Size: 1 bytes (1 bytes), Size on disk 4.00 KB (4,096 bytes)
 

this is ridiculous - why is windows adding so much shit to my files?

That's the file system.

It can only split up your HDD into so many chunks, each has a minimum size.

anything less fits in there, even 1 byte over you need 2 blocks.

gotcha

NTFS!
Eats up alotta crap

I FAT32 on my XP...Ok I lied..

A 1 byte file on my 120Gb drive will take up 32k worth of drive space, since I have the entire drive as a single partition (FAT32). With a 2Gb FAT16 partition it's 64k per cluster. :Graucho

There's really no efficient way (=acceptable speed) for file systems to use the exact amount of space that is contained within a file. Even the HD itself is broken up into 512 byte sectors, you have to read/write a minimum of 512 bytes at a time.

Hahaaaa! Learned something new today!