou2]

@ Paul_Tikkanen,

Thanks for your insight and the doc links, it answered my question and solved my problem!

Mark 

[thankyou2]

@mdklassen,

Thanks for your helpful and fast responses!

Mark 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Mark.