Lost disk space

[Rambotnic]

Hi!
I'm having some trouble with disk space on a laptop hdd. Windows shows that i've used 15gb of 20 total, but when select all the files and folders under C: (hidden ones too) and look at properties, it only shows about 10gb. The laptop was used when i bought it(several months ago), so there could be a chance of drive damage, but is there a way to make sure its not windows or other software related without formating it?
Also, the defragmentor indicates that it couldnt defragment a file dc8.avi that cant be found anyhere on the drive.

[stordoff]

System Restore / Page File / Hibernation File ?

[Morgoth]

i had the same problem there are files that are not visable

[Rambotnic]

Thanks!
Noticed that System Restore was allowed to use up to 2gb, turned it off but no space was gained. Hibernation was disabled too. :D I guess a format is needed afterall.

[Darknova]

You'll find that most laptop providers that pre-install Windows also have a backup partition on your HDD that you have no access to.

[AsRock]

Open Control Panel and select c drive and right click it select properties thats the max and use space there.

I'd recommend Treespace to know were ll your space is going great program. You sure you are using the whole disk space of the drive ?. Which you can find out under Disk Management.