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I have an unformatted usb stick Kingston Datatraveler Ultimate 3.0 G3 64 GB.

When I clean out the disk and I am about to partition and format it, it lists as 58.59GB and in properties it lists as only 60000MB.

I know that for disk manufactorers 64GB stands for 64×109 bytes. And that for Microsoft Windows it is for 64×230 bytes.

But still I expect to see my 64GB drive listed as 64×109/230≈59.60GB in stead of 58.59GB. Where is this discerpancy coming from?

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  • Apparently after formatting the Drive. According to a support that works at Kingston said the unit is supposed to Roughly have about 58Gb. You can read his comment Here the comment is toward the bottom.
    – NetworkKingPin
    May 9, 2016 at 8:45
  • @NetworkKingPin No, I only mention numbers that I have seen while the drive was still unformatted and unpartitioned.
    – nl-x
    May 9, 2016 at 8:47
  • Have you tried formatting? It? I see what you are saying it seems they are cutting it down more. What program are you using to format? after the calculations it does show up as 60000MB. Maybe kingston has something else for a hidden partition. Im trying to look into that. It could be possible that kingston has some of the Flash Cells held as backup for any errors or loss of cells. It seems they keep some of them hidden as reserved.
    – NetworkKingPin
    May 9, 2016 at 9:34
  • Check out this post by Kingston. The full capacity of my DataTraveler or Flash media is not available for storage. Why? Go down to the above Explanation. Its possible that the kingston drive holds firmware/The Reserve Cells not available to the user. Not sure how you could access them unless you do a hardware hack.
    – NetworkKingPin
    May 9, 2016 at 10:12
  • I cleared the drive using Microsoft Windows DiskPart from command line and checked that there were no hidden partitions. Only after partitioning the drive with Microsoft Windows Disk Management and formatting the drive to FAT32 using EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition, the drive lists as 58,5GB (62897061888 bytes) of which only 96KB (98304 bytes) are in use.
    – nl-x
    May 9, 2016 at 11:40

1 Answer 1

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According to Kingston Technology Support

Kingston has some of the drive allocated to a hidden area. Most likely a certain chip with cells. Not accessible by the user. A hardware hack would allow you to possibly see what is truly being held there.

The Hidden area could hold. Reserve cells for longer life of the drive and the firmware as controller information.

A reference the website is below.

Some of the flash storage device's listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage, therefore you will not see the full capacity.

When a flash storage device is manufactured, steps are taken to ensure that the device operates reliably and permits the host device (computer, digital camera, PDA, etc.) to access the memory cells; i.e., to store and retrieve data on the flash storage device. These steps, loosely called "formatting," utilize some of the memory cells within the device and thus reduce the capacity available for data storage by the end-user.

Formatting includes the following operations:

Testing each memory cell in the flash storage device.Identifying all defective cells and taking steps to ensure that no data will be written to or read from a defective cell.Reserving some cells to serve as "spares." Flash memory cells have a long but finite lifetime. Therefore, some cells are held in reserve to replace any memory cells that may fail over time.Creating a File Allocation Table (FAT) or other directory. To enable flash storage devices to conveniently store and access customer files, a file management system must be created to allow any device or computer to identify the files stored in the flash storage device. The most common type of file management system for flash storage devices is the File Allocation Table (FAT), which is also used on hard drives.Reserving some cells for use by the flash storage device's controller, e.g., for storing firmware updates and other controller-specific information.Where applicable, reserving some cells for special features. For example, the specification for Secure Digital (SD) cards requires reserved areas to support special copy protection and security features.

FAQ: KDT-010611-GEN-06

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  • Wow. So Kingston is selling me invisible stuff and I just need to trust them on their word? A complete 1 out of 64 GB is untraceable for me. I don't like just having to trust it is there somewhere, and not having access to it.
    – nl-x
    May 9, 2016 at 14:57

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