PC hardware: External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting
External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting
by meme427 - 10/9/07 9:05 AMI have a 2.5" External hard drive that has a lot of data on it
I was trying to free up some space on the hard Drive but when i delete anything the space does not come. I deleted a 4.5 GB folder and the free space still remained 687MB.
I do this with any files on this hard Drive the space does not increase.
I have tried to defragment my drive, done disk cleanup.
I have obviously emptied my recycle bin (besides i did say this is an external drive)
Anyone got a solution?
Usually not a hardware issue.
by R. Proffitt
- 10/9/07 9:09 AM
In reply to: External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting by meme427
The most common thing to do is to empty the trash.
Bob
Trash is empty
by meme427 - 10/9/07 12:36 PM In reply to: Usually not a hardware issue. by R. Proffitt
This is an external Hard Drive
I have emptied the trash as well
many time i end up using Ctrl+Delete
I am sure the files are not in the Trash.
Is there any other solution?
My external has a trashcan too.
by R. Proffitt - 10/9/07 7:45 PM
In reply to: Trash is empty by meme427
You can use a file explorer (I use Gyula's Navigator) to find where the space is or not is.
Bob
Hidden folder/files
by wmlundine - 10/12/07 5:09 PM In reply to: External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting by meme427May be caused by malware. Use Tree Size Free available on Cnet download.com. Works for me every time.Find the files, delete and then scan drive for virus/malware.
Try ScanDisk!
by antonio78 - 10/12/07 5:20 PM In reply to: External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting by meme427Have you tried running "ScanDisk" on your external hard drive to check for errors and correct them if it there's any?
Do the following:
1. Double-click My Computer.
2. Right-click the drive you want to scan and select Properties.
3. Select the Tools tab. In the "Error-checking" section, click the Check Now button (this button appears in the "Error Checking Status" section in Windows 95, 98, and Me).
Hope this helps!!
empty the trash can or use shift+delete key to....
by ackmondual - 10/12/07 5:26 PM In reply to: External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting by meme427.....permanently delete stuff.
Emptying the trash/recycling can is true of ALL ext hardrives, from handheld units that only hold 4GB, to those the size of a brick that hold 750GB.
External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting
by HJBartz - 10/12/07 9:30 PM In reply to: External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting by meme427Have you checked the partition on that drive? Go to control panel/performance and maintenance/administrative tools/computer management/storage/disk management.
i recently had a client who complained that he was missing some space on his HDD - we found that the manufacturer (Dell), for what ever reason, had placed a small fat partiton before the main ntfs partion. The fat partition was not visible in windows explorer.
cheers
Had the same problem and solved it
by genotypewriter - 10/13/07 12:45 AM In reply to: External Harddrive space not freeing up even after deleting by meme427It was actually on my 2GB SD card. The amount of free space wasn't report properly. This probably happens when you remove the harddrive/device before the OS updates the file system records.
One solution is to backup everything (on to another drive) and quick format the drive. This did it for me.
Hope this helped.
The amount of free space wasn't report properly .....
by HJBartz - 10/13/07 7:29 AM In reply to: Had the same problem and solved it by genotypewriternow that you mention it the problem obviously is one of the amount of free space not being reported properly. Equally obvious, now that i think about it, is that there is a little utility called 'chkdsk' in-built in windows that can be used to correct the problem.
Yep
by genotypewriter - 10/13/07 8:14 AM In reply to: The amount of free space wasn't report properly ..... by HJBartzSomewhere in Windows there's a way to recalculate the amount of free space but I couldn't find it again. So that's why I chose to simply copy everything over, quick format and restore the copy. I understand this is more doable on 2GB flash disk as opposed to a large harddrive.
Let us know if you manage to find it... I just chkdsk /? but couldn't find it in the options.
no "chkdsk"
by antonio78 - 10/13/07 11:03 AM In reply to: Yep by genotypewriterHey guys, you won't be able to use "chkdsk" if you have Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, and XP, these systems come with a 32-bit ScanDisk disk analysis and repair tool, read my first post somewere above if you need to know how to get to it!
chkdsk is there in XP
by genotypewriter - 10/13/07 5:54 PM In reply to: no "chkdsk" by antonio78I think it's used only for scanning during the booting process. I just tried chkdsk because it shows me a variety of options unlike scandisk. I don't think the command prompt chkdsk and the scandisk in My Computer are any different in the way they work.
Just ended up formatin it!
by meme427 - 10/14/07 12:22 AM In reply to: chkdsk is there in XP by genotypewriterI tried the the check disk, went through cmd
tried doing it at boot up...
tried defragmenting it as well
none of them worked so i finally did what i dint want to
i took a backup and then formatted it
and as expected i got all my space back
i also checked for the partitions but there aren't any.
thanx
Sometimes...
by genotypewriter - 10/14/07 5:29 AM In reply to: Just ended up formatin it! by meme427... the inelegant solution elegantly saves time 
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