Hidden Data

[Guest]

I recently reinstalled XP Home on my Dell laptop using the recovery disk that
came with the computer. Before I reinstalled I had about 3 gigs free out of
20 gigs. I knew the data would be deleted but it wasn't a big deal. So I
reinstall XP and everything is back to where it was on day one, except one
giant thing. The computer still tells me I only have 3 gigs out of 20. I've
tried to somehow gain access to those other 17 gigs, but to no avail. Its as
if the data is not on the computer yet its taking up space. I DO NOT want to
save that data and don't care if its lost, so how do I go about reclaiming my
ENTIRE hard drive?

 

[Plato]

I recently reinstalled XP Home on my Dell laptop using the recovery disk that
came with the computer. Before I reinstalled I had about 3 gigs free out of
20 gigs. I knew the data would be deleted but it wasn't a big deal. So I
reinstall XP and everything is back to where it was on day one, except one
giant thing. The computer still tells me I only have 3 gigs out of 20. I've
tried to somehow gain access to those other 17 gigs, but to no avail. Its as
if the data is not on the computer yet its taking up space. I DO NOT want to
save that data and don't care if its lost, so how do I go about reclaiming my
ENTIRE hard drive?

Sounds like it really didnt format and install xp fresh.

 

[Rock]

I recently reinstalled XP Home on my Dell laptop using the recovery disk that
came with the computer. Before I reinstalled I had about 3 gigs free out of
20 gigs. I knew the data would be deleted but it wasn't a big deal. So I
reinstall XP and everything is back to where it was on day one, except one
giant thing. The computer still tells me I only have 3 gigs out of 20. I've
tried to somehow gain access to those other 17 gigs, but to no avail. Its as
if the data is not on the computer yet its taking up space. I DO NOT want to
save that data and don't care if its lost, so how do I go about reclaiming my
ENTIRE hard drive?

When you do the installation and it asks where you want it to install,
delete the current partition and create a new one. Then install XP.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html