large drive

You are probably seeing the discrepancies in hard disk capacity
measurements. Windows XP uses typically NTFS and 4KB clusters to aid in not
wasting space, compared to FAT32 using 32KB clusters at 300GB (which can be
used in Windows XP if selected, but not at 300GB without some partition
editing software). For example, if you have a 1K file on your hard disks,
the smallest area it would take up on the hard disk is 4KB using NTFS with
4KB clusters - on the same drive using FAT32 it would occupy 32KB of space.
Two 1KB files could take 64KB using FAT32. NTFS would be 8KB. Windows
Vista handles this the same.

Got off on a tangent a little, but do the following to probably see what
your problem is: Right click the drive in My Computer and view it's
properties. See if Windows XP reports it as 300 billion byes. Then look
out to the right of that figure and see the GB measurement. If the bytes
measurement is 300 billion, then you are seeing the discrepancy in capacity
measurements.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_di...y_measurements to compare
how hard disks are measured in size.

Jeff Warren

"gs" <gs@nomail.nil> wrote in message
news:eQ9NYfggGHA.3588@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> how does vista handle large drive compared to xp? with XP pro large drive
> (300GB) I found it 30% less effective than small drive for the data I
> had. Furthermore windows xp would give me only 279GB out of the 300GB
>

Hi,

A drive manufacturer describes a GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes or
1,000*1,000*1,000 bytes. To a computer math, a kb is 1,024 bytes, so a GB
would be 1,024*1,024*1,024 or 1,073,741,824 bytes. To a computer, 300GB (300
billion bytes) is 300,000,000,000/1,073,741,824 or 279.4GB. So, what you are
seeing is the computer version of the size of a drive versus the
manufacturer's description of the drive size. They are both the same, but
the difference is in how a kb is defined (remember computers use base2 math,
not base 10).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"gs" <gs@nomail.nil> wrote in message
news:eQ9NYfggGHA.3588@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> how does vista handle large drive compared to xp? with XP pro large drive
> (300GB) I found it 30% less effective than small drive for the data I
> had. Furthermore windows xp would give me only 279GB out of the 300GB
>

inline

"Rick Rogers" <rick@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:%23V76bmkgGHA.4708@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Hi,
>
> A drive manufacturer describes a GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes or
> 1,000*1,000*1,000 bytes.

Correctly so.

> To a computer math,

You mean "to a person who is dead flat wrong".

> a kb is 1,024 bytes, so a GB would be 1,024*1,024*1,024 or 1,073,741,824
> bytes. To a computer, 300GB (300 billion bytes) is
> 300,000,000,000/1,073,741,824 or 279.4GB. So, what you are seeing is the
> computer version

You mean "the wrong version"

> of the size of a drive versus the manufacturer's description of the drive
> size. They are both the same, but the difference is in how a kb is defined
> (remember computers use base2 math, not base 10).

Please see http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/prefixes.html in particular the
statement "Because the SI prefixes strictly represent powers of 10, they
should not be used to represent powers of 2." Also see
http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html . Let's hope Microsoft fixes
their operating system.

Sure. And as soon as we start seeing "gibibyte" in common use I'll look up
and see pigs flying.

"clyclopedic" wrote

> You mean "the wrong version"

The binary prefixes are *not* part of the SI standard. If you prefer
MarriottBytes or something, go ahead and propose it to some standards body.
The important point is to STOP using the SI units incorrectly.

"Bill Marriott" <zuidema@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message
news:OS5lFplgGHA.4144@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Sure. And as soon as we start seeing "gibibyte" in common use I'll look up
> and see pigs flying.
>
> "clyclopedic" wrote

>> You mean "the wrong version"

>
>

If a standards body explodes in a forest and no one is around to hear it,
does it make a sound?

"clyclopedic" <nonexist@spamless.com> wrote in message
news:%23fq3TvlgGHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> The binary prefixes are *not* part of the SI standard. If you prefer
> MarriottBytes or something, go ahead and propose it to some standards
> body. The important point is to STOP using the SI units incorrectly.
>
> "Bill Marriott" <zuidema@newsgroups.nospam> wrote in message
> news:OS5lFplgGHA.4144@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> Sure. And as soon as we start seeing "gibibyte" in common use I'll look
>> up and see pigs flying.
>>
>> "clyclopedic" wrote

>>> You mean "the wrong version"

>>
>>

>
>

I'm providing an explanation, I'm not defining who's right or wrong. They
should all be on the same page but they're not. Complain to Microsoft, or
complain to the drive manufacturers. One or the other would need to change,
and I somehow doubt either of them will. Complaining to me may make you feel
better but it's not going to change anything.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"clyclopedic" <nonexist@spamless.com> wrote in message
news:uluNVIlgGHA.4304@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> inline
>
> "Rick Rogers" <rick@mvps.org> wrote in message
> news:%23V76bmkgGHA.4708@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>> Hi,
>>
>> A drive manufacturer describes a GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes or
>> 1,000*1,000*1,000 bytes.

>
> Correctly so.
>

>> To a computer math,

>
> You mean "to a person who is dead flat wrong".
>

>> a kb is 1,024 bytes, so a GB would be 1,024*1,024*1,024 or 1,073,741,824
>> bytes. To a computer, 300GB (300 billion bytes) is
>> 300,000,000,000/1,073,741,824 or 279.4GB. So, what you are seeing is the
>> computer version

>
> You mean "the wrong version"
>

>> of the size of a drive versus the manufacturer's description of the drive
>> size. They are both the same, but the difference is in how a kb is
>> defined (remember computers use base2 math, not base 10).

>
> Please see http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/prefixes.html in particular
> the statement "Because the SI prefixes strictly represent powers of 10,
> they should not be used to represent powers of 2." Also see
> http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html . Let's hope Microsoft fixes
> their operating system.
>
>
>

"Rick Rogers" <rick@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:urdPSylgGHA.1272@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> I'm providing an explanation,

The 'Historical Context' section of the binary prefixes page I cited does a
more thorough job, I think.

> I'm not defining who's right or wrong.

Standards bodies do that.

> They should all be on the same page but they're not. Complain to Microsoft

My most vociferous campaign was in the Monad beta. Both Jeffrey Snover and I
used to work for StorageTek (a disk manufacturer) so I thought I had a
chance there.

> or complain to the drive manufacturers.

I'm not inclined to try to change correct usage.

> One or the other would need to change, and I somehow doubt either of them
> will. Complaining to me may make you feel better

All I can do is try to correct bad usage where I see it.

> but it's not going to change anything.

You're welcome.