This will include the space used by the operating system itself. Still, the disk space remains 500GB.Ĭontinuing with the example above, the disk will not store more data when the used space reaches 500GB. Hence, the used space will now be 50GB, and the available space becomes 500GB – 50GB = 450GB. If you store a 50GB file on it, the available space reduces while the disk capacity remains 500GB. What changes as you use the disk is the available space on it.įor example, a typical hard disk may have 500GB of space. The capacity of a disk is measured in bytes – megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, and so on.Ī disk’s capacity or space is fixed and doesn’t change. In the next section, we will see the reason for this difference as well as how the technology works. Surprisingly, what a computer displays as the space of its disk usually differs from the actual space.

The storage devices include CDs and DVDs, floppy disks, memory cards, and flash drives.

When you buy a PC, the maximum amount of data its HDD or SSD storage can store is its disk capacity/space.Īlso, the maximum amount of data that any other storage device can store is its disk space. Whichever name you call it, they all have the same meaning. Some people prefer to call disk space “disk capacity” or “storage capacity”. Pros and Cons of Disk Space Utilization.Temporary Files Affect Both Used Space and Free Space on a Drive.You Can Measure the Space Utilization on a Disk with a Tool Called Space Analyzer.Available Storage Space Affects the Operating System’s Performance.

Free mac hard drive space analyzer