Vista - the files take up space but can't be found

ok, here's a wierd one.
I have a different partition for the recovery.
i was doing a windows re-install for another back-up I stuck some of my
files in the recovery partition side of the hard drive. When you explored
that partition, they would be there like on the normal hard drive.

Once i re-installed windows i went in to find the files and they are gone.
But, they are still taking up the space on the hard drive. a few of the small
files i tried to put in thre again and it said it was already there, but it's
not. I don't need those files, i just want to delete them from that partition
so i can free up the space. They are not hidden files either, i checked that.
How could they be gone but still take up space?

And help would be apprreciated.
thanks

If you open a command prompt and type in "Dir /A" are they found? Could they
be marked as System+hidden? They are seperate options in the folder options.

"Superdutt" wrote:

its because the files got deleted.. but are technically still on the hard drive... like..
when you delete something, its deleted, a normal person cant get it back... but it still takes up space

a perfect example to explain this.. is
when you call the phone company to remove yourself from the phonebook listings..
you are removed from the directory, but your still alive.. get it?
so the only way to get the space back, would be to format it properly, or to do a
The government standard (DoD 5220.22-M ) "wipe-out"


Post Originated from http://www.VistaForums.com Vista Support Forums

rubish

<LAN Jockey> wrote in message news:ezUecN9vIHA.4848@xxxxxx

that's not it. I took one of the files i knew were on there and tried to put
it in there again and it told me there was already a copy on there. If i
replyed to copy over it, then it appeared and i could delete it. I can't do
it with some of the folders because they are too big

"LAN Jockey" wrote:

i also checked the directory from the command prompt and it says there's
nothing else there, but a the whole partition is full anyway, when normally
there are many GB's of free space

"Superdutt" wrote:

Hi, Superdutt.

If you're still fighting this battle...

Did you try Justin's suggestion several posts ago?

First, open an Administrator:Command Prompt by right-clicking on cmd.exe and
choosing Run as Administrator - and furnishing the Administrator password.
Once this window is open, any command or program started from here will "run
elevated".

Then check out the Dir command, which dates back to MS-DOS days (and before)
when folders were Directories. A simple "Dir" will list the files in the
current directory, but we can add switches and parameters to make it do a
lot more. Enter "Dir /?" to see what I call a mini-Help file showing all
these options. This " /?" trick works for just about any command in the
Command Prompt window.

Dir /a shows ALL files in the folder, no matter what Attributes (Hidden,
System, etc.) may be set for them. Dir /s shows files in the current folder
and all its subfolders. So, dir /s/a shows ALL files and folders in the
tree starting here. Dir C:\ /s /a will start at the Root of C: and list
every file on the drive. If the file is there, this will show it. (You
might have time for a cup of coffee if it is a big drive with lots of
files!)

Use other switches to list files by size, ascending or descending, to locate
the biggies.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"Superdutt" <Superdutt@xxxxxx> wrote in message
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