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Finder and file sizes

cool11

cool11

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 3, 2006
1,851
228
I am not sure where the problem is, but I think it something about finder.
I want to copy some files from hard disk to my new usb flash stick.
Although the 'get info' window of usb stick displays me bigger free size than the summary size of the files of hard disk that I want to be copied, when I click to paste them to usb stick, it displays me the error that there is not enough space in usb stick.

What is the problem? Why such a big free space cannot accept the copied files with smaller total size?
Example: why 25 gb of files of hard disk, could not be copied to a 32gb usb stick?

I also made 'repair permissions' to hard disk and usb stick, with disk utility, but nothing changed.

This is the first time I face such a problem and I really cannot understand it.

Any thoughts on this problem?
 
Are any of the files bigger than about four GBs, and is the flash drive formatted as FAT32? That could cause it...
 
You mean if there is any single file bigger than 4gb?
No, there is not such thing.
The summary of file sizes is several gigabytes, but single file sizes are not big.

So, why this happen?
 
Please tell us what file system you are using on the stick. Perhaps you also can submit the exact information for the info windows (screenshot perhaps?).

Have you tried formatting the stick in HFS+ and get the same problem?
 
How did you manage to copy the 29GB onto the thumb-drive now?

usbh.jpg
 
I fill it with few files each time.
But this does not make sense.
 
I just had a thought, though it may not be correct.
As there are default cluster sizes in FAT32 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/140365/), and 4 to 8 KB is the one for the size of your storage device due to its capacity, 1 file will take up 4 to 8 KB, even if it is only 1KB or less in size. And as you seem to have many files, there might be a hundred or two with a size of 1KB and using FAT32 as format on that thumb-drive might result in having them grow to at least four times their size.
It is just a thought though, I haven't found a way to find out the cluster size in Mac OS X or Windows XP.
 
Does this has any relation with allocation size?
I can format it again if you believe this could solve the problem.
As you can see in the video, it is supposed to have free space, but I cannot copy files in there!
Osx gives me the message of no free space!!!
 
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