A directory listing using the DIR command under Microsoft MS-DOS version
5.0 or later reports the total number of bytes in the files for that
specific directory. The disk space occupied by these files can be much
greater than the byte total reported by DIR, depending on the disk's
allocation unit size. This difference may cause confusion when calculating
disk space requirements for copying files.
NOTE: File storage is handled the same under all versions of MS-DOS; the
5.0 DIR command is the first MS-DOS command to list the number of bytes
stored in a particular directory.
The minimum storage space on an MS-DOS disk is one allocation unit. Each
allocation unit contains one or more sectors, depending on the disk size
and capacity. Sectors can also vary in size but are usually 512 bytes.
Since files seldom fill a single allocation unit entirely, a number of
bytes are left unused. These bytes are unavailable to MS-DOS for any other
file storage. For example, if the allocation unit size is 1024 bytes, a
file of 1000 bytes occupies one allocation unit, leaving 24 bytes unused
and unavailable to MS-DOS for storage of other files.
Calculating Disk Space Requirements
PC utility programs like Norton Utilities and PCTools determine the number
of bytes in a particular directory as well as the number of bytes occupied
on the current disk. If you do not have one of these programs, you can
estimate disk space requirements.
To estimate the number of bytes occupied by the files in a particular
directory, you must determine the allocation unit size for the disk. CHKDSK
return the allocation units for a MS-DOS disk.
The following equation is based on the law of averages that dictates that
one-half of an allocation unit will be unused for each file stored on a
disk. The more files you have in a particular directory, the closer the
estimate will be. If you have just a few small files, this formula is not
accurate.
disk space occupied = (number of files in directory *
allocation unit size in bytes * .5) +
file size total reported by DIR
Use the following method to estimate the disk space required to copy the
files in a directory to a disk. Use CHKDSK to determine the allocation unit
size of the destination disk. Use the same equation as above, substituting
the allocation unit size of the disk for the allocation unit size in bytes.
For more information on allocation unit sizes, query on the following words
here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
allocation and unit and fat and disk
More information on this topic can be found in "The MS-DOS Encyclopedia,"
"Advanced MS-DOS Programming," or "The NEW Peter Norton Programmer's Guide
to the IBM PC & PS/2," which are published by Microsoft Press.