320 Gb HDD shows only 298Gb

[pethom]

Maybe there allready is another thread with this kind of question but I for one didn´t find anything, so I turn to you pros.

I bought an external HDD (Iomega Hi-speed USB 2.0) 320 Gb. When I connected it to my comp it only shows to
contain 298 Gb. Is there a problem or should it be that way? Is there maybe some part that is used in some way that I don´t se?

Another question, different topic though: If I install a shareware program and the time for me to try it out has exceeded ( f.x 30 days), is there a possibility for me to change something in the register, or somewhere else, that will give me the possibility to try it for another 30 days?

I´m waiting for you answers maites.

 

[turboflame]

Yeah it's completely normal, the HDD maufacturer and the OS measure data differently

And for the second question, I believe the only way to do that would be to make a backup of the registry before the program "expires" and then reload it after it does. I wouldn't mess with the registry manually unless you really know what you're doing.

 

[jitpublisher]

Set the date back in your bios, and in windows 30 days. I have done that with other "expired" trial or licensed programs and it has worked. I don't know exactly what program you are using, but it may be worth a shot it you just need to use it that one more time for some reason.

The missing few megs of storage are as turboflame already reported, normal.

There is also some of the space used when you format the drive. Your OS puts a small amount of information at the beginning of the drive that it needs to communicate with the drive. In very simple terms, if your drive was a book, this info it puts there would be the table of contents. The larger the drive, the more of this space is needed. So you never get to use of every single megabyte that is available on a drive. And, agian, the drive manufacturers do state drive size slightly different than how your OS reads it. And of course, the way the manufacturer reads the drive is going to be whatever way makes you think you are getting more for your money. It's total B.S., I know. But it seems like that is the way with everything you buy these days.

 

[Delph1nus]

The missing HD space is a simple case of the HD manufacturer and OS differing in their definitions of memory. The OS has always defined memory units in terms of base "2" numbering due to the binary nature of addressing (1024 bytes in KB, 1024 KB in MB, 1024 MB in GB). This yields 1.074*10^9 bytes per GB. However, someone in the HD business years ago decided that if they redefined the GB as 1*10^9 (a billion bytes) they could market the same HD disks as larger capacities (and get more $$) than what the OS would recognize. This definition is always stated on the box in extremely small print to legally cover themselves. By this relationship your OS actually has about 93% of what is listed on the box, that is why you only see 298GB instead of 320GB. This linear relationship is the reason why as HD capacities increase, the number of GB's missing also increases.

 

[pethom]

Thanks mates! I knew I turned to the right place to get my answers.
It´s allways great with people who knows a little about everything.

 

[heero yuy]

i just did some maths
i have a "320gb" hard drive (actual capacity 298gb)
its capacity is 320062091264 bytes
if i divide that by 1024 i get 312560636 kilobytes (i think)
if i divide that by 1024 i get 305234.99609375 megabytes
if i divide that by 1024 i get 298.081050872802734375 gigabytes
i wonder if this practice of saying that a hard drive is 320GB yet it is actually 298GB as most if not all computers would see it could be seen as a scam... but then again smallprint probably has something in there to stop them from getting sued so its simply imorral but not illegal...