Re: Hard Drive Space Disappeared


I am not sure whether you are seeing all files and folders. Go to Start,
Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings and verify that
the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is checked and "Hide
protected operating system files " is unchecked. You may need to scroll
down to see the second item. You should also make certain that the box
before "Hide extensions for known file types" is not checked. Next in
Windows Explorer make sure View, Details is
selected and then select View, Choose Details and check before Name,
Type, Total Size, and Free Space. Even then there are still certain
folders that remain hidden and this regularly promps discussion about
"lost" disk space. The System Volume Information folders containing
System Restore points, which by default is allocated 12% of the drive /
partition, is just one example of what remains hidden.

The size of files and free space reported by Windows Explorer can also
mislead. Compressed files mess up reporting.

It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore
on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700
mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System
Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this
time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and
exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and
exit.

Another default setting on a large drive which could be wasteful is
that for temporary internet files especially if you do not store
offline copies on disk. The default allocation is 3% of drive.
Depending on your attitude to offline copies you could reduce this to
1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer select Tools, Internet Options,
General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings to make the change. At the
same time look at the number of days history is held.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to
5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor
on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and
move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get
too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will
bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

Using Disk CleanUp you need to run it in all User Profiles. cCleaner
avoids that necessity. Also the More Options suggestion above could
well have been overlooked when you ran Disk CleanUp. cCleaner
does not touch Restore Points.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




saxman wrote:
I was noticing some degradation in performance yesterday and looked
at my HDD usage. In the 35 GB of the hard drive, only 4 GB was
available - and this after dumping the trash bin and offloading a
mess of documents. I've looked at all the directories that I can
see, including hidden directories, and can account for only 12 GB of
the 31 GB in use. Microsoft technical documents I can find talk
about running ntbackup.exe, which doesn't appear to be available on
my laptop. Those documents indicate there may have been a corruption
of the drive with files that contain leading blanks not recognized by
the file system. Anyway, I appear to be at a dead-end, unable to
identify and remove 23 GB of files. Does anyone have suggestions on
how I might proceed?


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Low Disk Space every boot
    ... that are scanned, including temporary files, may be marked as if having been ... I am not sure whether you are seeing all files and folders. ... Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this ... Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain)
  • Re: Low Disk Space every boot
    ... I am not sure whether you are seeing all files and folders. ... It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore ... Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this ... General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings to make the change. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain)
  • Re: Hard drive free space gone
    ... Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings and verify that the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is checked and "Hide protected operating system files " is unchecked. ... Next in Windows Explorer make sure View, Details is selected and then select View, Choose Details and check before Name, Type, Total Size, and Free Space. ... System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore points? ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Deleting a folder containing System Volume Information after a drive merger.
    ... turning System Restore off will release handles to the System ... Volume Information folders after a few minutes or after a reboot ... System Restore settings can be found if you right-click My Computer ... one can right-click the Recycle Bin on the ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: Deleting a folder containing System Volume Information after a drive merger.
    ... Information folders into a separate folder that sits in the root of the ... turning System Restore off will release handles to the System ... System Restore settings can be found if you right-click My Computer on ... turn off the Recycle Bin per drive on their respective tab. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)