My new PC and question

Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
edited June 7, 2006 in Digital Darkroom
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
Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

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  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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.
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
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  • claudermilkclaudermilk Registered Users Posts: 2,756 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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.
  • TristanPTristanP Registered Users Posts: 1,107 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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
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  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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 eek7.gif
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

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  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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 eek7.gif
    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?
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    wxwax wrote:
    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 headscratch.gif Total size nothing added headscratch.gif
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

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  • ChrisJChrisJ Registered Users Posts: 2,164 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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 headscratch.gif Total size nothing added headscratch.gif
    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:

    disks.JPG

    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:
    Chris
  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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 headscratch.gif
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

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  • luke_churchluke_church Registered Users Posts: 507 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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 headscratch.gif

    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.
  • cmasoncmason Registered Users Posts: 2,506 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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 headscratch.gif

    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_churchluke_church Registered Users Posts: 507 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    cmason wrote:
    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
  • cmasoncmason Registered Users Posts: 2,506 Major grins
    edited June 5, 2006
    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 YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited June 6, 2006
    thanks everyone

    rolleyes1.gif

    It was some stupid software some restoration software which consumed 20 gb and made hidden drive rolleyes1.gif
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

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  • ChrisJChrisJ Registered Users Posts: 2,164 Major grins
    edited June 6, 2006
    It was some stupid software some restoration software which consumed 20 gb and made hidden drive rolleyes1.gif

    That's great to hear! clap.gif

    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.
    Chris
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,939 moderator
    edited June 7, 2006
    thanks everyone

    rolleyes1.gif

    It was some stupid software some restoration software which consumed 20 gb and made hidden drive rolleyes1.gif

    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.
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  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2006
    thanks everyone

    rolleyes1.gif

    It was some stupid software some restoration software which consumed 20 gb and made hidden drive rolleyes1.gif
    Dumb software.

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

    lol3.gif
    Sid.
    Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
    http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited June 7, 2006
    :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 iloveyou.gif
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

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