I got a USB drive at a military recruiting event, and it looks like a dog tag. When I plug it in, it shows no files, but the properties say it's using about 16kb of space. What could be taking up that space?
3 Answers
It’s probably because of the way the USB is partitioned. Many USB drives have a small amount of reserved space at the beginning. It’s usually just a safety thing and doesn’t affect anything you do.
Honestly, it’s a common thing with storage devices. The labeled capacity on the box is usually more than the actual usable space due to the file system overhead and partition information stored on the drive. It might not be a big deal, just how things are set up with storage devices.
But I’m trying to figure out why it shows used space when there aren't any files. Can you explain that part?
You might want to check for hidden files. Sometimes these drives, especially if formatted on a Mac, have hidden files lurking around, like .DS_Store which you can’t see unless you change your settings. By the way, it's pretty bold of you to plug in a random military USB!
Yeah, I checked for hidden files but nothing shows up, even after adjusting my settings. I made sure to scan it with Windows Defender first, since I was a bit cautious.
That's true, but keep in mind that Windows Explorer deals with partitions, not individual drives. That unpartitioned space won't show up in the properties.