Is there a secret part of my hard disk?

[WARLORDTF]

Main Question or Discussion Point

when I was running a standard check on my HDD I found when I ran my disk filler (to completely delete my files PM me if you don't understand) i found 2Gb would not write i checked the binary point only to find it was empty.. absolutely nothing (just before anyone says my OS is on a separate part of the drive )
Does anyone know what this is?

 

[fedaykin]

I'm not quite certain what's going on with your hdd, but do remember that hard drive capacities are base 10, not base 2 like most other capacities on a computer.

What software are you using to erase your disk and what sort of file system are (were, hehe) you using?
All of you manufacturer stated hdd capacity should be available to you.

While a GB of ram is 2^30 bytes, a GB of hdd capacity is 10^9 bytes.

It's possible you have bad sectors or have something strange about your low level formatting if you've messed with it(defining how many tracks, sectors per track ... etc.)

 

[Borek]

While a GB of ram is 2^30 bytes

Bits, not bytes

 

[fedaykin]

Capital B stands for bytes, if I'm not mistaken.
Lowercase b stands for bits.

 

[WARLORDTF]

say my drive is split into 10 sections:
section 1 approx 20 GB - OS Systems
section 2 approx 20 GB - Boot Files etc...
section 3 approx 20 GB - Other Files
section 4 approx 20 GB - Other Files
section 5 approx 20 GB - Other Files
section 6 approx 20 GB - Other Files
section 7 approx 20 GB - Unreachable
section 8 approx 20 GB - Other Files
section 9 approx 20 GB - Other Files
section 10 approx 20 GB - Other Files

My Copy of windows is legit and most (if not all) software is legal.
*these days your always illegal in someone's eyes!*

 

[Borek]

Sorry, my mistake, no idea what I was thinking about

 

[NoTime]

Unreachable implies that there is a BIOS, O/S or Software limitation.
Might depend on how old your stuff is.

There at one time was a manufacture partition that remapped bad sectors with "spare" good ones. It required special software to update. Don't know if this method still exists or if that is what you are finding.

 

[Borek]

I believe mapping between sectors numbers and physical sectors have lost any meaning several years ago. HDD is a black box where you put number (of sector) and you are given numbers (data from that sector) back. In general you have no control over what is happening inside.

 

[WARLORDTF]

ahh but my computer is new... and is running Vista :grumpy:
I HATE VISTA and am planning to return to XP soon
(i BOUGHT the computer with Vista, i didn't upgrade my old one)

 

[NoTime]

No argument on vista (it came with my laptop).
Ok, as an internet appliance, but as an OS...

No idea what you are using to scan your disk.
While I haven't researched it, I do have some indication that Vista keeps some data outside of the defined disk file system structure.
This idea may or may not be correct.

 

[WARLORDTF]

While I haven't researched it, I do have some indication that Vista keeps some data outside of the defined disk file system structure.
This idea may or may not be correct.

Here's a test for anyone who is interested...

Open MY COMPUTER *(Only on Vista Pc's)

on the addresss bar type 'C:\documents and settings\'
I know there is no such file even hidden yet an error message pops up and says:
'Error:You are not allowed access to this file'
Is This a VISTA blackspot?
I Knew it sucked but come on...

You can try opening it on MS-DOS
error: Drive not accessible

What is up?
i don't know.

(Someone should email bill gates....)

 

[NoTime]

Ok, that I kinda know about (not a lot).
There really isn't a file -- it's some sort of alias link.
To get there directly from mycomputer you need
c:\users\xxxx\docments where xxxx is your user id.

All of these funky links have the funny arrow icon on them.

EDIT: or you can just click the xxxx directory and get the same thing.
Or it really is organized the old way but vista forces you to use the overlayed new links