Size mismatch between size and size on disk of folder
Hie.
I am very much puzzled by this size difference that shows up on one of my folders. I know there is "size "and "size of disk", but this time it just too much.
I have a joomla folder which shows "size" 41MB, but the "size on disk" is 211MB. I viewed the properties on 3 different computers and the result is the same. Generally i know these sizes are not exactly the same, but they usually differ by 1 or 2MB especially on compressed files.
Does anyone knows why the difference very enormous ?
Re: Size mismatch between size and size on disk of folder
First of all, it depends upon the file system you have ?
Is it FAT32 or NTFS ?
If its FAT32 then size diefference you see is obvious.
Let me explain a little, a disk is divided into cluster, generally clusters have fixed size, bigger FAT32 disk can have even 32K size per cluster. A cluster can hold data of only a single file, so if a file is 75kb, it will actually take 96k of space as last cluster will not be used completely but can't be used by other files.
This get worst if you have so many small files, as you said its Joomla folder then its obvious it has so many smaller files, so size on disk is quite large then real size.
I guess you have FAT32 partition hence showing this difference but will be not surprized is its even NTFS since NTFS uses 4k per cluster and if there are many files with size less than 4k then difference is obvious.
Hope I explained it properly.
Re: Size mismatch between size and size on disk of folder
Hey, thank you so much. Your answer explains everything. The joomla folder is on a memory stick (flash disk) which uses FAT32. I am satisfied with your explanation
You really know your stuff, i am impressed.