In a partition with an 8 GB size and a 4 KB cluster size, a 1 KB file is stored. How much slack space is wasted?

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Multiple Choice

In a partition with an 8 GB size and a 4 KB cluster size, a 1 KB file is stored. How much slack space is wasted?

Explanation:
When storage uses fixed-size allocation units called clusters, a file never uses a fraction of a cluster—it takes whole clusters. With a 4 KB cluster, a 1 KB file still uses one full cluster, so 4 KB is allocated but only 1 KB is used. The slack space is 4 KB − 1 KB = 3 KB. Therefore, 3 KB of slack space is wasted. The other options would only be correct if the file exactly filled a cluster (4 KB), or if there were no waste (0 KB), which isn’t the case here.

When storage uses fixed-size allocation units called clusters, a file never uses a fraction of a cluster—it takes whole clusters. With a 4 KB cluster, a 1 KB file still uses one full cluster, so 4 KB is allocated but only 1 KB is used. The slack space is 4 KB − 1 KB = 3 KB. Therefore, 3 KB of slack space is wasted. The other options would only be correct if the file exactly filled a cluster (4 KB), or if there were no waste (0 KB), which isn’t the case here.

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