Is this normal? (Different file sizes)

SentralOrigin · 12-08-2008, 10:46 PM

I have 2 identical USB-powered hard drives, and I formatted both of them when I first got them. I copied over about 100 GB or I had on one of the hard drives to the other one, but when I compared the sizes, the one I transferred the files over to was several hundred bytes smaller than the original on my first hard drive. Is this normal?

thedonkdonk · 12-09-2008, 12:39 AM

It can be. Are the drives the same model? Are the drives using the same file system?

Most likely, the drives have a different file system. Because of how the file system keeps track of files the same file could report different sizes on different file systems. Use a md5sum to check to make sure the file got transferred correctly.

SentralOrigin · 12-09-2008, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedonkdonk

It can be. Are the drives the same model? Are the drives using the same file system?

Most likely, the drives have a different file system. Because of how the file system keeps track of files the same file could report different sizes on different file systems. Use a md5sum to check to make sure the file got transferred correctly.

Yes, they are the same exact model. I got both of them together at the time, and they are both formatted as ext3.

How do I use a md5sum to check?

thedonkdonk · 12-09-2008, 01:57 AM

md5sum [OPTION] [FILE]
So,

Code:

md5sum file1

with give a number. something like 1a433491840c4a3140ac817f347cb6bb. Then do the same with file2. see if the number is the same then the files are the same. if they are different then you have different files. ie, one (or both) got corrupted.