Harddrive formatting/partition question

First off, I am sorry if this is in the wrong forum. If so, please move wherever it is appropriate.

I have a relatively new Dell Inspiron E1405 XP SP2. The harddrive with which it came was advertised (Dell's site) as an Intel Core 2 Duo 120 gig. The way this drive is configured from Dell is as a C: with total space of 80.6 gigs and a D: with 25.6 gigs. This totals 106.4, so I don't know where the other 13.6 gigs went. I imagine the 120 is an estimate, but 13.6 is pretty far off (over 11%).

Anyway, my real question is what do I do with the D drive? There is nothing saved there at all. I know I can save anything that I want there, but for what reason would I ever actually need to do it other than when the C: is full (and, for me, that won't happen).

Is this D: drive considered a partition? I'm assuming there aren't actually two harddrives in there. For what is a second partition typically used?

I am sorry if these are basic questions, but this D: drive has been driving me crazy!

Thanks,

Drew

 

D: is probably Dell's 'Recovery' partition. It may contain drivers and files for restoring your PC to the original factory state. Chances are, the files/folders on this partition are hidden to pervent the user from deleting them or screwing them up. If you enable the viewing of hidden files/folder and enable the viewing of hidden system files/folders, you shoud be able to see what's on D:. The +/-13gb discrepancy in the drive size is due parities and such. I'm not going to get all technical, but it's normal to 'lose' about 8gb-10gb per 100gb on hard drives with Windows XP. I run a 160gb hard drive, and it's reported as 146gb. No worries: it's normal.

hopperdave2000

Oh yeah- you can enable the viewing of the hidden files by opening My Computer, click on Tools at the top, click on Folder Options, click on the View tab and scroll down just a little bit. Uncheck 'Hide Protected Operating System Files' (you'll get a warning, click OK) and check 'Show Hidden Files and Folders' and click Apply and click OK. Then double click the D: drive and you should be able to see what's there. It's a good idea to just leave it alone.