Disappearing Hard Drive Space

[Scientific]

Hello all,

I have WinXP installed and Windows Explorer is reporting that I'm using
16.3GB of space on my 80GB hard drive. I have about 7 folders on root drive
C: and I manually calculated the space myself and I came up with about 6.6GB
of used real estate. Strange huh!

I thought maybe there's some hidden folders so I went into Explorer Tools,
Options, View and selected (Show hidden files and folders) and then unchecked
(Hide protected operating system files). Same result.

I can't see where the other 9.7GB of space is being used. My drive is not
split into separate partitions so that can't be the problem. I'm perplexed
about that almost 10GB of missing hard drive space. Has anyone else
experienced this?

-S

 

[philo]

Hello all,

I have WinXP installed and Windows Explorer is reporting that I'm using
16.3GB of space on my 80GB hard drive. I have about 7 folders on root drive
C: and I manually calculated the space myself and I came up with about 6.6GB
of used real estate. Strange huh!

I thought maybe there's some hidden folders so I went into Explorer Tools,
Options, View and selected (Show hidden files and folders) and then unchecked
(Hide protected operating system files). Same result.

I can't see where the other 9.7GB of space is being used. My drive is not
split into separate partitions so that can't be the problem. I'm perplexed
about that almost 10GB of missing hard drive space. Has anyone else
experienced this?

-S

By default, system restore is set pretty high...way higher than needed...
that might account for at least some of the space you cannot account for

 

[JS]

Have you checked for Temporary Internet files and also the Recycle Bin?
Also System Restore Points and Windows Update folders
($NtUninstallKB.....$).

Have a look a Disk Cleanup to see what it reports.

JS

 

[Scientific]

Philo,

Is there anyway to control the amount of disk space that System Restore uses?

-S

 

[WaIIy]

Hello all,

I have WinXP installed and Windows Explorer is reporting that I'm using
16.3GB of space on my 80GB hard drive. I have about 7 folders on root drive
C: and I manually calculated the space myself and I came up with about 6.6GB
of used real estate. Strange huh!

I thought maybe there's some hidden folders so I went into Explorer Tools,
Options, View and selected (Show hidden files and folders) and then unchecked
(Hide protected operating system files). Same result.

I can't see where the other 9.7GB of space is being used. My drive is not
split into separate partitions so that can't be the problem. I'm perplexed
about that almost 10GB of missing hard drive space. Has anyone else
experienced this?

-S

It could be the reserve for the Master File Table

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/174619

Because of the importance of the MFT to NTFS and the possible impact on
performance if this file becomes highly fragmented, NTFS makes a special
effort to keep this file contiguous. NTFS reserves 12.5 percent of the
volume for exclusive use of the MFT until and unless the remainder of
the volume is completely used up.


That's no small amount.

 

[Scientific]

JS,

Your mention of Windows Update folders lead me to the Windows folder where I
discoverd something quite interesting. Under the Windows folder are several
other folders blue in color that all begin with ($NtUninstall). I think
these folders are used by Windows to undo whatever was changed on your system
during the Windows Update. It appears that the Windows Explorer does not
include these folders when calculating disk space. Thus, my missing 10GB of
hard drive resides within those folders.

So now I have a new question to ask. Since I won't be reversing anything
changed by Windows Update, is it safe to delete all those ($NtUninstall)
folders?

-S

 

[Scientific]

WaIIy,

Wow, now that's interesting. I never knew about this but since my volume is
FAT32 that would not apply in this case would it. Nevertheless, it's still
good to know these things and I certainly appreciate the FYI

-S

 

[JS]

These folders and associated files in these folders are safe to remove,
however once deleted you will no longer be able to un-install a patch or
update that was associated with the deleted folder/files.
I would keep the most recent set (last two months just in case) of folders
and delete the older updates.
As a safety net I burned these folders to a CD before deleting them.

Warning: One folder you should not delete is: $hf_mig$

Also See Doug Knox's page on this issue:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

JS

 

[Scientific]

To All Responders,

I found out that's it's ok to delete those $UnInstall folders under the
Windows folder. I wish to thank all who responded to this thread. I
appreciate your comments and suggestions to the max ;-)

-S

 

[JS]

Note: 10GB of $NtUpdate... folders, I don't think so, you should check to
see what Explorer reports if you choose to delete them per my previous post.

JS

 

[Scientific]

JS,

Will do, and thanks again

-S

Note: 10GB of $NtUpdate... folders, I don't think so, you should check to
see what Explorer reports if you choose to delete them per my previous post.

JS

 

[JS]

You're welcome.

JS

JS,

Will do, and thanks again

-S

 

[philo]

Philo,

Is there anyway to control the amount of disk space that System Restore uses?

-S

sure!

just see this

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/getstarted/ballew_03may19.mspx

 

[woodturner]

I have had similar problems with hard disk space. I found your message string
upon looking up the "$NtUninstall...$" files. I deleted the old ones and
gained back hundreds of MB. Thanks!

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have had similar problems with hard disk space. I found your
message string upon looking up the "$NtUninstall...$" files. I
deleted the old ones and gained back hundreds of MB. Thanks!

100's of MB...
That's just not much space. heh

Information on how to clear up hard disk drive space...

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
( Alternative: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 128MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 128MB. (It may be MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.

If you are concerned over less than 5GB of space total at any given time
being freed up on your hard disk drive - then something is wrong and
you would be better off spending a little and putting in a drive that is
likely 3-8 times as large as what you have not and not concerning
yourself over such a small amount of space OR you seriously need
to consider what you really need on the system and what should be
archived.

Basic housekeeping 101... - in an actual home, if your storage area gets
full - you either have to decide what you really should have in the storage
area and what could go or you have to find a new place to store stuff
that will accommodate everything you need. You don't walk into a
warehouse of cars, look at the filing cabinet in the corner where
you keep all the records for the cars and decide that if you move it out of
the warehouse - you will have more room for cars. ;-)