c drive size problem

[therain]

i have my c drive ..in that drive i have many folders ...when i select all the folders ..and click the propertiees from the menu .i get the total size as 4 GB

..but the c drive properties shows that the space used as 10 GB ... in fact the space used is just 4GB..

hows this possible ?

 

[linney]

See if these point you in the right direction.


Cluster Size.

This is the smallest amount of hard disk space a file can occupy. Floppies have a cluster size of 512 bytes and hard disks can have a cluster size ranging from 1 kilobyte to 16 kilobytes (sometimes even more). The larger the partition, the larger the cluster size. See Slack Space.

Slack Space.

The amount of disk space that is wasted by having a large cluster size. For example, if a 300-byte file is stored on a disk with a cluster size of 1,024 bytes, there will be 724 bytes of slack space that can't be used for any other files. You can see how much space is allocated to a file by typing "DIR /v" at the command prompt.


How to Locate and Correct Disk Space Problems on NTFS Volumes in Windows XP(Q315668)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/6/68.asp

The Default Cluster Size for the NTFS and FAT File Systems(Q314878)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q314/8/78.asp

Files Are Larger on FAT Partitions(Q101267)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q101/2/67.asp

 

[Mulga]

In XP many folders and files are hidden by default. You have to go into the Tools menu of Windows Explorer and select Folder Options, then View. Work your way through the list and set it so that nothing is hidden, then look at your folder list again, you may get quite a surprise. In particular there is one folder, System Volume Information, which holds all the restore information which System Restore creates. This can run to severak gigabytes on its own. All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

 

[therain]

i have fat32 partition ..does this make a difference..

is there a virus .....cos its showing about 6 gb extra space used