Windows 7: Hard disk drive problem

So,recently I went to format my laptop because last week,it got attacked by virus.
Out of curiosity...my hard disk drives came in 500 gb.And this evening,I saw both of my hard disk drives only 232 gb per each.

Can someone explain me that actually both of my hard disk drives are actually each + each = 500 or per each 500 and another per each 500?Because I'm afraid I got cheated by the workers.
Thanks,cheers

Hello Apple92,

What you're referring to as "hard drives" could be actually 2 Partitions on ONE Harddrive.

It seems like your hard drive still has the same capacity, because 232 + 232 = 464 GiBi which is 500 GB by the manufacturer's calculations

(1 GiBi = 1024 MiBi = 1048576 KiBi = 1073741824 bytes)

(1 GB = 1000 MB = 1000000 KB = 1000000000 bytes)

(Windows calculates 1 GB as 1024 MB in Base 2, Hardware manufacturers calculate 1 GB as 1000 MB in Base 10)

So unless your laptop can support 2 Physical hard drives to begin with, you still have all your hard drive space, but split into 2 partitions.

To confirm this for yourself 100%, follow this tutorial for Disk Management:-

WIN | type DISKMGMT.MSC | ENTER
This method gives you a display without the unneeded navigation pane.
WIN=key with Microsoft logo on top.

Maximize the output of Disk Management:
ALT-Spacebar key combo | X key (selects Maximize) |
Drag the field separators (such as between Status and Capacity) to show entire field.

Check to see whether there are 2 disks in the display.

And if you want us to help confirm it for you, post a screenshot from Disk management using this tutorial:-

How to Use the Snipping Tool in Vista - Vista Forums

Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

Okay,I've attached the photo to you guys

Yep, that screenshot basically confirms it.

You have a single 500 GB (465 GiBi) hard drive, with 3 partitions, 2 of which you can access called C: and D:, and one system reserved partition which is kept exclusively for Windows use that you cannot touch or mess around with.

The workers at the shop must have partitioned your drive into those parts when they fixed your problem.

If you wanna know more about Partitions:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning

You didn't get conned by the people at the shop!

yea..thank you for your help.thank you thank you