My new PC and question

[Awais Yaqub]

Hello today i received my new pc
intel dual 3.0 with 1gb ram and 17" philips monitor 200 gb sata
well problem is that my hard drive is showing 186.2 GB total of all 4 drives
but in bios it shows full 200 gb is this normal or i have to re partition ?:dunno
thanks for helping me choose the system this is really a flying machine :huh

[wxwax]

I think this is normal. You never actually get the full GB listed. Some computer whiz can explain why. But don't worry, you're OK.

[claudermilk]

That is normal. You always lose a little of the listed capacity in formatting. Drives have always been advertised with their raw capacity since different formatting methods will arrive at a different final capacity (example, I have 4x 160GB drives in a RAID0+1--raw capacity of 320GB, formatted of 300GB).

I'm following a thread over at FM where the CF manufactureres are getting shafted over this in a class action suit.

[TristanP]

Entirely normal. To the manufacturers, 1 GB = 1024 MB, 1 MB = 1024 KB, and 1KB = 1024 bytes. 200/1.024/1.024/1.024 = 186.2. It's really just semantics. That class-action suit is a such a bunch of crap, it's unbelievable. The companies even put a notice somewhere on the retail packaging that they consider 1 GB to be 1024 MB. I guess even the class-action lawyers need to make money these days. :boid

[Awais Yaqub]

Thanks but now new problem my "F" drive suppose to be 60 GB which was showing actuall size 60 Gb now some times it shows 40 GB actuall size :huh

[wxwax]

Thanks but now new problem my "F" drive suppose to be 60 GB which was showing actuall size 60 Gb now some times it shows 40 GB actuall size :huh
Now, that is an issue. I assume you haven't put anything on the drive yet? It doesn't have your operating system on it, for example?

[Awais Yaqub]

Now, that is an issue. I assume you haven't put anything on the drive yet? It doesn't have your operating system on it, for example?

i have installed Xp in drive "C" which is 41 GB and my F drive which was 60.5 GB 5 hrs ago now is 41 GB :scratch Total size nothing added :scratch

[ChrisJ]

i have installed Xp in drive "C" which is 41 GB and my F drive which was 60.5 GB 5 hrs ago now is 41 GB :scratch Total size nothing added :scratch
On your Desktop, Right-click on "My Computer" and select "Manage". Then click on "Disk Management" (in the "Storage" section).

You should get something that looks like this:

13060

The left column will show you all of your physical disks. The right column will show any logical partittions and how big they are. This is how Windows XP sees your disks.

From the picture, my laptop has one Hard Disk and one DVD-ROM Drive (D:). The Hard Disk has two partitions, C: and E:

[Awais Yaqub]

Hey thanks Chris a computer guy looks like made one more partition it is showin "Unknown partition" of 18.5 GB i tried to delete it but it is not going anywhere loooks like i have to call somebody :scratch

[luke_church]

Hey thanks Chris a computer guy looks like made one more partition it is showin "Unknown partition" of 18.5 GB i tried to delete it but it is not going anywhere loooks like i have to call somebody :scratch

I have recently seen a serverly defective HD do this. I think it was caused by the drive controller going ape.

If you have data on the disk, I would get it backuped now. Then contact tech support from the manufacturer.

[cmason]

Hey thanks Chris a computer guy looks like made one more partition it is showin "Unknown partition" of 18.5 GB i tried to delete it but it is not going anywhere loooks like i have to call somebody :scratch

If you bought this from a vendor, they likely use some "restore" program to restore the Windows OS image should something go wrong. Dell and HP do this. This is done by creating a hidden partition where the OS image is stored. This partition is usually hidden though some programs can see it. You can usually delete this partition with FDISK or you can usually find the option in the management app shipped by the vendor.

[luke_church]

If you bought this from a vendor, they likely use some "restore" program to restore the Windows OS image should something go wrong. Dell and HP do this. This is done by creating a hidden partition where the OS image is stored. This partition is usually hidden though some programs can see it. You can usually delete this partition with FDISK or you can usually find the option in the management app shipped by the vendor.

Whilst this is true, it wouldn't explain changes in the size of the partition, assuming that the change was observed in some consistent manner.

In what sense do you mean the paritions are hidden? Sure they're not mounted, as they often use slightly bizzare file systems, but for example Dell's paritions can be seen through every parition mangagement system I've seen.

Also I wouldn't advocate deleting support paritions, they are usually put there for a purpose. Deleting them can occasionally make it impossible to restore the OS.

Luke

[cmason]

Whilst this is true, it wouldn't explain changes in the size of the partition, assuming that the change was observed in some consistent manner.

In what sense do you mean the paritions are hidden? Sure they're not mounted, as they often use slightly bizzare file systems, but for example Dell's paritions can be seen through every parition mangagement system I've seen.

Also I wouldn't advocate deleting support paritions, they are usually put there for a purpose. Deleting them can occasionally make it impossible to restore the OS.

Luke
Typically the partitions are hidden from Windows File system for example. They do not appear on the "My Computer" . The average user has no idea they are there. The experienced can find them, but the average user doesn't know boo about partition mgmt software.

I didn't advocate removing it, just offering a suggestion of what it could be. I don't know of anything that can dynamically change the size of a partition. The amount of memory used by the files on the partition can change, especially if some restore app is writing restore points or config information to the hidden partition.

Btw, agree on the controller issue. I have seen this as well, where the hardrive acts as if it has lots of 'tagged' sections as unusable, when they really are not.

[Awais Yaqub]

thanks everyone

:rofl

It was some stupid software some restoration software which consumed 20 gb and made hidden drive :rolleyes

[ChrisJ]

It was some stupid software some restoration software which consumed 20 gb and made hidden drive :rolleyes

That's great to hear! :clap

Note: Unless you have some other backup, it is a good idea to let XP use some disk space for its own System Restore feature. That application has saved me from re-installing at least a couple of times.

[ian408]

thanks everyone

:rofl

It was some stupid software some restoration software which consumed 20 gb and made hidden drive :rolleyes

The amount of crap some vendors install amazes me. Half of it is crippleware
at best. Oh well.

But what Chris says is true. You should let Windoze allocate some space to
the system restore feature.

[wxwax]

thanks everyone

:rofl

It was some stupid software some restoration software which consumed 20 gb and made hidden drive :rolleyes
Dumb software.

Thank goodness we humans are here to keep that stuff under control.

:lol3

[Awais Yaqub]

:uhoh Machine atleast that software should tell "I am using your some space"
and yeah windows XP is allowed to do that saved me many times :lust