[X4U] External HD: 750 gig to 699 when formatted. Why???

[..lj]

On May 24, 2009, at 10:27, Germain M. wrote:

> Hello,
> I bought a SimpleTech 750gig external HD. It was Windows formatted  
> in the first place. Once mounted, info window showed the drive had  
> 699 gig free. As suggested in the instruction manual (and as should  
> be done) anyway), I reformated the drive Mac OS Extended journaled.  
> Still 699 gig free. Is there a way te recover this huge amount of  
> lost gig? What are they used for and by what (whom)? Are there some  
> hidden Windows programs and files left on the HD. If so, how to et  
> rid of them to recover that space?
>
> First, I wanted to format the drivve with the "zero" option in Disk  
> Utility but it told me ot would take 7 hours and I didn't want to  
> wait. This is the very first external HD I buy.
>
> Thanks a lot. Germain
>
A 750 gByte drive only gives you a formated 699 gByte. Internally the  
computer is based on 1024 while the box list a number based on 1000.  
Therefore the computer formated number goes like this.

1 gByte = 1024 mByte
1 mByte = 1024 kBytes
1 kByte = 1024 Bytes.

So 699 gBytes(1024 based) = 699 * 1024 *1025 * 1024 = 750 gBytes (1000  
based) in marketing speak.
..lj