Got 12gb less hd capacity when ordered for 160gb hdd

Hi , i got my new hp dv2500t laptop yesterday. The problem is i have ordered for 160 hdd. but in my computer iam seeing only 2 drives C: with capacity 140gb and another one recoery drive with capacity 8.18Gb . total is 148.18 gb . I know that i dont get full 160gb actually, but missing 12gb is alot. can you plz help me if its normal or i need to talk to the hp support for getting 12gb less.

 

this is normal, as all hard drives have thier size stated in funny numbers, what it says on the box is 160,000,000,000 bytes, which is really is 149GB (160,000,000,000 / 1024^3)

 

Yeah, nfsuw is correct
Hard drive manufacturers define the capacity in decimals(1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes) while the OS calculates it based on the binary system(1GB=1,073,741,824 bytes). Hence you notice the difference in what capacity is being advertised and what is being shown by the OS.

 

As miner and nfsuw states, the size stated on the HDD is always larger than the actual capacity you are able to use. I remember the first time I saw that when I was younger, I had a 300GB drive and only about 279GB was available, I thought I got a bad drive as well. Everybody sees it once before they know what is really happening.

 

At the risk of sounding like a crochety old timer, I don't think it always used to be this way. I think this little marketing ploy is something that came about when multi-gig hard drives became the norm. I remember my last desktop (a 1998 Packard Bell!) had a 4 GB hard drive in the store and on the computer. But then I bought my first Dell laptop in 2001 with a 10 GB HD and only got 9. That's when I heard about the "billion bytes" disclaimer for the first time. I remember being kind of pissed about that.

Now I have a 500 GB external that only has 465 GB, and I'm more or less okay with it. I guess to paraphrase a Chris Rock routine: if you buy a 500 GB drive and only get 465, you've still got plenty of space. But if you buy a 10 gig drive and get 9, you may have to kill somebody...

 

You can see the Disk Space guide in my sig for more details.

I think they started making the disclaimer as drives got bigger because computers were getting more mainstream and commercial. Also because the small percentages weren't so noticeable with smaller drives, but now as you said, it's glaringly obvious with a really large disk like 500GB.

 

It's just like when you go out and buy lumber at any retailer. A 2x4 piece of wood for example, used to be 2inches by 4inches, but today it is actually 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches. They shredded a half inch off of all the standard sizes to save money and now it is a standard used by everybody. Its a real shame to see this, but there's nothing we can do about it, and it happens in many types of industries.

 

Actually a 2x4 starts it's life at 2" x 4", but once it's cut and smoothed out it comes down to the smaller size. That's part of the processing of the product, not something they are trying to skimp you out of. It's the same with a McD's Quarter Pounder... that's "before cooking" weight, because when you cook it, it looses water and fat which makes it weigh less.

 

So I was a little off, but that's just their way of skimping on the cost and making the customer think they are getting more than they actually are, a common marketing strategy by many companies. I mean how many people actually know that or care, all they hear is the beginning. I mean why don't the companies come straight out and say the actual size? because customers would feel they are getting less than they should.

 

by the way, you can gain a few extra gigs when doing orev's clean install, right? due to the bloatware i assume

 

Yeah. The roxio installer alone is 500MiB.

 

Yes, and if you turn off Vista's backup utility (which is on by default and takes up a ton of space), which creates a backup of all the files on the computer you will save a lot of space as well.

 

hmm.. that's probably a good idea. the only thing i can see where it would affect me is with photo editing but really, i don't think i've lost a file since the windows 98 days with word haha

 

Also, if you backup important data on your own via CD or DVD you'll be fine. It really is a big waste of HDD space, except for those really paranoid computer users. Vista uses 15% (if my info is right, please correct me if I'm wrong) of your HDD size by default for its Shadow Backup. So you can potentially save a lot of space if you turn it off. I haven't looked into turning it off yet, because I'm not running Vista yet, but if you do a little google searching, or when I have the time I will look as well and post it when I find it.

 

yeah, i think i'll just back stuff up onto cd's. still have a ton of blank ones and i haven't listened to an actual cd since the player was stolen out of my truck haha
might as well get some use out of them
thanks for the info

 

+1 great quote describing drive space

 

No, I would not agree. One of the advances in Vista is this backup utility, which is actually "previous versions" and the system restore points. Unless you need the disk space, do not turn this off. If you're really running low on space, go for it, otherwise get over the need to see xGB free space on the disk. If you're not using it, it's being wasted. Might as well let the system use it and provide a useful service.

 

you wanna know? let me explain wheres the xx of gbs gone in your HDD..
it is simple,lets say..i got a 200GB hdd on my 6500t,and it shows 177gb+8gb(recovery) so,its 185 for the total..
the ANOTHER 15gb,is for the internal system reserve a.k.a HDD junkyard(yes..you accidentally emptied your recycle bin and remember that theres a file that you needed),SO...where does it go? yep,it goes to the "lost" 15gb.
another example aper>recycle bin>junkyard
and the lost 15gb we say,its the junkyard...in this state..recovery is such a real hard thing to do because your data has been "mixed" with other data(thats why theres is NEVER a software until now that can recover 100% of lost files)

no single data can be modified here...and here come the accounting theories!!
it is FIFO(first in first out) , the newest deleted files will STACK the old files until then the old files reach its "end"(hell goes to deeper hell) and POOF..no more recoveries

 

Yup. it's called Volume Shadow Copy. Check the "where's my disk space guide" in my sig for more information about it