In classic hard-disk geometry, total capacity is computed fromCHS parameters(Cylinders × Heads × Sectors per track) multiplied bybytes per sector. Forensic examiners learn this because it helps validate whether an image acquisition size is consistent with the physical disk geometry and to spot anomalies caused by misreported device geometry or capture errors.
First compute total addressable sectors:
16,384 cylinders × 80 heads = 1,310,720 tracks(because each head provides a track per cylinder).
Then multiply by sectors per track:
1,310,720 × 63 = 82,575,360 sectors.
Convert sectors to bytes using the sector size:
82,575,360 sectors × 512 bytes/sector = 42,278,584,320 bytes.
This matches optionAexactly. In practice, modern drives often use LBA and may report different logical geometries, but the forensic principle remains the same: capacity equals the number of logical blocks times the logical block size, and CHS-style values are a structured way to perform that verification.
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