Capacity not as advertised

rpheckenkamp · 03-06-2005, 09:10 PM

I assume the maximum capacity of hard drives are just an estimate.

This hard drive is listed as having a capacity of 160 gigs, but actually has a capacity of 160,039,239,680 bytes, which is 149 gigs. I can understand drives being listed as, lets say 30 gigs, but really has 29.x or whatever, but a difference of 11 gigs? Anyone know why that is?

**Sarkast** · 03-06-2005, 09:39 PM

Well that diffrence comes from the diffrent "definitions" of Gb. In some instances its 1000Byte = 1KB. But the reality is 1024Byte=1Kb. (dont remember if it was MS that counted a KByte as 1000 Byte but somewhere down the road somebody made a mistake

)

When you multiply 1024x1024x1024 you find out that per Gb the diffrence is about 73Mb. Now multiply this with 160Gb and you have a diffrence of 11.7Gb. Pretty much exactly what you are missing.

rpheckenkamp · 03-06-2005, 09:47 PM

I guess that's the price you get for buying from an off brand company like E Machines, hehe : P. They just defined a gig as 1000 MB rather than the actual 1024 MB.

chris24jt · 03-07-2005, 05:29 AM

its standard practice to list a hard drives size by calling 1mb = 1000kb, 1gb = 1000mb etc.

also depends on the manufacturer of the drive. i think emachines use seagates usually.

i have a 160gb maxtor drive that is infact 153gb :)

**johnwill** · 03-07-2005, 03:53 PM

If you look on any disk manufacturer's website, they all clearly state that they think a gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes. I'm sure one started the trend, and the others followed to avoid being at an advertising disadvantage.

Derek895 · 03-09-2005, 05:25 PM

I have Sony Vaio Laptop which is described as having 40GB hard disk. The hard disk is set up as two drives C & D. One has 18.6GB the other 13.1GB giving a total of 31.7GB. However when multiplied out, ie 31.7x1024x1024x1024, the total number of bytes is only just over 34 billion. Is there a hidden partition on the disk?

Derek

**Sarkast** · 03-09-2005, 05:39 PM

There might be unpartitioned space.

Derek895 · 03-10-2005, 12:32 PM

Is there any way of finding out if it is unpartitioned and if so how could I make it available?

**Sarkast** · 03-10-2005, 12:50 PM

Yes and here is a great page that explains in detail how to do it.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...309000&sd=tech

Let me know if you found some unused space on your HDD.

Derek895 · 03-10-2005, 01:07 PM

Thanks for the link Sarkast. Its actually a recovery partition of about 5GB - says EISA Configuration, would you know what that means?

**Sarkast** · 03-10-2005, 01:26 PM

There might be someone who can give you more/ better information about this - but as far as i know this recovery partition is one that in some PCs can be used (by pressing a certain button while booting i.e. F10) to do a recovery installation of the OS when you have trouble loading it. I know compaq uses that, HP too. Maybe your laptop can do the same thing (not familiar with sony vaios).

In this case its probably a good idea to leave this partition untouched. It can be quite handy.

Derek895 · 03-11-2005, 11:42 AM

Yes, you are right. F10 launches the Recovery Program. Thanks for your help.

**Sarkast** · 03-11-2005, 12:01 PM

Your welcome - glad i was able to provide some useful information.

03-06-2005, 09:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
rpheckenkamp Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 25 OS: XP	Capacity not as advertised I assume the maximum capacity of hard drives are just an estimate. This hard drive is listed as having a capacity of 160 gigs, but actually has a capacity of 160,039,239,680 bytes, which is 149 gigs. I can understand drives being listed as, lets say 30 gigs, but really has 29.x or whatever, but a difference of 11 gigs? Anyone know why that is?

03-06-2005, 09:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	Well that diffrence comes from the diffrent "definitions" of Gb. In some instances its 1000Byte = 1KB. But the reality is 1024Byte=1Kb. (dont remember if it was MS that counted a KByte as 1000 Byte but somewhere down the road somebody made a mistake ) When you multiply 1024x1024x1024 you find out that per Gb the diffrence is about 73Mb. Now multiply this with 160Gb and you have a diffrence of 11.7Gb. Pretty much exactly what you are missing. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

03-07-2005, 03:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,654 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	If you look on any disk manufacturer's website, they all clearly state that they think a gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes. I'm sure one started the trend, and the others followed to avoid being at an advertising disadvantage. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

03-09-2005, 05:39 PM	#7 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	There might be unpartitioned space. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

03-10-2005, 12:50 PM	#9 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	Yes and here is a great page that explains in detail how to do it. http://support.microsoft.com/default...309000&sd=tech Let me know if you found some unused space on your HDD. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch

03-06-2005, 09:47 PM	#3 (permalink)
rpheckenkamp Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 25 OS: XP	I guess that's the price you get for buying from an off brand company like E Machines, hehe : P. They just defined a gig as 1000 MB rather than the actual 1024 MB.

03-07-2005, 05:29 AM	#4 (permalink)
chris24jt Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 3 OS: XP	its standard practice to list a hard drives size by calling 1mb = 1000kb, 1gb = 1000mb etc. also depends on the manufacturer of the drive. i think emachines use seagates usually. i have a 160gb maxtor drive that is infact 153gb :)

03-09-2005, 05:25 PM	#6 (permalink)
Derek895 Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Belfast, N. Ireland Posts: 178 OS: Windows XP	I have Sony Vaio Laptop which is described as having 40GB hard disk. The hard disk is set up as two drives C & D. One has 18.6GB the other 13.1GB giving a total of 31.7GB. However when multiplied out, ie 31.7x1024x1024x1024, the total number of bytes is only just over 34 billion. Is there a hidden partition on the disk? Derek

03-10-2005, 12:32 PM	#8 (permalink)
Derek895 Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Belfast, N. Ireland Posts: 178 OS: Windows XP	Is there any way of finding out if it is unpartitioned and if so how could I make it available?

03-10-2005, 01:07 PM	#10 (permalink)
Derek895 Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Belfast, N. Ireland Posts: 178 OS: Windows XP	Thanks for the link Sarkast. Its actually a recovery partition of about 5GB - says EISA Configuration, would you know what that means?

03-10-2005, 01:26 PM	#11 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	There might be someone who can give you more/ better information about this - but as far as i know this recovery partition is one that in some PCs can be used (by pressing a certain button while booting i.e. F10) to do a recovery installation of the OS when you have trouble loading it. I know compaq uses that, HP too. Maybe your laptop can do the same thing (not familiar with sony vaios). In this case its probably a good idea to leave this partition untouched. It can be quite handy. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch Last edited by Sarkast; 03-10-2005 at 01:28 PM.

03-11-2005, 11:42 AM	#12 (permalink)
Derek895 Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Belfast, N. Ireland Posts: 178 OS: Windows XP	Yes, you are right. F10 launches the Recovery Program. Thanks for your help.

03-11-2005, 12:01 PM	#13 (permalink)
Sarkast TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NY Posts: 2,715 OS: WinXP	Your welcome - glad i was able to provide some useful information. __________________ P4 2.4@2.9 / XP-90 / Albatron PX865PE Pro V2.0 / Kingston Hyper-X 512MB Dual Channel CL2-2-2-5 / Geforce4 MX440x8 64MB / WD80GB 7200RPM 8MB / Thermaltake 420W PSU --> SEE IT ALL GLOW <-- MBM5 - SpeedFan - PSU Calculator - MemTest86 - ThrottleWatch