Used space on hard drive

[Alan]

Hi,
Vista Home Premium, 1.8g processor with 1g RAM, Packard Bell machine in
England.
If I go 'Computer' I get the usual list of 'C drive', 'DVD drive' etc. If I
right click the C drive, properties, it tells me that I have 75gig used.
If I then open the C drive folder and get the list of what's in it, Program
Files, Users, Temp etc and highlight all of the contents, right click them
and select 'Properties' again it tells me that I have 17.5gig used which I
think is about right. I know for sure that I don't have 75gig used, but the
machine is telling me that I have.
I've put lots of massive video files (45g plus) onto the machine from DV
camcorders and also from ripped DVD's but all these have been deleted. I
usually edit these files as necessary then transfer them to one of three
external hard drives, then delete them from the machine.
I use Webroot Window Washer to 'wash' the hard drive.
I've done everything that I know, defragging, virus checking (Norton),
spyware checking (AVG), washing empty space with Window Washer but it still
tells me I have 75gig used.
Ay ideas?

TIA,
Alan.

 

[Alan]

Apologies, I've posted this in the wrong place by mistake, please ignore it,
Alan.

 

[XJHay]

Excuse my ignorance...

You say you're editing these files. I would check in Explorer the location
of the editing software because I have found that when editing the software
used will store the edited versions in there folder.

I use TVC to convert files and found about 140gb of converted files in TVC's
"Converted" folder. I didn't realize they were being saved there. Names were
changed slightly enough that they did not show up on a search.

Worth a look see if you know the locations.

 

[Alan]

Thanks for that, but the problem turned out to a corrupt recycle bin. It was
showing empty but it actually contained 54gigs and didn't empty when it was
told to! The whole thread is in vista.general if you're interested in the
details,
Thanks again for responding,
Alan.