WASTE

Question:	How much does slack space (waste) add up to with FAT16 and large partitions?
Answer:	A LOT

Partition Size and Probable Waste
Partition size	Cluster size	Avg. waste per file	Number of files	Probable waste
Less than 128MB	2K	1K	2,000	2MB
128 to 256MB	4K	2K	4,000	8MB
256 to 512MB	8K	3K	8,000	32MB
512MB to 1GB	16K	8K	16,000	128MB
1GB to 2GB	32K	16K	32,000	512MB

As you can see from the chart above the space wasted due to cluster size is almost negligible when it comes to partitions under 512MB, but on drives larger than that it becomes a BIG factor.

The biggest difference of course is when it comes to drives larger than 1GB (1024MB). Many users prefer large partitions but even when installing an 8.4GB or larger drive under FAT16 using 2GB partitions is the PC equivalent of "spending like a drunken sailor".

Figuring conservatively before an 8.4GB drive is close to full over
a full gigabyte of additional space will be wasted due to inefficient clusters if the drive is configured as (4) 2GB drives rather than (8) 1GB drives.

WASTE.EXE

Waste.exe is a small (27kb) freeware DOS program that can be used to quickly calculate the slack space (waste) on a given partition and give one an idea how much space can be freed up by converting to FAT32 where possible.

Just download a copy anywhere on Drive C and Double-Click on it to calculate the slack on C:. To check other drive partitions simply place a copy of Waste.exe on the drive and run it from there.

WASTE.EXE

27.2kb

Freeware

CLICK HERE TO GO