I got a new computer, supposedly with an 80 GB harddrive. If I look it up in the Windows Explorer (C - properties), it indicates 51.2 GB (overall, *not* only free space). I know the indicated size should differ a bit from the 80 "GB" (vs. GiB), but this 28.8 GB difference seems a bit odd to me.

The "recovery" space is 11 GB big, so EVEN if one adds that (does one have to?), that'd still account for considerably less than 80 GB.

Thanks for your patient help! :-)

PS: Yep, I know I'm ignorant, which is only partly due to a very old (and easy-to-understand) system that I've used so far. So I appreciate if you'd help me even with such a probably "easy" question...

Recycle bin, swap file, and hidden system files take up space as well.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/hiddenfiles.mspxThanks.

My recycle bin, however, is near EMPTY (as the computer is new), and I've already clicked on the "display of hidden files" etc. (does that mean that they're still not counted towards the CAPACITY? Are they ever?). Any way of checking the size of the swap? (And generally, should it be a matter of 10 or 20 GB?)

Generally, should the "back-up"/ "recovery" drive (that additional drive--"D" or "E", or whatever--sorry, I'm not sitting in front of the computer just now, and the one I'm using doesn't have such a drive) be counted towards the overall size?

Thanks again for understanding clueless people like me! :-)Another way to check would be to right clik the drive in My Computer and select Properties...... yeah, or simply by opening the Windows Explorer and clicking on "My Computer". But that doesn't help me on my quest for the lost GB...Right click on My Computer, choose manage and go to storage from there to disk management. Make a screenshot of what you see and post it here.

Interesting info! I don't understand all of it, though, and--sorry--I'm not sure what a screenshot is (Prnt Scrn??). So at any rate here's the information:

Volume Layout Type File Sys. Status Capacity Free Space (...) [all volumes: No Fault Tolerance, 0% Overhead]
partition basic FAT Healthy (EISA configuration) 47 MB 39 MB
partition basic FAT32 Healthy (Unknown partition) 4.73 GB 176 MB
(C) partition basic NTFS Healthy (System) 51.23 GB 42.05 GB
backup (D) partition basic NTFS Healthy 17.10 GB 17.03 GB
First, the 80GB rating is deceptive. The 80GB rating assumes a conversion rate of 1000MB to 1 GB. In reality, this conversion should be 1024 MB to 1 GB. So, the actual hard drive space is going to be slightly less than 80GB.

Next, let's take a look at your partitions. You've got a system partition (C) which is 51.23GB in size. It looks like your manufacturer created a second partition (D), and allocated the 17.1 GB it contains for Backups. So, we're looking at 68.33 GB between those two drives.

Next, you've got two other partitions listed. This is where some undefined variables come into play. Where did you buy the computer from and what kind of hardware is in it? The smaller of the two partitions is labeled EISA Configuration. Someone else here will correct me if I'm flat out wrong, but my best google searching reports that this is used to configure devices on an ISA bus. This confuses me a bit, since you said this is a new computer, yet I was under the impression that ISA was pretty much dead in new pc's.

The larger of the two partitions is labeled Unknown, which provides a mystery in itself. Best guess says that this could be a recovery partition, created by the manufacturer, to be used to roll the computer back to factory defaults.

The bottom line: Your 80 GB drive is broken up into PIECES, like a pie. Each of the entries on the table you posted represents a piece of that 80 GB. To find the total space on your physical hard drive, you need to add up those pieces. I didn't do the math exactly, but it looks like the total of those pieces is somewhere in the ballpark of 75 GB.Here's a reference which discusses the calculation of actual hard drive capacity: A White Paper. If you go to page 5, you see a GB defined as 1,073,741,824 bytes, and it explains how that is derived. If you divide 80,000,000,000 (your claimed hard drive size) by 1,073,741,824, the answer is 74.49, which is very close to the sum of your partitions. So, it seems you really haven't lost any space.As a newcomer, I simply have to comment: I am thoroughly impressed with the clarity of these responses. I don't know if anyone will ever come back and read this thread, since it's several days old, but

GX1_Man
patio
Raptor
EssentiaTech and
soybean

are impressive individuals. They are articulate in the JARGON, and gifted, patient advisors. Kudos!

thetimothTrue.

And that Rob Pomeroy, he's pretty *censored* impressive too.








Oh...Absolutely. You simply weren't involved in this particular discussion.