Hard drive space - abnormal?

[jyeh74]

I just got a new ultrabook. It suppose to have 128GB. I literally just did an initial set up and have not installed anything.

On my computer, it shows 73GB free of 101GB. I thought I had 128GB why is it showing only 101GB???

I understand some of it is dedicated to Win7. So in this case, can I assume 27GB was for Windows 7?

Where is the 28GB being used?

[jyeh74]

Also, my WesternDigital external drive works with other laptops, but this Asus is having issues reading it. The actual USB drive is fine, and will read other thumb drives, just not this external drive. Is Asus cracky?

[solarfox]

I just got a new ultrabook. It suppose to have 128GB. I literally just did an initial set up and have not installed anything.

On my computer, it shows 73GB free of 101GB. I thought I had 128GB why is it showing only 101GB???

This is typical of hard drives. The difference is that the drive manufacturers advertise the capacity in base-10 "gigabytes", i.e. 1000*1000*1000, or 1,000,000,000 (1 billlion) bytes -- but computers calculate the drive space in base-2 "gigabytes", which is 1024*1024*1024, or 1,073,741,824 bytes.

so, 128 * 1,000,000,000 = 128,000,000,000 bytes, or 128 base-10 gigabytes;
but 128,000,000,000 / 1,073,741,824 = 119.2 base-2 "gigabytes"

So right away, you've lost 9 gigabytes just in the math.

The remaining "missing" capacity may be set aside for some kind of system-restore partition, if that laptop has that function.

[jyeh74]

Wow, didn't know that. But why would C drive indicate 101MB total. So I've lost 119-101 = 18GB right off the bat.

[aedipuss]

laptops often have hidden repair/re-stall partitions.

[solarfox]

Wow, didn't know that. But why would C drive indicate 101MB total. So I've lost 119-101 = 18GB right off the bat.

The Windows 7 system folder on my laptop is about 14Gb, so that's not necessarily out of line. You probably have some preinstalled applications that came bundled on the laptop taking up the rest of the space.

[jyeh74]

Wow, didn't know that. But why would C drive indicate 101MB total. So I've lost 119-101 = 18GB right off the bat.

The Windows 7 system folder on my laptop is about 14Gb, so that's not necessarily out of line. You probably have some preinstalled applications that came bundled on the laptop taking up the rest of the space.

I guess what I was trying to say is that my C drive (only drive) is showing 101MB, not even 119MB, which is what it should be if it is advertised at 128MB SSD. Technically, with Win7, it would have 119-14 = 115GB free. But the C drive shows a total drive space of only 101MB.

[Hoser Rob]

Wow, didn't know that. But why would C drive indicate 101MB total. So I've lost 119-101 = 18GB right off the bat.

The Windows 7 system folder on my laptop is about 14Gb, so that's not necessarily out of line. You probably have some preinstalled applications that came bundled on the laptop taking up the rest of the space.

I guess what I was trying to say is that my C drive (only drive) is showing 101MB, not even 119MB, which is what it should be if it is advertised at 128MB SSD. Technically, with Win7, it would have 119-14 = 115GB free. But the C drive shows a total drive space of only 101MB.

Well, read it again. You probably have some kind of system reserved partition for recovery.

In windows 7, go into the start manu and look up disc manager or something like that (I almost always use linux now so I don't always remember the exact command name). It'll show you a map of what's on that drive.

Don't dick around with the configuration unless you actually know what you're doing.

[solarfox]

Wow, didn't know that. But why would C drive indicate 101MB total. So I've lost 119-101 = 18GB right off the bat.

The Windows 7 system folder on my laptop is about 14Gb, so that's not necessarily out of line. You probably have some preinstalled applications that came bundled on the laptop taking up the rest of the space.

I guess what I was trying to say is that my C drive (only drive) is showing 101MB, not even 119MB, which is what it should be if it is advertised at 128MB SSD. Technically, with Win7, it would have 119-14 = 115GB free. But the C drive shows a total drive space of only 101MB.

Your math is wrong. 119 - 14 = 105, not 115.

The other 4Gb is probably being taken up by various pre-installed applications located in the C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) directories, application data stored in the C:\Users directories, and various excess "fluff" like sample pictures and music in the "My Pictures" and "My Music" folders.