Regarding the occupied space on a Flash Drive

[excelsioris]

Hy to all !
I have a question and I hope that some more experienced users can help me.
I recently purchased a Flash Drive (it's a Kingston DataTraveler @ 4 GB). The Flash works perfectly and there is no problem regarding the access or transfer time. The problem is that when I check it with Scandisk or Defrag it mentions a 4 KB (4 096 bytes) occupied space. And the free space is 99 %. This occupied space remains even after formatting.
Do you know if this are bad blocks or is it a problem with the product I purchased ? Should I replace the drive or this is a normal thing and I should not worry ?

Thank you for your time.

 

[runswindows95]

It's normal, so don't worry.

 

[Avenger_K]

^Yeah, it's nothing. My OCZ Rally dual channel 2GB drive has this very small bit that is always used, and it's never had any problems.

 

[evongugg]

Probably the folder System Volume Information and recycler.
Nothing to worry about.

 

[rgeist554]

Yep, that's just the overhead of the disk, no worries. Just like if you format a 300GB drive, you may only end up with 280GB or so of usable space.

 

[Slobogob]

Just like if you format a 300GB drive, you may only end up with 280GB or so of usable space.

That's something else.
If you format a 300 GB drive you will have 300GB. The difference you mention is just an error in the description. If you format a 300 GB drive you get 300*10^9 = 300.000.000.000 Bytes, which are roughly 280 GiB (Gibibyte). Microsoft just failed to update to the new wording.

 

[rgeist554]

Ah, I just read up on Decimal vs. Binary readings: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=615&p_created=1034613413&p_sid=Q1rPf-Vh&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD04MTMmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

Good to know, I suppose. I always though it was just required disk overhead.

 

[excelsioris]

Thank you all for the help.

I just found this review about a identical product : http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/storage/Kingston_4GB_DataTraveler_4.html

I noticed that the same 4 KB occupied space appears there too.
So, there seems to be no problem

 

[chuckt]

A friend said some of the original flash drives had a program on them to help recover your files. I don't know if the manufacturers do that now or then.