Why cant i see whats on the partition?

C

ChanclerDonaco

Member
I have a 1tb harddrive split into 3 partitions. c:, z:, and x:.

The c drive has the os

i took z and split it into another partition (x)

looking at the partitions it says theres like 26 gigs used on the z partition. well, when i look, theres nothing there, but in my computer it clearly has something on it.

i want to format the z drive

when i go to format it, it says "this drive is in use. another program or process is using this drive. do you want to format anyways?"

am i supposed to format a partition in some other way besides right-clicking and choosing format?

again the drive says theres 244 gb free of 270gb. wheres my other gb? nothing is on the drive (that i can see)

show hidden files is on as well...

if i go ahead and format, will i regret it?
 

My Computer

System One

Hello ChanclerDonaco, welcome to Vista Forums!





You can use the free Partition Wizard to do a wipe "secure erase" of the partition, just be sure you do the correct partition as any date on the partition will be over-written and completely un-recoverable, if by chance it still won't let you do a wipe give the bootable version a go, at the same link.


Free Partition Software - Partition Wizard
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    * BFK Customs *
    CPU
    Intel C2Q 9550 Yorkfield
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5Q Pro
    Memory
    8GB Dominator 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX ATI 1GB 4870 XXX
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD 7-1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080P & 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2x 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache WD Caviar Black
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX
    Case
    CM Cosmos RC-1000
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    HP Enhansed Multimedia
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback 3G
    Internet Speed
    18.6Mb/s
    Other Info
    My First Build ;)
Any ideas as to what is actually there though? i copied the Z drive with a right click, then went into the Z drive where there was nothing, and pasted the 'copied' contents. It said there was 21 files (see img: 'copyZ_toZ')

After canceling there was stuff in the new folder i couldnt see (see img: 'DataStored')

Why cant i see those files? And what is currently using them?

And it wouldnt copy anything from the X drive when i tried to do the same thing.
 

Attachments

  • CopyZ_toZ.jpg
    CopyZ_toZ.jpg
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  • DataStored.jpg
    DataStored.jpg
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My Computer

System One

I would download and install the free version of Malwarebytes and run a full scan and if it comes up with anything run scans until it comes clean; though a wipe will take care of that.



Malwarebytes Free Virus Scanner
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    * BFK Customs *
    CPU
    Intel C2Q 9550 Yorkfield
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5Q Pro
    Memory
    8GB Dominator 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX ATI 1GB 4870 XXX
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD 7-1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080P & 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2x 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache WD Caviar Black
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX
    Case
    CM Cosmos RC-1000
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    HP Enhansed Multimedia
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback 3G
    Internet Speed
    18.6Mb/s
    Other Info
    My First Build ;)
You're welcome, though a format does not over-write data, just marks it to be over-written as needed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    * BFK Customs *
    CPU
    Intel C2Q 9550 Yorkfield
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5Q Pro
    Memory
    8GB Dominator 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX ATI 1GB 4870 XXX
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD 7-1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080P & 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2x 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache WD Caviar Black
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX
    Case
    CM Cosmos RC-1000
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    HP Enhansed Multimedia
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback 3G
    Internet Speed
    18.6Mb/s
    Other Info
    My First Build ;)
ChanclerDonaco said:
Any ideas as to what is actually there though? i copied the Z drive with a right click, then went into the Z drive where there was nothing, and pasted the 'copied' contents. It said there was 21 files (see img: 'copyZ_toZ')

After canceling there was stuff in the new folder i couldnt see (see img: 'DataStored')

Why cant i see those files? And what is currently using them?

And it wouldnt copy anything from the X drive when i tried to do the same thing.
Click to expand...

As these files,are your system files, formating will delete them, & remake them.
 

My Computer

System One

well, it formatted fine. It says its completely empty. Whether its a fake out or not about wiping data, I want it to read 0 if there isnt anything in it..

its the difference between looking at a drive and knowing how much data youve stored, vs. looking and remembering to subtract 26 gb.
 

My Computer

System One

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