hard disc space

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

In news:4709D987-E28F-4A61-BCC2-B877F68EE7E4@microsoft.com,
pyewacket <pyewacket@discussions.microsoft.com> typed:

> i have a 6 gig hard drive but windows is telling me i have
> only
> 968MB left .i have run check disc all ok.when i count the total
> of
> all files and folders including hidden ones in this drive it
> come to
> 2.76GB. .has any one see my missing 2.34GB ???can you all look
> down
> the back of your sofas or in your pockets!


There are two different issues at work here:

First, you don't have a 6GB drive, but a 5.58GB drive. All hard
drive manufacturers define 1GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes, while the
rest of the computer world, including Windows, defines it as 2 to
the 30th power (1,073,741,824) bytes. So a 6 billion byte drive
is actually about 5.58GB.
Some people point out that the official international standard
defines the "G" of GB as one billion, not 1,073,741,824. Correct
though they are, using the binary value of GB is so well
established in the computer world that I consider using the
decimal value of a billion to be deceptive marketing.



So you are missing less than you think you are.



Second, space is allocated on disk drives in units called
clusters. The size of the cluster varies with the file system,
and sometimes with the size of the partition.

Your cluster size is probably 4K. That means that every file
between 1 byte and 4096 bytes (size) uses one cluster, 4096 bytes
(size on disk). Every file between 4097 bytes and 8192 bytes uses
two clusters, 8192 bytes, and so on.

The difference between the size and the size on disk is called
"cluster overhang" or "slack," and that's what accounts for the
rest of the difference in the two numbers.


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

As well as files in the Recycle Bin. The space used by those files isn't
freed until you empty the Bin.



"Andrew Murray" <SPAMadmurray@BUSTER.iinet.net.au> wrote in message
newsOKBi$XlFHA.2916@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> there would be space used for
> 1) swap file (a few hundred MB's)
> 2) system restore back up files....(a GB maybe)
> 3) temp internet files (few hundred of MB's)
> 4) others you probably don't know about.
>
> The minimum XP needs is 2 GB free (at all times).
>
>
> "pyewacket" <pyewacket@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:4709D987-E28F-4A61-BCC2-B877F68EE7E4@microsoft.com...
> >i have a 6 gig hard drive but windows is telling me i have only 968MB
left
> > .i have run check disc all ok.when i count the total of all files and
> > folders
> > including hidden ones in this drive it come to 2.76GB. .has any one see
> > my
> > missing 2.34GB ???can you all look down the back of your sofas or in
your
> > pockets!
>
>

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi Josh,

What are using a 6 gig hard drive for? Hardly seems worth the time and
space. ) That said:

How to Locate and Correct Disk Space Problems on NTFS Volumes in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315688

Windows XP Does Not Recognize All Available Disk Space
http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] 5&ln=en-gb

Hard Disk Performance Is Slower Than You Expect
http://support.microsoft.com/defau [...] US;Q308219

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com



"joshh" <joshh.1t0sy0@mail.mcse.ms> wrote in message
news:joshh.1t0sy0@mail.mcse.ms...
>
> Run a disk clean up, get rid of temporary internet files, recycle bin
> files, etc etc and then defragment, you should get some free space from
> this.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> pyewacket wrote:
>> *i have a 6 gig hard drive but windows is telling me i have only
>> 968MB left
>> ...i have run check disc all ok.when i count the total of all files
>> and folders
>> including hidden ones in this drive it come to 2.76GB. .has any one
>> see my
>> missing 2.34GB ???can you all look down the back of your sofas or in
>> your
>> pockets! *
>
>
>
> --
> joshh
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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