Question 1

What is the difference between KB and KiB?

Accepted Answer

KB (kilobyte) traditionally means 1,024 bytes in computing contexts, while KiB (kibibyte) is the IEC standard term for 1,024 bytes. In the SI standard, 1 KB equals 1,000 bytes. This converter uses the binary (1024-based) convention, which is the most common in operating systems and programming.

Question 2

How many megabytes are in a gigabyte?

Accepted Answer

Using binary (computing) convention, 1 GB equals 1,024 MB. Using decimal (SI) convention, 1 GB equals 1,000 MB. This converter uses the binary convention (1,024), which matches how most operating systems report file sizes.

Question 3

Why does my hard drive show less space than advertised?

Accepted Answer

Hard drive manufacturers use decimal units (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes), while operating systems use binary units (1 GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes). This difference means a 1 TB drive shows approximately 931 GB in your operating system. The actual storage capacity is the same -- only the unit definitions differ.

Data Size Converter

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