I have a hard disk with 3 partitions. Recently I noticed that I was losing a lot of disk space (5-6G). The total disk space used by all folders was must less than the 'Used space' reported by the property of the drive. After I purged the Norton Protected Recycle Bin, I reclaimed the lost space of my D: and E: but not my C:. I have another notebook which had the same symptom. My drive D: has the lost space reclaimed but not the C:. Where were the space used?
Is there any utility out there which shows the disk space usage, all files and folders and these lost space as well?

Try scanning your disk partitions and fix the errors if any.

How? Using which program?

right click on your partition/properties/tools/check now

Thanks. But there was no error. I have a feeling that it relates to my recent work on huge dvd video files.

What OS are you running ??
What DVD burner program are you running??

XP could be setting aside too much room for system restore...
or your DVD program might still have the files cached...
More info.

patio.

I am running XP Home and using Nero to burn DVD. When Nero exits would it cleanup its cache? Is there a utility that would display the disk space usage of these hidden files?

I found the problem. I went to Disk Cleanup >> More Options and cleanup the System Restore. The lost space was reclaimed.

A good idea would be to make a folder for just this purpose...
I have a Cache folder on F: setup for strictly burning projects...
That way if Nero forgets or whatever i can easily empty it.
Set up the folder first and then point Nero to it under Nero tools i believe. For performance i have found this works best when it is on a different partition than the OS.
Glad to hear you found your lost space...

patio.

Set your operating system to show hidden files.....In the future you'll not have this problem.
Also sometimes delete your temp files
C:\Documents and Settings\~your name\Local Settings\Temp

Patio, I also used to put my working files in D: or E: and left C: for Windows and other program installations only. However, those data for system restore seems to be hidden somewhere in C:. May be I should check to see if it is configurable.

I'm not aware that you can re-locate system restore files to another location...
i'll do some checking.

patio.