Why does SSD reports wrong size?
How to fix the “SSD reporting wrong size” issue in Windows PC?
Further reading: SSD reports wrong size after clone
Summary
Why does SSD reports wrong size?
Thanks to the optimal reading&writing performance and low latency, SSD (solid-state drive) has becomeincreasingly popular, and it has been a prior choice for tech users. Some users prefertotransfer OS to SSD for a quick boot time. However, some users find their new SSDshowing wrong capacity for no reason.
Why is SSDnot showing full capacity? There are possiblereasons that can be accounted for the SSD not showing the correct size:
▶ Vendor's capacity calculation is different from computer OS.
▶ The Virtual Memory paging file is located on the SSD/HDD.
▶ The SSD drive is larger than 2TB but initialized to be MBR.
How to fix “SSD reporting wrong size” in Windows?
After figuring out possible reasons for SSD drive showing wrong size, it’s time to get a deeper understanding of each one and check the corresponding solutions.
Solution 1. Make a conversion between vendor and OS capacity calculating method
Solution 2. Reset the Virtual Memory paging file
Solution 3. Convert MBR SSD to GPT
▌Solution 1. Make conversion between vendor and OS capacity calculating method
It is well known that computers operate in binary (or base-2), which is a numeric system that only uses two digits: 0 and 1. As a result, in the operating systems, the capacity is calculated on a one-step basis every 1024, so every 1024MB is 1GB, and every 1024GB is 1TB.
But the hard disk manufacturers calculate the capacity on a one-step per 1000, that is to say, every 1000MB equals 1GB and every 1000GB equals 1TB, which leads to the “reduction” of SSD capacity.
For example, we buy an SSD advertised as 120GB, but it will only show about 112GB available for usage in the computer operating system. Therefore, when you find that the SSDshows wrong capacity, you can convert the capacity according to the following calculation method.
NOTE:
Actual capacity= byte/(1024*1024*1024 *1024)
Take 120GB as an example:
In manufacturer capacity calculating: 120GB=120,000MB=120,000,000KB=120,000,000,000 bytes
Actual capacity (in computer operating system)=120,000,000,000/(1024*1024*1024)≈111.8GB
So, the actual capacity of an SSD labeled as 120GB is just about 112GB.
▌Solution 2. Reset the Virtual Memory paging file
Storage/memory is quite important for computers. All programs running on the computer need to be executed in memory. So if the executed programs are too large or there are multiple programs running at the same time, the memory will run out quickly.
In order to fix this problem, Windows adopts “Virtual Memory” (also Virtual Storage) technology, which can take out some disk space to work as memory supporting programs running by constructing a vast range of contiguous addresses viacombiningactive RAM and inactive memory. In the hard disk, the virtual memory exists as the PAGEFILE.SYS.
The size of the Virtual Memory in the computer is exactly how much space it takes up in the hard disk. So if you find the actual size of SSD is different from the described one, you can check and reset the size of the virtual storage in the computer taking the steps below.
Step 1. Right-click “My Computer/This PC” and choose “Properties”.
Step 2. Click “Advanced system setting” in the left panel--> “Advanced” in the next mini window--> “Settings” under “Performance”.
Step 3. In the “Performance Options” windows, locate “Advanced” and click “Change”.
Step 4. Locate the drive letter of SSD, deselect “Automatically manage paging file size for all drive”, tick “Custom size” and enter the initial size and maximum size, and then click “Set” and “OK”.
Step 5. Finally, reboot your computer.
Then, you can allocate the size of Virtual Memory according to your computer's situation. Setting a certain size of virtual memory will greatly benefit the smooth operation of the system, so it is not advised to cancel virtual memory directly.
▌Solution 3. Convert MBR SSD to GPT
If your SSD drive is over 2TB but initialized to be MBR, there is a very strong chance that the SSD reports wrong size. That is because MBR partition style only works with disks up to 2TB in size and cannot recognize the surpassing space. The rest space will be shown as unallocated space in Disk Management and you cannot see it in Windows File Explorer. So you may find the SSD shows the wrong capacity. In this case, you can convert the SSD to GPT, which can support disk beyond 2TB. Two methods can finish the conversion.
Method 1. Using Diskpart (data loss)
First of all, you can make use of DiskPart to convert the SSD reporting wrong capacity to GPT. But it can only convert an empty disk to GPT or MBR, so you have to delete all existing partitions, which means you will lose everything on the SSD drive. Therefore, please back up files that are important in advance.
After making a backup, then press “Win+R” simultaneously to open “Run”, type “diskpart” and hit “OK”. Then input the following command:
• list disk
• select disk 1 (replace “1” with the disk number of your SSD)
• clean(delete all partitions on the chosen SSD drive.)
• convert gpt
Then, your MBR SSD is converted to GPT successfully, and the rest space over 2TB can be recognized now.
Method 2. Apply a free partition manager (without data loss)
As mentioned above, the Diskpart will require you to delete all partitions first on the SSD, then you can convert it to GPT successfully. So, if you don’t want to clear the disk beforehand, you can turn to a free partition manager called AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Different from DiskPart, this freeware can convert any data disk from MBR to GPT, or GPT to MBR without deleting partitions.
▶ Important:
✔ In order to avoid data loss caused by some uncontrollable factors such as sudden power failure, making a backup is always suggested at any time.
✔If you need to convertboot disk, you can upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.
Step 1. Download the freeware, install and run it, right-click the SSD and select “Convert to GPT disk”
Step 2.It will pop out a window to confirm the operation. Click “OK”.
Step 3.Back to the main interface, you can confirm the operations again, if there is no problem, click “Apply” on the toolbar.
Further reading: SSD reports the wrong size after clone
The "SSD not showing full capacity" issue can also occur after you upgrade to a larger SSD by cloning the old hard disk. After the clone, you may find the SSD has the same disk space as the old one, and the rest disk space is missing. That’s because you have cloned the partition size of the original disk to the SSD drive. Therefore, when the SSD is larger than the old one, the rest beyond capacity will show as unallocated space and cannot be utilized for data storage.
In this situation, you can create a new partition from the unallocated space via Disk Management. Or use AOMEI Partition Assistantto merge the unallocated space into another existing partition (especially the C drive).
Step 1. Launch this software. Right-click the C drive and select “Merge Partitions”.
Step 2. Tick the unallocated space and click “OK”.
Step 3. Hit on “Apply” to commit the pending operation.
Summary
Now, you are sure to know what to do when SSD reports wrong size under different situations. The recommended software (AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional) also has other amazing features for SSD drives such as aligning SSD partitions, securely erasing SSD drive, transferring OS to SSD drive, cloning SSD to SSD/HDD, etc. If you are a Windows Server user, please switch to the Server partition manager, which is compatible with both Server and Windows PC.
FAQs
The "SSD not showing full capacity" issue can also occur after you upgrade to a larger SSD by cloning the old hard disk. After the clone, you may find the SSD has the same disk space as the old one, and the rest disk space is missing.
Why does my SSD show up as smaller than advertised? ›
HDD and SSD usually show less space than advertised because there are differences between the Decimal and Binary systems. Computers operate using the binary system, but their space is advertised using the decimal system because people understand the capacity in this numeral system.
How do I fix my hard drive wrong size? ›
Here are the four solutions:
- Update Hard drive driver.
- Format Hard drive via command prompt.
- Backup data and initialize the Hard drive with disk management.
- Check for bad physical sectors or replace the disk.
Go to ATA/SATA->Commands->Change Drive Capacity
- Select the drive from the device list.
- Click the Restore Default button.
- Check the results.
- If the restore operation succeeded you will see the Current Highest LBA Setting change to match the DCO Max Native LBA number.
Distinguished. Unfortunately, that's normal. A hard drive described as being a terrabyte is actually 1,000,000,000,000 bytes, the operating system reads in 1024KB blocks so you end up with it reporting only 931GB and you "lose" 69GB in the conversion.
Why does my computer say there is not enough disk space when there is? ›
You might be experiencing low disk storage issues because of large files hidden somewhere on your PC. Windows offers several ways to delete unwanted software, but it may be hard for you to locate some programs manually. You can easily find and delete large programs by using third-party software.
Why does 512gb show 476 GB? ›
You get 476.8 The discrepancy stems from the fact that a KiB is 1024 bytes not 1000 bytes. Once you multiply that 2.4% error several times, you get a pretty significant discrepancy, as you can see.
Why does my 500GB hard drive shows only 465GB? ›
Your 500GB hard disk contains about 500 billion characters but only 465GB in 'computer-speak'. The HDD manufacturers, quite naturally, refer to the higher figure. This means that when a drive is formatted, the functional storage space of the drive will be less than its unformatted capacity.
What is the actual size of 500GB SSD? ›
With a 500GB SSD, you will end up with about 465GB of usable space as 500 - 7% = 465. That's 500 x . 93 = 465. Understanding SSD over-provisioning.
Why my hard disk is not showing full capacity? ›
Typically, when a storage device is not showing the right capacity or space on a Windows PC, the most likely cause of this issue is that the external hard drive driver or firmware is out of date.
Sometimes, the hard drive showing half capacity is because the other half space is unallocated. You can create new simple volumes on the disk to make full use of the other half or partial unused space: Step 1. In Windows 10/8.1/8/7, press Windows + R hotkeys to bring up the Run box, type diskmgmt.
Why Is hard drive capacity not full? ›
The technical reason is that the hard drive manufacturers sell you capacities in metric units. So a GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes by the metric system. However, computers measure the drive size in powers of 2. So 1GiB = 1,024MiB, 1MiB = 1,024KiB, etc.
How do I reformat my SSD? ›
How to format an SSD
- Click on Start or the Windows button, select Control Panel, then System and Security.
- Select Administrative Tools, then Computer Management and Disk management.
- Choose the disk you'd like to format, right-click and select Format.
Windows ®
- Ensure the SSD is connected and is not the boot drive.
- In Windows 7, right-click Computer and select Manage to enter Computer Management. Under Storage, select Disk Management. ...
- In the lower right-hand pane, find the drive you want to erase.
- Right-click on each partition and select Delete Volume.
Go to Settings > Change PC Settings > Update and recovery > Recovery. Click Get Started under the Remove everything and reinstall Windows section. Click Next, then choose Fully clean the drive to ensure everything is deleted. Click the Reset button and your drive is wiped, your PC is reset, and Windows is reinstalled.
How much space is actually on a 1TB SSD? ›
How much space is in a 1TB SSD. A 1TB SSD hosts a total of 1,048,576 in actual storage bytes. This means it will conveniently hold 270,000 pictures, 250 videos, and 500 app installations.
How much space does a 1TB SSD actually have? ›
One terabyte gives you the option of storing roughly: 250,000 photos taken with a 12MP camera; 250 movies or 500 hours of HD video; or. 6.5 million document pages, commonly stored as Office files, PDFs, and presentations.
How much can 2TB hold? ›
A 2TB drive holds about 2 trillion bytes. To put this in perspective, you could have 100,000 songs, 150 movies and a bunch of other personal items on a 2TB drive and still have room for plenty of folders full of business Word files.
How do I fix not enough space in my Temp folder? ›
An easy solution to this problem is to change the temporary folder to a different folder. To do so, go to Settings > General, and change the Temp Directory to another hard drive with sufficient space, and then try again. Alternatively, delete some useless files in the hard drive that the temporary folder locates in.
How do I reset my computer without enough space? ›
Follow the below steps to resolve Low Disk Space issues:
- Run the Disk Cleanup tool, and then at the bottom of the window that pops up, click on "Clean up system files". Check everything, hit OK, and let it run. ...
- Another thing to do is disable hibernate file. ...
- powercfg hibernate off.
- Enjoy your extra space!
Click Select counters from computer, and then select your computer in the list. In the Performance object box, click LogicalDisk. Click Select counters from list, and then click % Free Space. Click Select interfaces from list, and then click the logical drive or volume that you want to monitor.
How long will a 512GB SSD last? ›
How long will a 512 GB SSD last? The average 512 GB SSD will last 5-10 years. An operating sysem like Windows 10 uses about 30gb of space, so you will have 470 GB left to store your personal files and software.
How do I know my actual SSD size? ›
Open the System Information file. In the System Information window, click the + symbol next to Components. Click the + next to Storage and click Drives. In the right-side of the window, you see information about the hard drive including its capacity and serial number.
How much actual space does a 512GB SSD have? ›
So a 512GB SSD can store exactly 512GB of data which in real world terms translates to about 64,000 pictures, 1200 videos and 400 applications. Both a 512GB SSD and a 512GB HDD will store the same amount of data.
Why does my 4TB hard drive only shows 3.63 TB? ›
The reason the drive doesn't show as 4TB in your OS is because, since the beginning of time, hard drive manufactures consider 1 kilobyte as 1,000 bytes, 1 megabyte as 1,000 kilobytes, 1 gigabyte as 1,000 megabytes and 1 terabyte are 1,000 gigabytes. That is a marketing gimmick.
Is 5TB a lot of storage? ›
If you're not up to date on your metric prefixes (come on, America!), just know that 5TB is a lot of storage space. One terabyte (TB) is the equivalent of 1,000 gigabytes (GB). Maybe your computer has something like a 512GB hard drive, or even smaller.
What does TB mean in storage? ›
A terabyte (TB) is a unit of digital data that is equal to about 1 trillion bytes. In decimal notation (base 10), a terabyte is exactly 1 trillion bytes.
What is the best size SSD for Windows 10? ›
Of course, it is better to have 256GB than 128GB, and larger SSDs perform better. But you don't actually need 256GB to run “most modern computer programs”. You would only need that much space for processing large files, such as re-encoding videos. In most cases, it's better to have more memory.
How big of a SSD do I need for Windows 10? ›
According to the specifications and requirements of Windows 10, in order to install the operating system on a computer, users need to have 16 GB of free space on SSD for the 32-bit version. But, if users are going to opt 64-bit version then, 20 GB of free SSD space is necessitated.
How many SSD Can a PC have? ›
Depending on the SATA, M. 2, or PCIe ports, you can put 3 to 6 SSDS on the motherboard. A few SATA drives can support up to 8 SSDs. It's important to assess your requirements when deciding how many solid-state drives to put in a computer or laptop.
NTFS is faster as an internal drive file system. It consistently outperforms exFAT efficiency and uses fewer system resources. However, exFAT acts faster when used as the file system for external drives as the read/write speeds are handled differently over USB connections and between operating systems.
How do I format a hard drive to its original size? ›
Step-by-step Instructions
- Run DiskPart. Go to Start > Run command or press Windows + R. Type diskpart and press Enter.
- Select disk. Type: DISKPART> list disk. ...
- Delete disk. Type: DISKPART> clean.
- Create partition. Type: ...
- Format USB. Go to Computer and right click on the USB drive, then select “Format…”.
Open Computer Management by selecting the Start button. The select Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. In the left pane, under Storage, select Disk Management. Right-click an unallocated region on your hard disk, and then select New Simple Volume.
How do I get Windows 10 to recognize my new SSD? ›
To get BIOS to detect the SSD, you need to configure the SSD settings in BIOS as follows.
- Restart your computer, and press the F2 key after the first screen.
- Press the Enter key to enter Config.
- Select Serial ATA and press Enter.
- Then you'll see the SATA Controller Mode Option.
GPT is an abbreviation of GUID Partition Table, and is a newer standard that's slowly replacing MBR. Unlike an MBR partition table, GPT stores the data about how all the partitions are organized and how to boot the OS throughout the drive.
How do I allocate an unallocated SSD? ›
Step 1: Right-click Windows icon and select Disk Management. Step 2: Locate and right-click on unallocated space in Disk Management, select "New Simple Volume". Step 3: Specify the partition size and click "Next" to continue. Step 4: Set a drive letter, file system - NTFS, and other settings to the new partitions.
How much storage is 500gb hard drive? ›
A 500 GB hard drive is approximately 500,000,000,000 bytes (500 x 1,000,000,000). When using the GB binary calculation, (500,000,000,000 / 1,073,741,824) that same 500 GB will show as 465 gigabytes.
What is the difference between MBR and GPT? ›
MBR Versus GPT
The main difference between MBR and GPT is that MBR has some limitations for modern usage. Namely, MBR can only handle four primary partitions and 2TB of drive space. GPT has no partition limit, so you can have ten partitions if you want and up to 9400000000 TB of SSD/HDD space.
How do I change a drive from MBR to GPT? ›
Back up or move the data on the basic MBR disk you want to convert into a GPT disk. If the disk contains any partitions or volumes, right-click each and then click Delete Partition or Delete Volume. Right-click the MBR disk that you want to change into a GPT disk, and then click Convert to GPT Disk.
Does formatting a SSD damage it? ›
In general, formatting a solid-state drive will not impact its lifetime, unless you perform a full format - and even then, it depends how often. Most formatting utilities allow you to do a quick or full format.
If you want to use the SSD on both Windows and Mac as an external drive, the exFAT is better. If you need to use it only on Windows as an internal drive, the NTFS is a great choice. So, that “NTFS or exFAT for SSD” mostly depends on your own requirements.
Is NTFS good for SSD? ›
✍Conclusion: If you use your SSD to store system or games, software on your PC, NTFS gives you better performance. While if you want use the SSD as a portable drive, which is needed to transfer data between difference devices, it is recommended to be exFAT.
How many times can you format a SSD? ›
While normal HDDs can – in theory – last forever (in reality about 10 years max.), an SSD lifespan has a built-in “time of death.” To keep it simple: An electric effect results in the fact that data can only be written on a storage cell inside the chips between approximately 3,000 and 100,000 times during its lifetime.
How do I wipe my SSD without reinstalling Windows? ›
Press Windows Key + I, type recovery in the search bar, and select Reset this PC. Next, select Remove everything, then Remove files and clean the drive. The Windows 10 reset function can take a while to complete, but it will make sure there is no chance for anyone to recover data from your drive.
Can deleted SSD files be recovered? ›
Can SSD data be recovered? Yes, SSD data can be recovered—even from SSDs that have the TRIM command enabled, in many cases. The key is to begin the data recovery process as soon as possible using the best SSD recovery software application available.
How do I restore my SSD to full capacity? ›
Go to ATA/SATA->Commands->Change Drive Capacity
- Select the drive from the device list.
- Click the Restore Default button.
- Check the results.
- If the restore operation succeeded you will see the Current Highest LBA Setting change to match the DCO Max Native LBA number.
The "SSD not showing full capacity" issue can also occur after you upgrade to a larger SSD by cloning the old hard disk. After the clone, you may find the SSD has the same disk space as the old one, and the rest disk space is missing.
Why do hard drives show the wrong capacity in Windows? ›
If your hard drive has been initialized to a wrong partition table it will display the wrong capacity when plugged in. If the size is larger than 2TB and is initialized to be MBR, the extra storage over 2TB will show as "Unallocated" in Disk Management, and you will not see it see the File Explorer.
Why does my 4TB hard drive only shows 3.63 TB? ›
The reason the drive doesn't show as 4TB in your OS is because, since the beginning of time, hard drive manufactures consider 1 kilobyte as 1,000 bytes, 1 megabyte as 1,000 kilobytes, 1 gigabyte as 1,000 megabytes and 1 terabyte are 1,000 gigabytes. That is a marketing gimmick.
Why do hard drives not have full capacity? ›
The technical reason is that the hard drive manufacturers sell you capacities in metric units. So a GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes by the metric system. However, computers measure the drive size in powers of 2. So 1GiB = 1,024MiB, 1MiB = 1,024KiB, etc.
The unallocated space on a hard drive indicates that the space on a disk does not belong to any partition and no data can be written to it. In order to use that unallocated space either you need to create a new partition or expand the current partition on the drive.
What is the difference between MBR and GPT? ›
MBR Versus GPT
The main difference between MBR and GPT is that MBR has some limitations for modern usage. Namely, MBR can only handle four primary partitions and 2TB of drive space. GPT has no partition limit, so you can have ten partitions if you want and up to 9400000000 TB of SSD/HDD space.
How do I format a 4TB hard drive to NTFS? ›
How to Install a 4TB or Larger Hard Drive - YouTube
How much space is actually on a 2TB hard drive? ›
A 2TB drive holds about 2 trillion bytes. To put this in perspective, you could have 100,000 songs, 150 movies and a bunch of other personal items on a 2TB drive and still have room for plenty of folders full of business Word files.
What is the largest hard drive size for Windows 10? ›
Like in other Windows operating systems, users can only use 2TB or 16TB space in Windows 10 no matter how large the hard disk is, if they initialize their disk to MBR. At this time, some of you might ask why there are 2TB and 16TB limit. To answer this question, let's start from introducing hard disk sector.
Is exFAT better than NTFS? ›
NTFS is faster as an internal drive file system. It consistently outperforms exFAT efficiency and uses fewer system resources. However, exFAT acts faster when used as the file system for external drives as the read/write speeds are handled differently over USB connections and between operating systems.
Why does my 500GB hard drive shows only 465GB? ›
Your 500GB hard disk contains about 500 billion characters but only 465GB in 'computer-speak'. The HDD manufacturers, quite naturally, refer to the higher figure. This means that when a drive is formatted, the functional storage space of the drive will be less than its unformatted capacity.
Where can I find my SSD capacity? ›
Open the System Information file. In the System Information window, click the + symbol next to Components. Click the + next to Storage and click Drives. In the right-side of the window, you see information about the hard drive including its capacity and serial number.
Why is half of my SSD not showing up? ›
Applies to: Make use of unallocated space on hard drive or ssd which only shows half or partial space. Sometimes, the hard drive showing half capacity is because the other half space is unallocated. You can create new simple volumes on the disk to make full use of the other half or partial unused space: Step 1.
Does initializing a disk erase data? ›
Initializing a disk erases everything on it and prepares it for use by Windows, after which you can format it and then store files on it.
In Solid State Drive (SSD), there is some space that is unallocated. It is the free storage space on the hard disk that has not been in use. This unallocated SSD space can be used by putting the system to keep files but there is no application that can write to it.
Which is better GPT or MBR for SSD? ›
GPT is far superior because it stores duplicates of the boot data across several partitions at the beginning and end of the table headers.
How can I tell if my SSD is MBR or GPT? ›
Locate the disk you want to check in the Disk Management window. Right-click it and select “Properties.” Click over to the “Volumes” tab. To the right of “Partition style,” you'll see either “Master Boot Record (MBR)” or “GUID Partition Table (GPT),” depending on which the disk is using.
Which is better UEFI or MBR? ›
Choose GPT rather than MBR for your system disk if UEFI boot is supported. Compared with booting from MBR disk, it's faster and more stable to boot Windows from GPT disk so that your computer performance could be improved, which is largely due to the design of UEFI.
