Question about "lost" hard drive space on new HDs
08-03-06, 02:00 PM
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Question about "lost" hard drive space on new HDs
I just got a 500GB WD My Book. It only has 465gb of usable space. Is that normal to lose 35 gb off the bat? Is there anything I can do to recover it?
08-03-06, 02:04 PM
#3
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yeah, i think that's normal.
check out this page for more info on calculating hd space for windows.
http://www.diskview.com/disk-size-discrepancy.htm
check out this page for more info on calculating hd space for windows.
http://www.diskview.com/disk-size-discrepancy.htm
08-03-06, 06:57 PM
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Manufacturers calculate the space as 1000 MB is 1GB. In reality it's 1024 per GB because of the mathematics of computer operation since bytes have 8 bits. This and formatting divides up the space so you have less usable space.
08-04-06, 05:05 PM
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Dell has always seemed to be really bad about it, they sell a computer with like a 80g hd and you get it and it says 62 g free (that's an exaggeration, but just making a point)
08-04-06, 07:41 PM
#7
You have 465GB. Who the fuck cares, man! Are yah going to fill that sucker all the way to 465GB? 
08-05-06, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by costanza187
Dell has always seemed to be really bad about it, they sell a computer with like a 80g hd and you get it and it says 62 g free (that's an exaggeration, but just making a point)
08-05-06, 10:44 PM
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Originally Posted by costanza187
Dell has always seemed to be really bad about it, they sell a computer with like a 80g hd and you get it and it says 62 g free (that's an exaggeration, but just making a point)
really great for when the HD dies and you're out of warranty and can't put in what ever on sale drive you want ebcause you have no install media
08-05-06, 11:41 PM
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Originally Posted by mikehunt
dell and sony (and likely others) don't give recvoery cds anymore they put those files on a hidden partition
really great for when the HD dies and you're out of warranty and can't put in what ever on sale drive you want ebcause you have no install media
really great for when the HD dies and you're out of warranty and can't put in what ever on sale drive you want ebcause you have no install media
08-06-06, 02:20 PM
#13
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i think they charge $10 for OS CD's now. it's part of the config process when you buy the PC. The OS CD's are pretty good since it's just the OS and no crap software.
if you have a friend with a plain XP or whatever OS you bought OEM CD you can just burn a copy for free and download the drivers off the website. Some laptop models also have a CD image where you can burn just the OS on a CD with the drivers slipstreamed so you don't have to install them.
if you have a friend with a plain XP or whatever OS you bought OEM CD you can just burn a copy for free and download the drivers off the website. Some laptop models also have a CD image where you can burn just the OS on a CD with the drivers slipstreamed so you don't have to install them.
Last edited by al_bundy; 08-06-06 at 02:23 PM.
08-06-06, 07:57 PM
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al_bundy is right Hard drive manufactures calculate size with 1000 MB to 1 gig when in actual fact it is 1024 (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024)
01101001 01110100 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001
01101001 01110100 01110011 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001
08-07-06, 12:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Ranger
yeah, i think that's normal.
check out this page for more info on calculating hd space for windows.
http://www.diskview.com/disk-size-discrepancy.htm
check out this page for more info on calculating hd space for windows.
http://www.diskview.com/disk-size-discrepancy.htm
"1 Gigabyte as defined by a manufacturer is 1,000,000,000,000 Bytes. "
08-13-06, 03:31 PM
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sighhh you guys... someone had explained this too me before.. because i had a broken hard drive and asked the guy if it could be fixed and he said No because Harddrives are made in Clean rooms and when Dell tells you that you are going to get a 500 gb hard drive they just put like 530 on it because the simple reason is that There is still dust in the clean rooms and dust on the hard drive ruins it.. SO thats the answer to the question.. if you have like a 30-40 gig hard drive you typically lose like 3 gigs of space.. so if you multiply that by 10-12 thats like 35 gigs of lost space haha, anyways yes its because dust is on the hard drive.. NOTHIN u can do about it.
08-13-06, 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by diabloswarrior
sighhh you guys... someone had explained this too me before.. because i had a broken hard drive and asked the guy if it could be fixed and he said No because Harddrives are made in Clean rooms and when Dell tells you that you are going to get a 500 gb hard drive they just put like 530 on it because the simple reason is that There is still dust in the clean rooms and dust on the hard drive ruins it.. SO thats the answer to the question.. if you have like a 30-40 gig hard drive you typically lose like 3 gigs of space.. so if you multiply that by 10-12 thats like 35 gigs of lost space haha, anyways yes its because dust is on the hard drive.. NOTHIN u can do about it.
08-13-06, 07:52 PM
#19
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Originally Posted by diabloswarrior
sighhh you guys... someone had explained this too me before.. because i had a broken hard drive and asked the guy if it could be fixed and he said No because Harddrives are made in Clean rooms and when Dell tells you that you are going to get a 500 gb hard drive they just put like 530 on it because the simple reason is that There is still dust in the clean rooms and dust on the hard drive ruins it.. SO thats the answer to the question.. if you have like a 30-40 gig hard drive you typically lose like 3 gigs of space.. so if you multiply that by 10-12 thats like 35 gigs of lost space haha, anyways yes its because dust is on the hard drive.. NOTHIN u can do about it.
08-14-06, 10:11 AM
#20
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Originally Posted by diabloswarrior
sighhh you guys... someone had explained this too me before.. because i had a broken hard drive and asked the guy if it could be fixed and he said No because Harddrives are made in Clean rooms and when Dell tells you that you are going to get a 500 gb hard drive they just put like 530 on it because the simple reason is that There is still dust in the clean rooms and dust on the hard drive ruins it.. SO thats the answer to the question.. if you have like a 30-40 gig hard drive you typically lose like 3 gigs of space.. so if you multiply that by 10-12 thats like 35 gigs of lost space haha, anyways yes its because dust is on the hard drive.. NOTHIN u can do about it.
08-14-06, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by diabloswarrior
sighhh you guys... someone had explained this too me before.. because i had a broken hard drive and asked the guy if it could be fixed and he said No because Harddrives are made in Clean rooms and when Dell tells you that you are going to get a 500 gb hard drive they just put like 530 on it because the simple reason is that There is still dust in the clean rooms and dust on the hard drive ruins it.. SO thats the answer to the question.. if you have like a 30-40 gig hard drive you typically lose like 3 gigs of space.. so if you multiply that by 10-12 thats like 35 gigs of lost space haha, anyways yes its because dust is on the hard drive.. NOTHIN u can do about it.
08-15-06, 10:08 AM
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Originally Posted by DVD Polizei
You have 465GB. Who the fuck cares, man! Are yah going to fill that sucker all the way to 465GB?
08-17-06, 02:26 AM
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Originally Posted by diabloswarrior
sighhh you guys... someone had explained this too me before.. because i had a broken hard drive and asked the guy if it could be fixed and he said No because Harddrives are made in Clean rooms and when Dell tells you that you are going to get a 500 gb hard drive they just put like 530 on it because the simple reason is that There is still dust in the clean rooms and dust on the hard drive ruins it.. SO thats the answer to the question.. if you have like a 30-40 gig hard drive you typically lose like 3 gigs of space.. so if you multiply that by 10-12 thats like 35 gigs of lost space haha, anyways yes its because dust is on the hard drive.. NOTHIN u can do about it.
I knew it was the binary division that would account for it, but out of curiousity, did the math. 500,000,000,000 bytes (total on the HD)/1073741824 bytes (binary value of a gig) = 465.66.
