Checkdisk shows 120MB used space-but no files are on it??

[Jeni]

Hi
I am running WinXP Home with SP2 including all latest updates.

Could someone explain the following please?

One of my HDD, capacity 1.85Gb, says that *something* is taking up
120Mb of disk space - and that there are only 1.73Gb free.

I have just defragged the drive and no folders or files are visible.

This is the log I saved after running Checkdisk to repair any errors,
of which there none were found.

Volume BACKUPS (G
Volume size = 1.85 GB
Cluster size = 32 KB
Used space = 120 MB
Free space = 1.73 GB
Percent free space = 93 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 0 %
File fragmentation = 0 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 614
Average file size = 172 KB
Total fragmented files = 0
Total excess fragments = 0
Average fragments per file = 1.00

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 0 bytes
Total fragments = 0

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 62
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

 

[Jeni]

Sorry!

Forgot to mention that whilst defragging I noticed a lot of .dll files
were being moved
to the beginning of the drive, eg. A0010660.dll, A001063.dll,
A0010612.dll, although none
of these or any other files were visible. Thanks again.

 

[Jim]

Change Windows Explorer option to "show hidden files", maybe something's
there. My F: drive, for example, has a hidden folder called MSOCache, which
Microsoft Office uses to cache files. Amounts to 180mb in my case.

Jim

 

[Nepatsfan]

Hi
I am running WinXP Home with SP2 including all latest
updates.
Could someone explain the following please?

One of my HDD, capacity 1.85Gb, says that *something* is
taking up 120Mb of disk space - and that there are only
1.73Gb free.
I have just defragged the drive and no folders or files are
visible.
This is the log I saved after running Checkdisk to repair
any errors, of which there none were found.

Volume BACKUPS (G
Volume size = 1.85 GB
Cluster size = 32 KB
Used space = 120 MB
Free space = 1.73 GB
Percent free space = 93 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 0 %
File fragmentation = 0 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 614
Average file size = 172 KB
Total fragmented files = 0
Total excess fragments = 0
Average fragments per file = 1.00

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 0 bytes
Total fragments = 0

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 62
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
None

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

First off, go into Control Panel and double click on Folder
Options. Click on the View tab. Make sure you've selected "Show
hidden files and folders". Also, uncheck "Hide protected
operating system files". Click OK.

Open your G drive and see if a folder named "System Volume
Information" is now displayed. The files you report seeing
being moved sound as if they are part of a System Restore
point. If this drive is used to store backup files you might
want to consider shutting off System Restore on this drive.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Jeni]

Hi Nepatsfan & Jim

Thanks so much for the help. I'd already checked "Show hidden files",
but with your help and by unchecking "Hide protected operating system
files" I can now see that my Backup drive is storing some system files
and that they *are* part of a System Restore point. We live and learn!

 

[Nepatsfan]

You're welcome. Glad to hear you're now able to view those
files.

Nepatsfan