WD 500 GB resized by Norton Ghost Restore to 120 GB and can not get it to original size.

Walterb_8 & Geekman..Appreciate your feedback to my issue. After spending will over 40 hours, I finally discovered the real cause to my issue. I actually tried both of your suggestions in the hope of fixing the issue including formatting, repartitioning, resetting the MBR and manually editing the Partition Table. Unfortunately all these lead me back to the same results, the HD was pegged at 120 GB while physically it was meant to be 500 GB.



I then stumbled onto a thread in another forum that lead me to a wealth of information on Dell MD and the inherent HPA partition. It seems Dell has some custom code in its MBR which seems to have been copied in the cloning process. This code is triggered under certain circumstances such as when you press the MD button. Once it is pressed, the MBR triggers a series of events within the boot sectors which cause the 500 GB to be reconfigured as 120 GB where the expected HPA partition is available. The remained of the HD is then hidden and cannot be seen unless you use a specific tool.



I am attaching the page links associated with aiding me in addressing my issues and resolving it. I also want to thank all those that have contributed to the wealth of information on the subject especially the pages linked to Dan Goodell.



http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/medi...



and



http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/hpa-...



and



http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthrea...



Walterb_8 & Geekman..Appreciate your feedback to my issue. After spending will over 40 hours, I finally discovered the real cause to my issue. I actually tried both of your suggestions in the hope of fixing the issue including formatting, repartitioning, resetting the MBR and manually editing the Partition Table. Unfortunately all these lead me back to the same results, the HD was pegged at 120 GB while physically it was meant to be 500 GB.

I then stumbled onto a thread in another forum that lead me to a wealth of information on Dell MD and the inherent HPA partition. It seems Dell has some custom code in its MBR which seems to have been copied in the cloning process. This code is triggered under certain circumstances such as when you press the MD button. Once it is pressed, the MBR triggers a series of events within the boot sectors which cause the 500 GB to be reconfigured as 120 GB where the expected HPA partition is available. The remained of the HD is then hidden and cannot be seen unless you use a specific tool.

I am attaching the page links associated with aiding me in addressing my issues and resolving it. I also want to thank all those that have contributed to the wealth of information on the subject especially the pages linked to Dan Goodell.

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/mediadirect.htm

and

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/hpa-issues.htm

and

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=167401