Hard Drive Space Vanished!

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Zero_Armada, Mar 10, 2007.

  1. Zero_Armada

    Zero_Armada Private E-2

    Got a problem, here. Seems like some of my hard drive space has dissappeared.

    [​IMG]

    XP sees the space, but that space was in my C Drive. I've already cleared out System Restore, and everything else that's temp, but it's not the space being taking up...it's like the partition just left out space that was supposed to be there. Searched the forum already, so I'd really like some help here. Thanks!
     
  2. hopperdave2000

    hopperdave2000 MajorGeek

    According to the pic, you have drive C: of 183gb and 6gb of 'unallocated' space that hasn't been assigned a drive letter. Has this always been the case or did this just happen out-of-the-blue? I think that the 6gb might be an OEM partition or something similar if your using a factory Dell, Compaq, HP, etc....

    hopperdave2000
     
  3. noahawk

    noahawk Corporal

    The 6GB partition looks normal, I think the problem is that in the bottom pane it reads 6 GB and 184GB, but the top reads 6GB and 93 GB (totals).

    Did Windows see all of the 184 GB before you noticed this?

    You may want to download and run the appropriate manufacturer's Diagnostic tool from here.

    There may be a problem with the drive or Windows, so report back what the tool reports and we can work from there.
     
  4. hopperdave2000

    hopperdave2000 MajorGeek

    Noahawk noticed what I overlooked: there are indeed 2 different sizes being reported here.... I missed that in my first view of the pic. Maybe try Noahawk's suggestion about the diag tool; also a third party HD partitioning tool can also give you a second opinion on the sizes being reported and maybe it'll tell you if Windows is reporting wrong sizes or if it's an actual HD problem...

    hopperdave2000
     
  5. Zero_Armada

    Zero_Armada Private E-2

    I tried a couple, and they're all saying the space is there. If you see in the image, there's supposed to be 2 split partitions, so that's ok. The Manager on XP sees the space too, and both partition managers say the space is in use under the C Drive Partition, but for some reason, the rest of Windows doesn't.
     
  6. 1trkmind

    1trkmind Private First Class

    Did you resolve this problem? I have a similar issue after the MCE OS crashed and I reinstalled XP PRO. the 250g hd now only shows 175g. both windows and partion magic show the same 175g. some of the old files remained on the pc after the new os install. ie: Program files folders and my documents folders.
     
  7. noahawk

    noahawk Corporal

    Sorry for the long response time, it's gotten busy here recently, and I'm just getting a chance to reply now.

    Zero_Armada, you should still run the tools and not look for the size of the drives/partitions, but run the tests that check the health of the drive. At least the test with a name similar to "Basic/Quick Fitness Test", but if you have the time, run the full test (it could take 1 - 4 hours or more)- but be careful not to write zeros to the drive. The drive may be failing, and thus cannot report the full size of the drive. Making backups if the tests report errors may not be a bad idea.

    1trkmind, this forum prefers new threads be started for similar problems for people other than the original poster so the responses can be for your specific issues with as little confusion as possible for you. That being said, if MCE crashed and then XP was installed to get the system up and running, how was the install done (with or without formatting)? And what service pack is installed? You too may benefit from running the drive fitness tests I link to in the quote above to make sure the drive is in good condition.
     

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