Has what you are trying to do ever worked on this computer before? If so, something might have changed that affects it. Have you changed hardware or installed new software? Has somebody else been using the computer, and could that person have made changes you do not know about?
If this program or functionality has never worked on this computer, compare the setup and configuration on this computer with the same program on another computer to identify differences.
As an example, identical 624 MB IDE disks are installed on two different x86-based computers. On one computer, 609 MB are available after creating partitions. On the other computer, only 504 MB are available. If you look at the messages that the system BIOS displays when starting up the two computers, you may see that the computer with 609 MB has a newer BIOS than the other computer. You would need to upgrade the other computer's system BIOS, or obtain a third-party translation utility that enables the computer to access the entire disk.