Downloaded files disappear - hard disk still in use

[wicked_girl]

My downloads reached 100% and I deleted the tasks by selecting BOTH of them, and then clicking delete - task only.

One of the downloads is fine.

The other downloaded files disappeared - I cannot find them anywhere, and my hard drive still shows the space that they took as full and does not release it as free disk space.

I found out that the disk space is allocated to the Temporary Internet Files folder in my user's documents and settings. I deleted all files in this folder, but the space still remains allocated. When I open the folder, no files are listed. When I close it and display its properties, size still remains 10GB, which is the exact size of the lost download file.

What's even weirder is that when I scan the Temporary Internet Files folder for viruses, my antivirus program displays the path to the files that were lost. This makes me think that the files are really there, but for some reason, Windows XP does not "see" them.

This sucks really bad and I need help - I have no idea what happened. Please help.

[realutd7]

try going to folder options and tick the box which says view all hidden files and folders

[The UnUsual Suspect]

I have also seen this problem as a result of something microsoft refers to as "windows file protection"

It sometimes gets so screwed up that your windows will display files that have been deleted, or not show files that it should.

Besides enabling viewing of hidden and system files, I would recomment enabling viewing of all file extensions (once again microsoft figures we don't need to know what kind of files we have on our computer)

Many users disable "windows file protection". If you search on google you will find instructions on doing this. (if your not able to follow the instructions to do so, then it would prob be best you not disabled it)

A short term fix for this problem is to simply reboot your computer.

Suspect

[wicked_girl]

I have also seen this problem as a result of something microsoft refers to as "windows file protection"

It sometimes gets so screwed up that your windows will display files that have been deleted, or not show files that it should.

Besides enabling viewing of hidden and system files, I would recomment enabling viewing of all file extensions (once again microsoft figures we don't need to know what kind of files we have on our computer)

Many users disable "windows file protection". If you search on google you will find instructions on doing this. (if your not able to follow the instructions to do so, then it would prob be best you not disabled it)

A short term fix for this problem is to simply reboot your computer.

Suspect

Thanks for the info.

In the mean time, I managed to solve my problem. Luckily, after defragmenting my hard drive, one of the "lost" files turned out to be also fragmented. That's how I got a full path to the folders that were gone and I managed to copy and paste my files into a visible folder.

That was surely very freaky and I will disable file protection, since I also have a stuck folder that I deleted a looong time ago. Hopefully, this will fix it.

Thanks anyways.