Explain this?

Question

Explain this?
On a pc, when you click properties:
Size is 300byte, size on disk is 30 kb, why the difference?

what does size and size on disk mean>>??

Also, why is it that when you right click a folder icon on the pc desktop, in properties, the size is only 80kb and when I high - lited all the files in the folder and then right clicked, the properties showed there is more than 5 Gb of data...

Right now I am backing up my files, I don't know if it makes any difference if I back up the shortcut icons on the desktop comparing to the "real file", or maybe they are the same thing??

hmmm......HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

when u see the properties of a folder on the panel, once u have opened it, the size shown is the total size of all the files which are not in any subfolders...

now when u right click on the folder and see properties, it shows the real size of that file.. this is the same as shown when u select all the contents of that file, right click on them and see properties.. so u must chose this method to check the size..

moreover, different systems, operating systems and media have different ways of encoding and storing things on the disk.. so size and size on disk may be different for a hard disk as compared to a cd..

Answer 2

when you back up your files onto another drive of any sort you need to use the source file (or the "real" file) not its shortcut. A shortcut is just a portal that tells the computer to go to a certain file, if you backup merely shortcuts, you will have nothing execept icons.

The icon you see on the desktop is probably just a shortcut to the actual file on the drive. It will show you only the size of the icon on the desktop in the properties of a shortcut icon. But, when you double click it, it will lead you to the actual file and all its contents, once you highlight those, you are seeing the "real" files, that is why they are different.

i hope that made sense. if u need more help u can email me at [e-mail]

Answer 3

The folder size includes the size of the directory of the folder, which is a map of the placement of the files, on disk, used by the operating system, to let the read/write arm of the hard drive find out where to go, on the disk, to find the file. (The folder is actually, physically, spread out all over heck on the hard drive, as you may "notice" when you do a defrag.)

In other words, a "folder" is a "logical" or "philosophical" concept for humans, and NOT a "strictly and cruelly physical" concept on the actual hard drive. It is only programmatic on the hard drive.

You won't copy icons when you copy files to a backup.