Starting next year, a new standard in hard drive technology will hurt some XP users. While it’s not really a new technology, it is a different way of doing things. Hard drives format using 512 byte sectors, whereas the new format will use 4K sectors. This means that there will be less unused space on hard drives, helping increase capacity over time. Windows Vista and 7 are already set up to use the new 4K hard drives.
Because XP was coded in a time before this standard switch was under consideration, the Windows OS could see compatibility problems at worst, and speed drops at a minimum. Some advanced drives will be able to emulate the older sector sizes for compatibility, but still, those building their own computers or trading up on hard drives may see notable performance problems. If you’re a devoted XP user facing down the future of storage, tell us how you plan to adapt in the comments
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