[Feba]

Originally Posted by TheGrandMom

You want to see naked ladies, kids? I'm a lady!

*shudder*

Also, parents, google's search bar remembers what you typed! I really did not need to know that, mom.

Originally Posted by Jarre

we know all the secrets!!

It doesn't really matter if you know if your kid uses encryption.

Not to mention that whole fun of hiding files within other files. Unless you happen to be very paranoid about searching through all of your kid's files mercilessly looking for jpgs that are larger than they should be.

And it just gets better! Steganography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for one

There is also the solution of simply not keeping it.

Basically, if your kids want to find pron, they're going to find it one way or another.

Until you require websites be on a whitelist in order to be accessed... and your kids just go find a Playboy instead.

[Dracovivi]

It could be system restore, backups, etc... Which OS are you running, looks to be XP, but if it's Vista; you may want to take a look at this.

Also, in regards to having hidden files/folders shown/hidden; a properties search on C:\ still yields same file size with them hidden or not (just testing this to confirm)

Also from my experience, overly large files flag an prompt saying they are too big to be sent to the recycling bin; and you have to just delete them... not sure if that is something that can be disabled or not.

One more question for the OP, do you share your PC with any other people? IIRC users can hide their documents from other users of the computer... in which case those files might not be able to be included in the properties search from your User log in.

[TheGrandMom]

Originally Posted by Feba

*shudder*

Also, parents, google's search bar remembers what you typed! I really did not need to know that, mom.

Sorry Feba, I did it to teach them a lesson. They quickly learned that saving stuff on the computer wasn't going to work. Also remember this was back in the 80's, things were a little easier back then.

[Feba]

Originally Posted by TheGrandMom

Sorry Feba, I did it to teach them a lesson.

The fact that you didn't go "LOL! No, but..." is incredibly disturbing.

[LadyKiKi]

Originally Posted by Dracovivi

It could be system restore, backups, etc... Which OS are you running, looks to be XP, but if it's Vista; you may want to take a look at this.

Also, in regards to having hidden files/folders shown/hidden; a properties search on C: still yields same file size with them hidden or not (just testing this to confirm)

Also from my experience, overly large files flag an prompt saying they are too big to be sent to the recycling bin; and you have to just delete them... not sure if that is something that can be disabled or not.

One more question for the OP, do you share your PC with any other people? IIRC users can hide their documents from other users of the computer... in which case those files might not be able to be included in the properties search from your User log in.

It is likely that the PC is hiding System files that is one other layer of hidden files.

To see/access this in Windows XP go to:

Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View tab

UNTICK the box which says "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)".

On the root of your C drive, or whatever drive, extra files/icons should appear.

For the love of god don't do anything to them.

[KingOfZeal]

Originally Posted by Darkages

if that hidden button was checked that would make all my files in c hidden
but i dont use recycle bin i delete it straight out so i have no clue

BACK ON TOPIC (I'm looking at you, TGM and Feba)...

Windows by default uses the Recycle Bin, I'm not sure if it even allows you to disable it. So unless you delete it using another program, you can't delete it without it passing through the Recycle. Check it anyway.

Also, did you heed my suggestion and check out TreeSize Free or WinDirStat? Those WILL tell you where your space is. They're small files (WinDirStat also comes in a package that allows portability through a pen drive, which is how I learned about it), so it's not like you can't afford the memory. The only thing it takes is the time to let the program explore everything... let it run overnight and it should be able to hand a disk of around 500 gigs used.

[Darkages]

well i would of tried all those ideas but a power surge hit my laptop killed it so i wasnt able to get back on here till i got home from my trip.

but thanks for all the help =D

[Lunaryn]

Originally Posted by KingOfZeal

Windows by default uses the Recycle Bin, I'm not sure if it even allows you to disable it. So unless you delete it using another program, you can't delete it without it passing through the Recycle. Check it anyway.

Incorrect. You can delete a file without invoking the recycle bin at all.

1) There is no recycle bin on small removable media (not relevant, but worth noting as a condition)
2) Issuing the del command from a command prompt will delete, not move, files.
3) Holding Shift while deleting a file from the GUI interface will delete, not move, the file. You will still be asked to confirm deletion.
4) As noted, programs which use normal file system calls will delete, not move, files they attempt to delete.