I have Lost 52GB from my hard drive how can i get it back

I have Lost 52GB from my hard drive how can i get it back. The reason for it was that i made 2 backups of my computer to my documents with Acronis true image 1 was sector by sector and 1 wasn't, I then cut and pasted them into my external hard drive, so i thought the computer would automatically regain the space. I have tried Ccleaner windows own Defrager and pargon Hard disc defrager and I have still not gained the 52GB I lost any ideas welcome.
Thank you in advance.

Defragmenting won't be any good to you in this scenario as all it does is rearrange the files on your hard drive so that you can access them quicker.

I realise it's of no help to you now, but the backups should have been pointed to your external hard drive, not your internal drive, and certainly not to your system partition.

You should be able to delete the partition, and then create a new one in the resultant unallocated space.

Go back into Disk Management, right-click the offending partition and choose the Delete option then right-click again and choose the New option (selecting Quick Format will prepare the partition for use).

seavixen32 said:

You should be able to delete the partition, and then create a new one in the resultant unallocated space.

Go back into Disk Management, right-click the offending partition and choose the Delete option then right-click again and choose the New option (selecting Quick Format will prepare the partition for use).

This means me lossing all my programs correct, basically doing a reinstall. I have never backed up before so see the images I have created on my external hard drive will it install all my programs with the serial numbers included, or do i have to insert the serial numbers and programs myself mate.

boohbah said:

try using disc space fan to see what is using up the 52 Gb and you can delete it from dsf also
Disk Space Fan - Manage disk space with art

will try that mate thank you

If I've understood you correctly...

I'd try putting the images back where they were (with original file names if you changed these) and then delete/remove them via Acronis? I've not used Acronis myself though other solutions allow you to mange previous backups/images, and or delete older ones given your settings therein? You might need to run another backup to the NEW location, and or change settings, to achieve this???

OakenG said:

If I've understood you correctly...

I'd try putting the images back where they were (with original file names if you changed these) and then delete/remove them via Acronis? I've not used Acronis myself though other solutions allow you to mange previous backups/images, and or delete older ones given your settings therein? You might need to run another backup to the NEW location, and or change settings, to achieve this???

Well i don't really know myself as i am new to backing up never done ever before. I backed up to my documents then i cut and pasted them into external hard drive, is that the same as deleting them?