C drive disk space differ from actual file size in c drive?

when i cright click on c dribve and see proporties it shows total size 27.8 gb and free space 1,85 gb


when i enter c drive select all files in c drive and then right click and see proporties actual file size is=4.21 GB





why so and even cant defragment as it says minimum 155 free disk space required


why so happening can anyone help

C drive disk space differ from actual file size in c drive?
Some files are "hidden". click tools, view, show hidden files and folder. i use it hide files =)
Reply:Some files are hidden and they aren't counted when you click properties inside the C drive. Also when u see the C drive properties it doesn't show the space windows occupies
Reply:microsoft and the drive manufacurers use a different numbering system to measure the drive space.pay attention to the highest amount
Reply:When you right click and go to properties it is going to give you a more accurate reading than if you try to select all and go to properties. As mentioned, there are hidden files, and if the difference is as large as you say (27.8GB versus 4.21GB) you're definately not finding something on the disk.





27.8 with 1.85GB free sounds about accurate for a 30GB hardrive. If you have music, videos, or pictures, that space will go fast.





In order to defragment you need to delete some files and free up some disk space. The defgragmentation tool requires a certain amount of free space to move files to, so it can better organize the drive.





Try deleting extra stuff and removing programs that you do not use. You should be able to free up enough disk space to run a defragment. If you're system is running very slowly, it's not all that surprising considering it sounds like your hard drive is almost full.





A good option is to buy an external hard drive, and use it for storage. Not to mention you can transfer all of the stuff you need to the external and format and then reinstall windows....which will make your computer seem like new. Make sure you have all of your driver disks (The software for things like video cards, sound cards, and so on), or have someone on hand who knows about formatting and reinstalling windows, since the "driver hunt" can be a pain in the ***.





Good luck!

rose