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I.T chaps , desperate help needed

buckshee
buckshee Posts: 7,866
edited October 2007 in Troubleshooting
had me pc since march and installed vista home basic on it . Just sold the thing but when I look at the c drive it says there is still around 32gb of stuff on there but try as I might I cannot find it to delete it . I've been clicking on explore on the c drive but can't find the files anywhere there , I've even deleted everything in the windows old folder .

Any ideas anyone ? meant to be handing it over tomorrow night so I'm in a bit of a panic

Comments

  • bingaddick
    bingaddick Posts: 8,181
    32gb seems an awful lot. Is this a factory installed back up partition? If so I would have thought that if you install some partitioning software like Partion Commander or similar, it will see the partition that Windows can't and allow you to delete it. On the other hand if it is just a factory installed back up partition it's only likely to contain stuff for setting up windows and programs which can supplied and wont include your own data. I'm afraid this is a guess.
  • Stone
    Stone Posts: 3,026
    edited October 2007
    Empty your recycle bin !
  • aliwibble
    aliwibble Posts: 26,269
    Check whether you're set up to show hidden files and folders, but be careful deleting those as some of them will be essential operating system ones.
  • buckshee
    buckshee Posts: 7,866
    I've set it up to show hidden files and folders and still no joy , how the eff can it show that much stuff still there but I can't find them. Can't even think what the heck they are
  • RedArmySE7
    RedArmySE7 Posts: 5,407
    Have you tried switching it off and then back on again?!
  • bingaddick
    bingaddick Posts: 8,181
    What make of PC out of interest?
  • Duck-Killer Brown
    Duck-Killer Brown Posts: 477
    Do you not have an XP cd??

    If you do you can boot the computer up using XP and re format the drive to clear all data and just leave the Operating System on there -
    Or even Run FDISK from Windows to delete the partition that Vista is working from???
  • kigelia
    kigelia Posts: 2,582
    If when looking at the c:\ drive it says you have 32gb of stuff on there then my view would be it is unlikely to be a hidden partition.

    As well as showing hidden files and folders there is another option 'Hide protected operating system files'. If you uncheck that then that may help find the hidden data.

    the only similar situation I have come across is when someone was using a lot of offline files from the office network. It was using about 18gb of file space and it was a bugger to find. It was only when I made the protected files visible that it worked. The cache was stored in c:\windows\csc.
  • WSS
    WSS Posts: 25,070
    Medders is an IT whizz, he should be able to help you.
  • Medders
    Medders Posts: 5,572
    Thanks Glenn!

    Recycle bin is the obvious one... I take it that's been checked?
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  • leefender
    leefender Posts: 395
    I have vista ultimate and that took about 30gb, the other option which i had to do this weekend after a major problem was run cmd and type format, that'll clear everything then reinstall windows,
  • Leroy Ambrose
    Leroy Ambrose Posts: 14,435
    edited October 2007
    Download Killdisk from Active@

    You shouldn't sell a PC on with ANY data on it at all - running Fdisk or another partitioning utility won't erase anything. Download Killdisk, burn it as an .iso image, pop it in the tray and set your PC to boot from the optical drive first you can run the program from there - it will erase everything with a ridiculously good diskpass method. The paid for version erases up to seven times - good enough to defeat any data recovery software in existence - but the free version will be just as good for your purposes.
  • Charlton Dan
    Charlton Dan Posts: 4,937
    Can someone translate please?
  • AFKABartram
    AFKABartram Posts: 57,820
    [cite]Posted By: Charlton Dan[/cite]Can someone translate please?

    Basically Buckshee has flogged his computer, has deleted all known porn files but is now crapping himself that some filth is still left on there. Nerdy geeky blokes are trying to help him. Think thats it.
  • Salad
    Salad Posts: 10,189
    hehe
  • Off_it
    Off_it Posts: 28,832
    [cite]Posted By: AFKA Bartram[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Charlton Dan[/cite]Can someone translate please?

    Basically Buckshee has flogged his computer, has deleted all known porn files but is now crapping himself that some filth is still left on there. Nerdy geeky blokes are trying to help him. Think thats it.

    That's funny!
  • Charlton Dan
    Charlton Dan Posts: 4,937
    edited October 2007
    From now on all IT posts will be translated by BartramFish
  • aliwibble
    aliwibble Posts: 26,269
    [cite]Posted By: AFKA Bartram[/cite]Basically Buckshee has flogged his computer, has deleted all known porn files but is now crapping himself that some filth is still left on there. Nerdy geeky blokes are trying to help him. Think thats it.
    Oi! Who are you calling a nerdy geeky bloke?
  • buckshee
    buckshee Posts: 7,866
    afka how dare you !

    as if I'd be so stupid . I never took my porn of my old hard disc in the first place , he he.

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