Windows doesn't recognize full capacity of hard drive

[Gi Ter]

I've 3 HDD
1) Seagate 320GB but it shows 298GB capacity
2) WD 250GB shows 232GB
3) WD 500GB shows 465GB

is this okay ?

 

[arlemedra]

Yes, this is normal, if you're up for some reading then take a look at this article: http://www.howtogeek.com/123268/windows-hard-drive-wrong-capacity/

 

[USAFRet]

That is perfectly normal and expected.

If you want the details, read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte

 

[bgunner]

This is normal. I'm not sure exactly how to explain it but it has to do with teh way the drives are formated and how it divides blocks on to sectors. each one loses a certian amount, not sure exact number. What you are seeing is normal for the NTFS file format that windows uses. Example my SSD's are 120 GB w/111 usable, 60GB w/ 55GB usable, 500GB HDD with 465GB usable and 1TB with 931 GB usable. all perfectly normal.

 

[Entomber]

that's normal.

HDD manufacturer: 320GB = 320,000,000,000 bytes (giga- is a prefix meaning billion, so 320 billion bytes = 320 giga-bytes)
OS: 320GB = 343,597,383,680 bytes (1024KB is 1MB, 1024MB is 1 GB)

So while it's not technically false that the drive is 320GB, it's not going to be as large as you expect it to be

sorry for the math but that's what it is