Have you noticed that the capacity of your hard drive or SSD is less than what is written on the box?
Don't worry, it's very simple and not a problem with the device, but it's caused by a difference in the calculation method between the factory and the operating system.When you purchase a hard drive or SSD with a certain capacity, such as 250 GB, you may notice that your operating system (such as Windows) displays a lower capacity than advertised. What's the reason?
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Calculation methods vary between manufacturers and operating systems:
Manufacturers (companies that produce hard drives) use the decimal system:• 1 GB (Go) = 1,000,000,000 bytes
Operating systems (such as Windows) use binary.• 1 GB (Go) = 1,073,741,824 bytes
• This is technically known as a “gibibyte” (or “gio”), according to the IEC international standard.
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Illustrative example:
Advertised disk capacity of 250 GB (decimal):
• 250 x 1,000,000,000 = 250,000,000,000 bytes
How does Windows calculate it (in binary)?
• 250,000,000,000 ÷ 1,073,741,824 ≈ 232.83 GB
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Conclusion:
When you purchase a 250GB drive, don't be alarmed if the system displays it as approximately 233GB. The difference isn't due to a product defect but rather to differences in calculation methods between manufacturers and operating systems.