vista disk space information descrepancies

I've just started using Vista on my new laptop. While the computer shows
38.7GB of disk spaced used, if I add up all of the folders/files shown
(including the systems folders -I think?) I can find only 15GB of actual
space used. Can someone explain if there is a way to see what is absorbing
all of the disk space to enable me to make informed decisions on space
management? I've also noted thast I've used another 1.5GB of space today
without adding any software or files to the computer.Thanks!

Perform a Disk Cleanup:

Click on the blue Vista start button and then on the Computer
entry in the Start Menu. Right-click on your hard drive and
select Properties > Disk Cleanup > Files from all users.....
More Options > Clean Up (System Restore and Shadow Copies).

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"alex5000" wrote:

I've just started using Vista on my new laptop. While the computer shows
38.7GB of disk spaced used, if I add up all of the folders/files shown
(including the systems folders -I think?) I can find only 15GB of actual
space used. Can someone explain if there is a way to see what is absorbing
all of the disk space to enable me to make informed decisions on space
management? I've also noted thast I've used another 1.5GB of space today
without adding any software or files to the computer.Thanks!

"alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:70D12777-5586-4EA4-924D-433E57A8CDE5@microsoft.com...
> I've just started using Vista on my new laptop. While the computer shows
> 38.7GB of disk spaced used, if I add up all of the folders/files shown
> (including the systems folders -I think?) I can find only 15GB of actual
> space used. Can someone explain if there is a way to see what is
> absorbing
> all of the disk space to enable me to make informed decisions on space
> management? I've also noted thast I've used another 1.5GB of space today
> without adding any software or files to the computer.Thanks!

System Restore, the page file and the Hibernation file if that is turned on
could easily be responsible for a large part of the rest of the used space.


--
Michael Solomon
Backup is a PC user's best friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

Thanks. Even after the disk cleanup the descrepancy is over 20GBs.

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> Perform a Disk Cleanup:
>
> Click on the blue Vista start button and then on the Computer
> entry in the Start Menu. Right-click on your hard drive and
> select Properties > Disk Cleanup > Files from all users.....
> More Options > Clean Up (System Restore and Shadow Copies).
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Shell/User
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "alex5000" wrote:
>
> I've just started using Vista on my new laptop. While the computer shows
> 38.7GB of disk spaced used, if I add up all of the folders/files shown
> (including the systems folders -I think?) I can find only 15GB of actual
> space used. Can someone explain if there is a way to see what is absorbing
> all of the disk space to enable me to make informed decisions on space
> management? I've also noted thast I've used another 1.5GB of space today
> without adding any software or files to the computer.Thanks!
>

Thanks. Is there any way I can see how large these files are. In xp such
files are visible to the user. This may also be the case in Vista. I 'm
just ignorant.

"Michael Solomon" wrote:

>
>
> "alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:70D12777-5586-4EA4-924D-433E57A8CDE5@microsoft.com...
> > I've just started using Vista on my new laptop. While the computer shows
> > 38.7GB of disk spaced used, if I add up all of the folders/files shown
> > (including the systems folders -I think?) I can find only 15GB of actual
> > space used. Can someone explain if there is a way to see what is
> > absorbing
> > all of the disk space to enable me to make informed decisions on space
> > management? I've also noted thast I've used another 1.5GB of space today
> > without adding any software or files to the computer.Thanks!
>
> System Restore, the page file and the Hibernation file if that is turned on
> could easily be responsible for a large part of the rest of the used space.
>
>
> --
> Michael Solomon
> Backup is a PC user's best friend
> DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
>

"alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2B96488B-624E-4A35-9816-3BCBD96C2AC1@microsoft.com...
> Thanks. Is there any way I can see how large these files are. In xp such
> files are visible to the user. This may also be the case in Vista. I 'm
> just ignorant.
>
> "Michael Solomon" wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> "alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:70D12777-5586-4EA4-924D-433E57A8CDE5@microsoft.com...
>> > I've just started using Vista on my new laptop. While the computer
>> > shows
>> > 38.7GB of disk spaced used, if I add up all of the folders/files shown
>> > (including the systems folders -I think?) I can find only 15GB of
>> > actual
>> > space used. Can someone explain if there is a way to see what is
>> > absorbing
>> > all of the disk space to enable me to make informed decisions on space
>> > management? I've also noted thast I've used another 1.5GB of space
>> > today
>> > without adding any software or files to the computer.Thanks!
>>
>> System Restore, the page file and the Hibernation file if that is turned
>> on
>> could easily be responsible for a large part of the rest of the used
>> space.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Michael Solomon
>> Backup is a PC user's best friend
>> DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
>>
You can't see the file size of SR in Vista but the default allocation is
still 15% of the available free space on the given volume. There is a means
of controlling how much space the shadow volume (System Restore) uses, see
the following link:
http://www.5starsupport.com/faq/vis...estore.htm#1-13

I'm not sure but I don't think you can see the hibernation file either,
besides, it would grow or shrink depending upon what is open at a given
time.

--
Michael Solomon
Backup is a PC user's best friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

Michael,

Thanks. This was helpful. I appreciate your responsiveness. It's
unfortunate that MS does not make the disk allocation visible. This leaves
the user guessing as to how space is being used. In my case, Vista won't
allow me to do a complete backup. That is the backup fails because there are
system files that are not included on the drive. Since I can't change what's
on the drive nor change what Vista targets for its complete backup, there has
never been a backup (I've only had the machine for 48 hours). With no
backup, there cannot be a restore if I understand things correctly. Thus, it
would appear to me that there is no sense in allocating space for this task
which is dysfunctional. I will contact Lenovo to see whether they can resolve
the problem.

"Michael Solomon" wrote:

>
>
> "alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2B96488B-624E-4A35-9816-3BCBD96C2AC1@microsoft.com...
> > Thanks. Is there any way I can see how large these files are. In xp such
> > files are visible to the user. This may also be the case in Vista. I 'm
> > just ignorant.
> >
> > "Michael Solomon" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> "alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:70D12777-5586-4EA4-924D-433E57A8CDE5@microsoft.com...
> >> > I've just started using Vista on my new laptop. While the computer
> >> > shows
> >> > 38.7GB of disk spaced used, if I add up all of the folders/files shown
> >> > (including the systems folders -I think?) I can find only 15GB of
> >> > actual
> >> > space used. Can someone explain if there is a way to see what is
> >> > absorbing
> >> > all of the disk space to enable me to make informed decisions on space
> >> > management? I've also noted thast I've used another 1.5GB of space
> >> > today
> >> > without adding any software or files to the computer.Thanks!
> >>
> >> System Restore, the page file and the Hibernation file if that is turned
> >> on
> >> could easily be responsible for a large part of the rest of the used
> >> space.
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Michael Solomon
> >> Backup is a PC user's best friend
> >> DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
> >>
> You can't see the file size of SR in Vista but the default allocation is
> still 15% of the available free space on the given volume. There is a means
> of controlling how much space the shadow volume (System Restore) uses, see
> the following link:
> http://www.5starsupport.com/faq/vis...estore.htm#1-13
>
> I'm not sure but I don't think you can see the hibernation file either,
> besides, it would grow or shrink depending upon what is open at a given
> time.
>
> --
> Michael Solomon
> Backup is a PC user's best friend
> DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
>

You're welcome. This response is a bit late though as I've been offline for
several hours.

Backup has nothing to do with System Restore. They are separate and NOT
equal. System Restore is meant to return the the system settings and
registry to a specific point in time and is not designed to touch your data
though as a precaution you should always be well backed up before using it.

As long as SR is turned on and you see restore point creation, there are at
least some restore points available to you.

As to your backup, you can and should backup to some other drive, some place
off your hard drive because if the hard drive should fail, it will take your
backup with it or otherwise make it inaccessible.

I don't use Vista's backup, I use a third party program as well as making
weekly images of my setup. Nonetheless, you can set Vista's backup to
backup to another location and you should avail yourself of that option.
While I do keep a few backups on a separate partition, I also copy them to
two external hard drives I have as well. The backups I keep on a separate
partition on my primary hard drive are for convenience.

--
Michael Solomon
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
x86 and x64 Clean Install
"alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B33D8BFC-A0D8-405B-8D1A-94A32ACD5501@microsoft.com...
> Michael,
>
> Thanks. This was helpful. I appreciate your responsiveness. It's
> unfortunate that MS does not make the disk allocation visible. This
> leaves
> the user guessing as to how space is being used. In my case, Vista won't
> allow me to do a complete backup. That is the backup fails because there
> are
> system files that are not included on the drive. Since I can't change
> what's
> on the drive nor change what Vista targets for its complete backup, there
> has
> never been a backup (I've only had the machine for 48 hours). With no
> backup, there cannot be a restore if I understand things correctly. Thus,
> it
> would appear to me that there is no sense in allocating space for this
> task
> which is dysfunctional. I will contact Lenovo to see whether they can
> resolve
> the problem.
>
> "Michael Solomon" wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> "alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2B96488B-624E-4A35-9816-3BCBD96C2AC1@microsoft.com...
>> > Thanks. Is there any way I can see how large these files are. In xp
>> > such
>> > files are visible to the user. This may also be the case in Vista. I
>> > 'm
>> > just ignorant.
>> >
>> > "Michael Solomon" wrote:
>> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "alex5000" <alex5000@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:70D12777-5586-4EA4-924D-433E57A8CDE5@microsoft.com...
>> >> > I've just started using Vista on my new laptop. While the computer
>> >> > shows
>> >> > 38.7GB of disk spaced used, if I add up all of the folders/files
>> >> > shown
>> >> > (including the systems folders -I think?) I can find only 15GB of
>> >> > actual
>> >> > space used. Can someone explain if there is a way to see what is
>> >> > absorbing
>> >> > all of the disk space to enable me to make informed decisions on
>> >> > space
>> >> > management? I've also noted thast I've used another 1.5GB of space
>> >> > today
>> >> > without adding any software or files to the computer.Thanks!
>> >>
>> >> System Restore, the page file and the Hibernation file if that is
>> >> turned
>> >> on
>> >> could easily be responsible for a large part of the rest of the used
>> >> space.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Michael Solomon
>> >> Backup is a PC user's best friend
>> >> DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
>> >>
>> You can't see the file size of SR in Vista but the default allocation is
>> still 15% of the available free space on the given volume. There is a
>> means
>> of controlling how much space the shadow volume (System Restore) uses,
>> see
>> the following link:
>> http://www.5starsupport.com/faq/vis...estore.htm#1-13
>>
>> I'm not sure but I don't think you can see the hibernation file either,
>> besides, it would grow or shrink depending upon what is open at a given
>> time.
>>
>> --
>> Michael Solomon
>> Backup is a PC user's best friend
>> DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/
>>

"brink" <brink.2w0ki3@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:brink.2w0ki3@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> alex5000;436073 Wrote:
>> Michael,
>>
>> Thanks. This was helpful. I appreciate your responsiveness. It's
>> unfortunate that MS does not make the disk allocation visible. This
>> leaves
>> the user guessing as to how space is being used. In my case, Vista
>> won't
>> allow me to do a complete backup. That is the backup fails because
>> there are
>> system files that are not included on the drive. Since I can't change
>> what's
>> on the drive nor change what Vista targets for its complete backup,
>> there has
>> never been a backup (I've only had the machine for 48 hours). With no
>> backup, there cannot be a restore if I understand things correctly.
>> Thus, it
>> would appear to me that there is no sense in allocating space for this
>> task
>> which is dysfunctional. I will contact Lenovo to see whether they can
>> resolve
>> the problem.
>>
>>
>
> Hi Alex,
>
> This will show you how much space System Restore is using exactly.
>
> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/6...lorer-icon.html
>
> Shawn
>
>
> --
> brink
>
> *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask them.*
> _http://www.Vistax64.com (\"http://www.Vistax64.com\")_
> *Please post feedback to help others.*

I think this is the link brink actually wanted to paste . . .

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/7...disk-space.html

Mic