System volume constantly loses space

[CMeyst]

I have a Dell Dimension 8300 system running Win XP Pro, and have a problem in that my System (boot) volume loses space so fast that I need to reboot several times a day. I have moved my temp folder and my print spooler destinations to a different drive, and I cannot find what grows so fast. I previously had a Dell Dimension 4600 system set up very similarly which did not have this problem (there I could run for weeks without rebooting).

My boot drive is C which is 19.5 GB. I keep this only for System files and Windows and those things that insist on installing there. All programs are installed on a different volume (D) and data, etc. is kept on another volume.

When I first boot, I have 16.0 GB free of that 19.5 GB. I had rebooted yesterday afternoon, and when I went to sleep, I had 10.4 GB free. Overnite (without me at the computer, but with some things running automatically -- defrag and backup) it went down to 2.4 GB. I rebooted and was back to 16.0 GB free. Often during the day, I'm working, and receive an error message from some program about insufficient disk space, and I'll check and see that I'm down to 500 KB free until I reboot.

Disk cleanup doesn't yield the missing space -- only rebooting seems to restore it. Does anyone have any clues what is doing this and what I can do to prevent it? Thanks.

 

[phreaqe]

you could have a virus. but it might not be since the space seems to come back after you restart, but i would run a virus scan just to be safe.

 

[CMeyst]

I don't think its a virus, because I ran a full system virus scan Friday morning and the system was clean (and this problem was happening long before then).

 

[Hyperlite]

uhg..yeah it SOUNDS like a virus...but if its not, uhhh, then i really don't know =/

 

[CMeyst]

I am going to run another full system check to be sure, but based on what I've already said, I doubt it (I also have Norton Anti-Virus auto-protect running all of the time).

 

[Pariah]

When your space disappears, check the amount of data in each folder in the root directory of your C drive to find out where it is going. It could be a rogue program with a major memory leak expanding your swap file until the drive is full, or some sort of unerase program, or as noted above a virus. Until you know where the space is going, it will be hard to pinpoint what is causing it.

 

[CMeyst]

Pariah --

That is exactly the problem -- I have tried to find where the space is going, and do not see any siginificant changes in any of the folders to pinpoint it. I also have hidden and system files showing to help me look for it. And, I do not even have swap file on this volume -- it is elsewhere.

I was hoping that someone could give me a clue as to what to look for since it doesn't seem to be an any apparant place. Thanks.

 

[CMeyst]

Okay, an update. I ran another full system virus scan, and the system is clean. I used a program that shows total sizes of all folders to compare folder (and file) sizes after a reboot, and later on.

I found that from yesterday afternoon when I booted and had 16GB free to this morning when I was down to 299MB free, there was NO significant change in size of any folders or files. Obviously whatever is causing this is hidden (and not a hidden file or folder, I have those displayed).

Does anyone have any other clues as to what to look for? Thanks.

 

[imported_raybay]

Do a search on "memory" at www.microsoft.com. This is a known problem with lots of very useful articles in the Microsoft knowledge base. There is a lot of reading involved to get down to the stuff that works for you, but it is worth it. In our case, all the problems occurred on HP computers, but we found that it has to do more with installations and programs than hardware.

 

[CMeyst]

Thanks raybay, I will do that.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Could system restore have anything to do with it since you're running XP Pro?

 

[CMeyst]

GrumpyMan --

I thought of that, but I checked my system restore settings, and it is set to use up to 12% of the drive, and I am losing 80% of the drive (all of the free space).