Windows 7: Hard Disk space seen as occupied... But disk is empty inside

Hi

1. I have Windows 7 64-bit installed.

2. Earlier I installed MySQL and created database (size: 2 GB) in my D: drive (size: 52.8 GB).



3. Then I formatted my C: drive and installed Windows 7 again. As a result, MySQL got uninstalled and something happened to the database in D: drive.

4. After the new Windows 7 installation, My Computer shows D: [50.8 GB free of 52.8 GB] but the disk is empty.

5. How do I recover these 2 GBs?


Regards
Arpit

Post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management, showing all the details of the D drive.

PFA

What does "PFA" mean?

Disk Management says there is something on D, but if you don't care about that something, whatever it is, a reformat of D should get all the space back.

PFA: Please Find Attached

It does not allow to format. I have attached 2 images.

Post a screenshot of the end step of the following: Start Menu -> Right click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced system settings -> Advanced tab (should already be in this tab after the last step) -> Under the Performance section -> Settings... -> Advanced tab -> Under the Virtual Memory section -> Change...

Did you ever check whether there were hidden files on the drive.

If you want to reformat, use Partition Wizard - the bootable CD is best.

If the OS is creating a pagefile on the drive (as appears to be the case from Disk Management), formatting the partition will not stop the pagefile from being recreated. I think it is a good idea to check the pagefile settings and turn them off for that partition. I see no reason for a pagefile on each separate partition as there seems to be on the OP's system.

Go to Folder and Search Options in Windows explorer and View tab. Click the radio button on the Show hidden files, folders, or drives. Remove check mark on Hide protected operating system files. You can also remove the check mark for Hide extensions for known file types.

Now to remove the page file on D:, Right click on Computer and select properties. On the left side of the window, click on Advanced system settings. Here go to Advanced tab and click on the Advanced tab and again click on the Settings button in Performance section. In this section click on Advanced tab. In the Virtual memory section click on Change button.

Select the D: drive and then click on the radio button next to No paging file. Press Set button and close the window. If a message appears that you should restart the system please do so.

Once you get the desktop open D: and check the contents. If you see your old database file there, take a backup of it, and delete any other extra files.

Now you can format the D: and you will have recovered the entire space.

Were you able to recover the hard disk space using the help provided?