Missing HDD space...completely missing

[Mr.Walnuts]

My B:\ Drive is a 750GB HDD (698 GB in windows)

Right now explorer shows 304GB free of 698GB...
698-304=394

The problem is The is NOT 394GB of data being used on that drive; in fact, the sum of the contents of ALL folder within the drive only equal 161.1GB
The remaining 232.9GB are COMPLETELY unaccounted for...

and before you say it... I always keep all folders unhidden, including system files.

Any idea?

[profJim]

Keeping windows system files and folders unhidden does not mean that you can access them.
For example, my Indexer folder shows that it's empty, when it currently uses more than 1GB of disk space.

Some freeware partition manager programs will let you "explore" your drives when you boot from a bootable optical disk that uses linux.
I'll test this with partition mangers from EaseUS and Paragon, as well as a linux live cd and report back tomorrow.

TreeSize freeware is a useful utility, but can't report folder sizes for many "hidden" windows system folders.

[profJim]

I ran Ubuntu v11.10 32-bit from a dvd to view properties and space used by hidden windows folders.
The partition manager programs did not allow me to view how much space was used by folders.
Download | Ubuntu

Post screenshots that show windows explorer's statistics and the disk layout using Administrative Tools ==> Computer Management ==> Disk Management. My 640GB drive shows individual partitions and that it has 596GB which includes 48GB in a hidden boot partion and 16GB of unallocated space.

If you have windows backup on your "B:\" drive a lot of space might be used for ongoing saved backups and images.
I'm using the H: partition for windows backups and the information displayed by backup is consistent with this partition's free space.

[Mr.Walnuts]

Let me address your points as bullets:

• I do not use backups; I clone my OS drive after setup of all my regular applications and store it on an external
• My B:\ drive is kind of a transient drive... I store downloads there prior to sorting, organizing, and relocating them to one of my other 10 storage HDDs

Below is a photo of my Disk Management utility.

ETA: isn't Ubuntu an OS?
Would I need to install Ubuntu parellel to windows i order to use the aforementioned utility?

[profJim]

The Ubuntu download gives you two options; run from the dvd or install Ubuntu on your system. I run it from the dvd.
Check out TreeSize Free - Quickly Scan Directory Sizes and Find Space Hogs or the Pro version with a 30 day trial Disk Space Manager software at its best: TreeSize Professional.

[jaydeee]

I have good experiences with Easeuse partition manager.
It has facility to recover unused and unallocated spaces.