My computer has a 70 GB HDD, but only 25.4 GB of it are free. I have several games installed right now, but most of them aren't even that big. All of my pictures are stored on my external hard drive. So what's taking up all this space? This has always bothered me.
First off a HDD is never as big as it says it is (I.E. my 320 is really only 298) this has something to do with the way its partitioned from the manufacturer or something. Also are you using Windows Vista? If so there is a thing that it does called shadow copy. If you want to check and see how much is being used by this follow these steps
1. Go to Command prompt and run it as administrator
2. type in vssadmin list shadowstorage This will show you how much is being used.
3 if you wish to change it type this : vssadmin resize shadowstorage /On=C: /For=C: /Maxsize=[here add the maximum space you will allow for Shadow Sorage, e.g. 3GB].
It could also have to do with the way HDD manufacturers measure their HDD space. The way they measure it is 1,000,000,000 bytes=1GB. The problem is operating systems use a different method where 1,073,741,824 bytes=1GB. This difference causes the actual amount of storage that Windows sees to be lower than the amount advertised by the HDD manufacturers. For example, a HDD advertised as 500GB actually only has 465GB of space as read by Windows. When you format a drive, you also lose usable space versus an unformated drive because a portion of the storage space is allocated so that the data on the drive can be cataloged, enabling the computer to properly read and write the data to the drive. Add onto that an OS install, which takes a few GB's, you have a whole lot of lost space before you even start putting stuff on your drive.
It could also have to do with the way HDD manufacturers measure their HDD space. The way they measure it is 1,000,000,000 bytes=1GB. The problem is operating systems use a different method where 1,073,741,824 bytes=1GB. This difference cause the actual amount of storage that Windows sees to be lower than the amount advertised by the HDD manufacturers. For example, a HDD advertised as 500GB actually only has 465GB of space as read by Windows. When you format a drive, you also lose usable space versus an unformated drive because a portion of the storage space is allocated so that the data on the thrive can be cataloged, enable the computer to properly read and write the data to the drive. Add onto that an OS install, which takes a few GB's, you have a whole lot of lost space before you even start putting stuff on your drive.General_X
Haha, I need a whole new computer. Speaking of which, I might as well ask now, where's a good place to buy one? I don't have the patience to piece one together myself, honestly.
Haha, I need a whole new computer. Speaking of which, I might as well ask now, where's a good place to buy one? I don't have the patience to piece one together myself, honestly.Vladimislav
Give us a budget and we can piece one together for you at a place like AVADirect. All you'll need to do is pick parts we choose then order the computer.
Wow, um, let's say $1,200? Might be willing to go a few hundred bucks higher, heh, but I'd rather not.Vladimislav
Alright that's a good price. First start with this computer: http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_configurator.asp?PRID=9528 Now to make some changes under the "Configure Product" section. Change: "Socket 775 Core 2 Desktop Processors" to INTEL, Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual-Core, 3.0GHZ, 1333MHz FSB... "PCI Express x16 Video Cards" to eVGA, e-GeForce 9600GT Superclocked 675MHz... "Floppy Drives and Card Readers" to None (if you want to save some money and don't need a card reader) "Tower Cases Without Power Supply" to COOLERMASTER, CM 690 Black Mid-Tower Case (cheaper but doesn't have a side window) "Power Supplies" to CORSAIR, CMPSU-550VX VX Series Power Supply... (Quality power supply, the one I use). "Operating Systems" to an OS of your choice, or leave it at the default Windows Vista Notes: if you want even better gaming performance you can change the PCI Express x16 Video Cards to either XFX, GeForce 8800 GT 600MHz... or XFX, GeForce 8800 GTS 650MHz...
Thanks a lot, man. Once I have money to throw around, I'll do that. Of course, if it takes me too long to get the money I'll make sure that the suggested parts haven't become obsolete first. ;)
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