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Short answer: Common programs, including Windows, system BIOS and some old versions of MacOS, use the binary number system, where 1 GB amounts to 1024 MBs, rather than 1000 MBs, which leads to this anomaly in storage devices.īefore trying to understand the reason behind this anomaly, it’s important to know a thing or two about MBs, GBs and TBs – the units used to express the capacity of storage devices of different types.
#MEMORY MASTER 16GB USB FLASH DRIVE WINDOWS#
Why does this happen? Why do Windows devices and some older versions of MacOS show a total available space that is different from what’s advertised? Some people might claim that this is a classic example of false advertising by marketers, or that the manufacturers are purposely lying about the capacity of hard drives, but is that really the truth? For instance, if you plug in a 16 GB USB drive, the total available space on a Windows computer would be around 15.6 GB – around 0.4 GB short of the advertised capacity. You will notice that the total available space displayed on the computer is slightly less than the advertised capacity of the device. Take any digital storage device (e.g., USB flash drive, hard drive, SD card etc.) and plug it into a Windows computer. Feeling robbed of the remaining 0.05 GB by the manufacturer, I looked it up on the Internet and found (admittedly, to my relief) that every other hard drive user had the same concern. When I bought my first USB flash drive a few years ago (2 GB), I was rather shocked to see that it only showed 1.95 GB as my total available space.
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This is why the total available space on a Windows computer is slightly less than the advertised capacity of the storage device.
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In the binary number system, 1 GB is 1024 MBs, rather than 1000 MBs. The answer to this question is that the binary number system is used by Windows and some old versions of MacOS, which leads to this anomaly in storage devices. Do manufacturers falsely label their storage devices to show more capacity?.Understanding the basics: kB, MB and GB.