Computer Will Not Free Up Space

G

Guest

Recently I went through my computer and deleted a lot of software and
unneeded files. I deleted over 1.5 gb of files. After, I did both a Disk
Clean Up and then Disk Defragment. After both I went to see my free space
and it was the same as when I started.

Can anyone help me find the lost free space?
 
D

doodle

rscottv said:
Recently I went through my computer and deleted a lot of software and
unneeded files. I deleted over 1.5 gb of files. After, I did both a
Disk
Clean Up and then Disk Defragment. After both I went to see my free
space
and it was the same as when I started.

Can anyone help me find the lost free space?

Did u delete unneeded restore points/recycle bin files while running
the cleanup?
 
G

Gerry Cornell

You do not say exactly how large your hard drive is or free space.
Knowing that helps when one's doing the arithmetic. Your objective
should be to achieve 15% to 20% free space! Remember that further
Windows Updates will bring that down again.

To investigate how you are using hard disk space you need to make sure
that you can see all files. 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.You still will not see the
System Volume Information folder and Norton Protected Storage ( if you
have it).How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309531

Download Dirsize.dll plug-in and place the file in Windows\System32
folder. Select Start, Run and type "regsvr32 dirsize.dll" without the
quotes and hit ENTER. Next in Windows Explorer open a folder and set it
to Detail view. From the View menu, click Choose Details. Put a
checkmark near Folder Size, and click OK. Use CTRL and + key (Numeric
Keypad) combination to resize the column width, so that the Folder Size
column is displayed correctly. To apply this setting for all the
folders, click Tools, Folder Options. In the View tab and click Apply to
all folders. You can download Dirsize from:
http://markd.mvps.org/

You can most likely create extra free space by a number of measures.

You can limit the disk space used by System Restore. Right click on the
My Computer icon on your Desktop and select, Properties, System Restore,
Settings. This will give you the amount of Disk Space allocated to
System Restore in terms of % of size of Drive and megabytes or
gigabytes. The default maximum is 12%, which is often excessive. You can
move the slider to the left to reduce the size of the allocation. Once
the allocated space is fully taken the oldest restore point is removed
when a new restore point is created ( or it should be ). If you advise
the drive size I will suggest a setting.

Try Start, All Programmes, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Delete all
but the most recent Restore Point ( Start, Programs, Accessories, System
Tools, Disk Cleanup, More options). Run Disk Defragmenter by selecting
Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.

How is the drive formatted -FAT32 or NTFS? To get this information
whilst in Windows Explorer place the cursor on the C drive, right click
and select Properties? More opportunities here depending on the answer.





Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Stourport, Worcs, England
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G

Guest

I already did a recycle bin and defragment. It just seems as though my
computer does not free up the space. It is weird, when I add new programs my
space does not go down untill recently. It seems as though there is a
'buffer'. When I deleted my programs, I did not recieve any space back, but
as I added none was taken away until recently.

Thanks For All of Your Help
 
G

Gerry Cornell

Do use Norton products?
http://snipurl.com/j8g4

How large is your hard drive? Is it partitioned? How much free space on
each drive / partition. How is the drive formatted -FAT32 or NTFS. To
get this information whilst in Windows Explorer place the cursor on each
drive in turn, right click and select Properties.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Using invalid email address

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please tell the newsgroup how any
suggested solution worked for you.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
G

Guest

1 Drive
NTFS
55.83 GB Total
44.64 GB Free

I am not running out of space, but just bought my computer and was wondering
where my free space went.
 
G

Gerry Cornell

You did not answer this question -Do use Norton products?
http://snipurl.com/j8g4

Or -How is the drive formatted -FAT32 or NTFS.?

You Windows folder alone will take up over 3 gb. If the System Restore
default disk space allocation has not been changed, that will absorb
another 7gb. On the size of size of disk you have I would opt for 4%
saving about 4.5 gb.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Using invalid email address

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please tell the newsgroup how any
suggested solution worked for you.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Windows
 

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