HD shows true size in BIOS, but not in Windows

Yesterday I put together a new system, and the hard drive shows its true
size (250GB) in the bios, however during the windows vista 64bit
installation the hard drive says its only 232 GB.

I then exited the installtion and restarted. It still said it was
232GB. I continued on with the installation hoping to see if it would
change once Windows was installed with all the drivers. I paritioned the
drive so that windows would be 50GB and the rest of the drive would be
for whatever i wanted and i would split it up later. I proceeded to
format the remainder of the hard drive before i went on to install
windows, and it stayed there for a while and then i realised it locked
up and i got a BSOD.

I reset the computer, and went on to install windows and i didnt bother
to format the remainder of the hard drive. Windows installed without any
problems, but when i get to windows, the drive still shows as 232GB.

I ran a memory test from a Kubuntu CD and its not the ram.

anyone has any ideas of what may be going on or what i haven't done?

HD is a Maxtor 250GB SATA


--
Jago

I love Mercs

As with all HD's there is a difference between the stated size (unformatted) and the formatted size.

John


"Jago" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message news:1f11eb3d2accc5fbdda1669269f6bfa7@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> Yesterday I put together a new system, and the hard drive shows its true
> size (250GB) in the bios, however during the windows vista 64bit
> installation the hard drive says its only 232 GB.
>
> I then exited the installtion and restarted. It still said it was
> 232GB. I continued on with the installation hoping to see if it would
> change once Windows was installed with all the drivers. I paritioned the
> drive so that windows would be 50GB and the rest of the drive would be
> for whatever i wanted and i would split it up later. I proceeded to
> format the remainder of the hard drive before i went on to install
> windows, and it stayed there for a while and then i realised it locked
> up and i got a BSOD.
>
> I reset the computer, and went on to install windows and i didnt bother
> to format the remainder of the hard drive. Windows installed without any
> problems, but when i get to windows, the drive still shows as 232GB.
>
> I ran a memory test from a Kubuntu CD and its not the ram.
>
> anyone has any ideas of what may be going on or what i haven't done?
>
> HD is a Maxtor 250GB SATA
>
>
> --
> Jago
>
> I love Mercs

Decimal vs. Binary:

For simplicity and consistency, hard drive manufacturers define a
megabyte as 1,000,000 bytes and a gigabyte as 1,000,000,000 bytes. This
is a decimal (base 10) measurement and is the industry standard.
However, certain system BIOSs, FDISK and Windows define a megabyte as
1,048,576 bytes and a gigabyte as 1,073,741,824 bytes. Mac systems also
use these values. These are binary (base 2) measurements.

To Determine Decimal Capacity:

A decimal capacity is determined by dividing the total number of bytes,
by the number of bytes per gigabyte (1,000,000,000 using base 10).

To Determine Binary Capacity:

A binary capacity is determined by dividing the total number of bytes,
by the number of bytes per gigabyte (1,073,741,824 using base 2).
This is why different utilities will report different capacities for the
same drive. The number of bytes is the same, but a different number of
bytes is used to make a megabyte and a gigabyte. This is similar to the
difference between 0 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Fahrenheit. It is
the same temperature, but will be reported differently depending on the
scale you are using.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Various Drive Sizes and their Binary and Decimal Capacities


Drive Size in GB Approximate Total Bytes Decimal Capacity
(bytes/1,000,000,000)
Approximate Binary Capacity (bytes/1,073,724,841)

10 GB 10,000,000,000 10 GB 9.31 GB
20 GB 20,000,000,000 20 GB 18.63 GB
30 GB 30,000,000,000 30 GB 27.94 GB
36 GB 36,000,000,000 36 GB 33.53 GB
40 GB 40,000,000,000 40 GB 37.25 GB
60 GB 60,000,000,000 60 GB 55.88 GB
74 GB 74,000,000,000 74 GB 68.91 GB
80 GB 80,000,000,000 80 GB 74.51 GB
100 GB 100,000,000,000 100 GB 93.13 GB
120 GB 120,000,000,000 120 GB 111.76 GB
160 GB 160,000,000,000 160 GB 149.01 GB
180 GB 180,000,000,000 180 GB 167.64 GB
200 GB 200,000,000,000 200 GB 186.26 GB
250 GB 250,000,000,000 250 GB 232.83 GB
300 GB 300,000,000,000 300 GB 279.40 GB
320 GB 320,000,000,000 320 GB 298.02 GB


Jago wrote:
> Yesterday I put together a new system, and the hard drive shows its true
> size (250GB) in the bios, however during the windows vista 64bit
> installation the hard drive says its only 232 GB.
>
> I then exited the installtion and restarted. It still said it was
> 232GB. I continued on with the installation hoping to see if it would
> change once Windows was installed with all the drivers. I paritioned the
> drive so that windows would be 50GB and the rest of the drive would be
> for whatever i wanted and i would split it up later. I proceeded to
> format the remainder of the hard drive before i went on to install
> windows, and it stayed there for a while and then i realised it locked
> up and i got a BSOD.
>
> I reset the computer, and went on to install windows and i didnt bother
> to format the remainder of the hard drive. Windows installed without any
> problems, but when i get to windows, the drive still shows as 232GB.
>
> I ran a memory test from a Kubuntu CD and its not the ram.
>
> anyone has any ideas of what may be going on or what i haven't done?
>
> HD is a Maxtor 250GB SATA
>
>

Jago wrote:

>
> Yesterday I put together a new system, and the hard drive shows its true
> size (250GB) in the bios, however during the windows vista 64bit
> installation the hard drive says its only 232 GB.
>
> I then exited the installtion and restarted. It still said it was
> 232GB. I continued on with the installation hoping to see if it would
> change once Windows was installed with all the drivers. I paritioned the
> drive so that windows would be 50GB and the rest of the drive would be
> for whatever i wanted and i would split it up later. I proceeded to
> format the remainder of the hard drive before i went on to install
> windows, and it stayed there for a while and then i realised it locked
> up and i got a BSOD.
>
> I reset the computer, and went on to install windows and i didnt bother
> to format the remainder of the hard drive. Windows installed without any
> problems, but when i get to windows, the drive still shows as 232GB.
>
> I ran a memory test from a Kubuntu CD and its not the ram.
>
> anyone has any ideas of what may be going on or what i haven't done?
>
> HD is a Maxtor 250GB SATA

You have driven yourself crazy for no reason. A hard drive will never show
up as the full amount written on the box in an operating system. First of
all, hard drives are measured differently from operating systems and second
of all the formatting takes up some room. See the "Capacity" section here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive

Also see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=118330

This older article explains it more succinctly:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/how_...y/4206535.html

Googling using the search term "hard drive capacity" will get you more of
the same.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

The lawyers figured this one out a long time ago.
You are too late to hop on the class action lawsuit that resulted.

This is a common point of confusion for computer owners. HDD
manufacturers calculate 1GB as equal to 1000MB (they assume a "kilo" is
1000), while the operating system uses a 1GB = 1024MB equivalence
(binary "kilo"). Because the OS assumes more MB per GB the total
capacity is always reduced from what is printed on the side of the box.
This is nothing new, and all HDD manufacturers that I know of use this
method. You didn't get short changed, and there is nothing wrong with
your system or hardware; subsequently there is also no way around it.

Jago;980729 Wrote:
> Yesterday I put together a new system, and the hard drive shows its true
> size (250GB) in the bios, however during the windows vista 64bit
> installation the hard drive says its only 232 GB.
>
> I then exited the installtion and restarted. It still said it was
> 232GB. I continued on with the installation hoping to see if it would
> change once Windows was installed with all the drivers. I paritioned the
> drive so that windows would be 50GB and the rest of the drive would be
> for whatever i wanted and i would split it up later. I proceeded to
> format the remainder of the hard drive before i went on to install
> windows, and it stayed there for a while and then i realised it locked
> up and i got a BSOD.
>
> I reset the computer, and went on to install windows and i didnt bother
> to format the remainder of the hard drive. Windows installed without any
> problems, but when i get to windows, the drive still shows as 232GB.
>
> I ran a memory test from a Kubuntu CD and its not the ram.
>
> anyone has any ideas of what may be going on or what i haven't done?
>
> HD is a Maxtor 250GB SATA


--
MadDog56

'[image: http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/496571.png]'
(http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=496571)

Jago wrote:
> Yesterday I put together a new system, and the hard drive shows its true
> size (250GB) in the bios, however during the windows vista 64bit
> installation the hard drive says its only 232 GB.
>
> I then exited the installtion and restarted. It still said it was
> 232GB. I continued on with the installation hoping to see if it would
> change once Windows was installed with all the drivers. I paritioned the
> drive so that windows would be 50GB and the rest of the drive would be
> for whatever i wanted and i would split it up later. I proceeded to
> format the remainder of the hard drive before i went on to install
> windows, and it stayed there for a while and then i realised it locked
> up and i got a BSOD.
>
> I reset the computer, and went on to install windows and i didnt bother
> to format the remainder of the hard drive. Windows installed without any
> problems, but when i get to windows, the drive still shows as 232GB.
>
> I ran a memory test from a Kubuntu CD and its not the ram.
>
> anyone has any ideas of what may be going on or what i haven't done?
>
> HD is a Maxtor 250GB SATA
>
>


Vista, like other operating systems, measures kilobytes, megabytes,
and gigabytes as:

1 Kb = 1024 bytes
1 Mb = 1024 Kb = 1,048,576 bytes
1 Gb = 1024 Mb = 1,073,741,824 bytes

However, a common marketing ploy used by hard drive manufacturers
to make their products seem a bit larger than they really are is to
assign the value of an even 1,000,000,000 bytes to the gigabyte.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

Ok, cool.
Thank You MadDog.

I'm happy to kno that the drive is in good condition


--
Jago

I love Mercs

Just multiply the stated size of the drive times .9313 (250 x .9313) to get
the usable value of the drive.

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"Jago" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:1f11eb3d2accc5fbdda1669269f6bfa7@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> Yesterday I put together a new system, and the hard drive shows its true
> size (250GB) in the bios, however during the windows vista 64bit
> installation the hard drive says its only 232 GB.
>
> I then exited the installtion and restarted. It still said it was
> 232GB. I continued on with the installation hoping to see if it would
> change once Windows was installed with all the drivers. I paritioned the
> drive so that windows would be 50GB and the rest of the drive would be
> for whatever i wanted and i would split it up later. I proceeded to
> format the remainder of the hard drive before i went on to install
> windows, and it stayed there for a while and then i realised it locked
> up and i got a BSOD.
>
> I reset the computer, and went on to install windows and i didnt bother
> to format the remainder of the hard drive. Windows installed without any
> problems, but when i get to windows, the drive still shows as 232GB.
>
> I ran a memory test from a Kubuntu CD and its not the ram.
>
> anyone has any ideas of what may be going on or what i haven't done?
>
> HD is a Maxtor 250GB SATA
>
>
> --
> Jago
>
> I love Mercs