Lost a bunch of Space!!!!

[dynasty]

I have 2 partitions, C and D, C for windows, and D for everything else, i have 3gb set aside for the C for windows. I'm running xp pro. All of a sudden I'm getting this message saying that you are low on space. I went from 1.1gb to 129mb, now i'm at 278 after some disc cleanup, I can't find where it went. Need some help, I might just end up reformatting but dont' want to do that unless necessary. thanks

 

[Crusty]

Page File, Recycle Bin, System Restore, Norton Protected Recycle Bin...

it could be any of those taking up space.

 

[dynasty]

paging file is on the D partition and it is set to a certain size. I have noticed that when I empy the norton protected files my space goes up, it has been as low as 8mb, now it is up to 278mb after deleting that. what else?

 

[Crusty]

You delete all of your temp files? Anything saved onto your desktop that doesn't need to be?

My XP install is 3.5gb atm and I keep it pretty clean.

 

[dynasty]

I haven't downloaded 800mb's on C ever. Everything I download goes on D. Any thing else? this is really pissing me off

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Run all of these programs (in no particular order): disk defragmenter, chkdsk, virus scanner (you can't be too safe) with latest definitions.

(for defragmenter and chkdsk, go to:
My Computer > right-click "C:" > select Properties > Tools > Error Checking (chkdsk) and Defragmentation)

 

[kamper]

hiberfil.sys??

Try turning off hibernation.

Also, you might want more than 3 gigs for your windows partition. Isn't that cutting it a bit close?

 

[ActuaryTm]

Why not simply search for any and all files over a certain threshold (say 100MB)? Chances are with that level of decrease in available storage, it is a large single file or several large files. Be certain to turn on both the "System folders" and the "Hidden files and folders" options.

 

[Jeff7]

Sequoia View will show you where the most space is being used. Just be sure to configure it to view all files - system, hidden, etc.

 

[dynasty]

Ok, I'm not loosing anymore, i'm at 217mb. I stopped windows update, I had it turned off and then i turned it back on. So I think that might have taken up some of it while it was downloading stuff. Where can I go to delete the updates that it downloaded but didn't finish downloading? It starting downloading sp2, and then i turned auto update off. thanks

 

[ActuaryTm]

Repeating and bolding the above suggestion in hopes that if not already attempted, dynasty will do so. If already attempted, please report back any findings prior to any further suggestions being made. For clarity, perform the search on the entire "C" (or default) partition, with no parameter for file name - merely based on file size (set option to "Specify Size (in KB)" to 100000).

Dependent upon the results of the search outlined below, attempt different thresholds (100MB, 75MB, 50MB, etc) to find where the space is being utilized.

Originally posted by: ActuaryTm
Why not simply search for any and all files over a certain threshold (say 100MB)? Chances are with that level of decrease in available storage, it is a large single file or several large files. Be certain to turn on both the "System folders" and the "Hidden files and folders" options.

 

[dynasty]

I did a search and I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. I did find one 74mb file that was a driver or something like that that had a winzip icon, other then that, nothing.

 

[ActuaryTm]

Most likely "driver.cab" in the i386 directory of driver cache.

 

[ActuaryTm]

Believe temporary Windows Update files are stored under the directory WUTemp, in the root of the installation partition (ie, C:\WUTemp). Make certain to have "Show Hidden files and folders" turned on, "Hide protected operating system flies (Recommended)" turned off in Explorer.exe's "Folder Options".

 

[dynasty]

but that isn't taking up all the space is it???

 

[ActuaryTm]

No. As indicated earlier, should be around 74 to 75MB.

Check the previous reply above regarding the temporary Windows Update directory. Also, check the size of (but do not delete) the directory WindowsUpdate in the Program Files folder on the installation drive (C:\Program Files\WindowsUpdate by default). Shouldn't be terribly large, but just want to be certain something isn't lingering in there.

 

[talyn00]

The system restore directory also can take up quite a bit of space

 

[dynasty]

system restore is disabled

 

[dynasty]

I have show hidden files and folders turned on, and I dont' see a WUTemp in my C:/ directory.

 

[ActuaryTm]

Originally posted by: dynasty
I have show hidden files and folders turned on, and I dont' see a WUTemp in my C:/ directory.

As stated above, "Hide protected operating system flies (Recommended)" should be turned off. Also, you made no notation regarding the size of the WindowsUpdate folder in the Programs Files directory.

 

[oog]

I found that the freeware TreeSize is good for finding out where your space went.

 

[Jeff7]

Did you try Sequoia View yet?

 

[dynasty]

windowsupdate folder in Program Files is 37kb. No I haven't tried Sequoia yet, I'm gonna try it tomorrow.

 

[Netopia]

Originally posted by: oog
I found that the freeware TreeSize is good for finding out where your space went.

I use TreeSize ALL THE TIME to diagnose this sort of thing on workstations. It doesn't show you the sizes of individual files (which you can get natively from Explorer), but instead shows you the size of every directory and sorts them by which are biggest and most likely to be your problem.

Download it here to give it a try.

Joe

 

[KoolDrew]

Use this to see what is taking up so much space
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/