Flash Drives (need help/feedback)

[derby378]

Got a Memorex 512MB USB TravelDrive last night. It's pretty cool, but when I checked it's actual storage space after plugging it into my computer, I saw only 491MB available for storage.

What gives? Did I do something wrong in plugging it in? Or does the File Allocation Table just require a lot of space when formatting something like that?

[Ready4Change]

1. FIle organization, I assume

When hard drives are formatted, a certain amount of space is set aside for holding information about what file is where, how big it is, etc. So a 30gb hard drive, once formatted, may only have 29gb of space for the actual files.

I assume Flash drives are much the same, although I haven't really paid attention with mine.

[derby378]

2. That makes sense

491MB is nothing to sneeze at - I'm happy. Just wanted to make sure I didn't screw up.

[Ready4Change]

4. I recall when 20mb was a big hard drive.

So loosing that much to formatting is something to think twice about. But, with larger storage systems it makes sense.

[Rick Myers]

3. Not just FAT

Some drives come with security software to divide the drive in PUBLIC and PRIVATE sections. The software is on the drive.