Disk Space Disappeared

[bpd]

Hi ...

I have a laptop with a 60 Gb hard drive. Running Windows XP
Home Edition. Service Pack 1.

Yesterday there was 32 Gb left on the drive and after a few
hours in work I got a Disk Space Warning Message. There was
only 192 Mb left?!

I have absolutely no idea how this happened!?

When I select all files int the c drive (the only drive on
the machine) I get only 22 Gb as the total of all files. Bu
when I select properties for the C drive I get the pie
chart saying Used Space: 54.8Gb Free Space: 1.00 Gb

I saw somewhere else about the System Restore but I have
turned this off now and there is no change!!

Does anyone have any ideas about this?!

regards,
Brian

regards,
Brian

 

[Ken Simmons [MSFT]]

Hello,

Normally when I have seen this, the system has been compromised and the
machine is being used to hold files such as mp3, avi, mpeg files etc. In
My Computer, Tools, Folder Options, View, set the following:

check "Show hidden files and folders"
uncheck "hide extensions for know files types"
uncheck "Hide protected operating system files"

After you do this, begin to look for folders with invalid file names such as
COM1* or unusual folder names. Often the folder structure is several
layers deep before you get to the files.

Here is a link to some security tools you may find useful:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/tools/default.asp

Regards,

Ken Simmons

Microsoft Technical Support for Platforms and Business Applications

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Brad.

There are a number of POSSIBLE causes of your problem. You may be subject
to one or two - or ALL of them.

Did you delete one or more large files yesterday? Especially graphics, such
as photos or movies or music, which create very large files. If you edited
them, the programs probably kept backup versions in your Recycle Bin, along
with any copies that you deleted. If you empty your Recycle Bin (including
your Norton Protected Files if you use Norton), you may reclaim all that
space. First, of course, be sure you don't want to unerase any of those
files.

Other things that can soak up disk space without being obvious about it are
Hidden and System files, the swap file and the hibernation file, but these
typically total no more than a gigabyte or two, not the ~30 GB that you seem
to have lost.

To see these behind-the-scenes files, you can go to Folder Options | View
and change the default settings. Check "Show hidden files and folders".
You can also check "Display the contents of system folders", if you are an
Administrator, but be prepared for warnings that these files will now be
unprotected from mischief. Then have another look at C:\ in My Computer.
You should now see the swap file (pagefile.sys - about 1.5 times your
installed RAM, by default) and the hibernation file (hiberfil.sys - just
slightly larger than RAM), plus those hidden and system files and folder
contents.

If these don't fix or explain your loss of disk space, please post back.

RC

 

[BPD]

Hi guys ... Thanks very much for responding.

I have noticed somthing else ... there are 2 directories
that I do not recognise in the c:\

they are
c:\f8f8eb27486b38c173\sp2\update\update.exe

& a new one

c:\f8811b765ea8a8d7e51e7e7c31a8c364\sp2\update\update.exe

Do these do anything? The update will not run as it is
looking for an update.inf file in the system.

I will try the suggestions tomorrow and get back to you on
them. I'm in Ireland so there is a bit of a time
difference.

regards,
Brian

 

[Guest]

Hi,

I got the same prob as Brian--My C: drive has 20GB, initially be used of about 3 or 4GB for installation. After few times of restoring last week, I received a message of low space warning.

I checked things, cleaned up disk, turned off restoring function and reset a new date of restoring, cleaned up disk again, and had claimed back about 3GB only.

I then reviewed all hidden files and folders (by using FOLDER OPTIONS, VIEW, uncheck "Hide protected operation system files")and found out that there have been a lot of new folders created in my C:\, named C:\FOUND.010, C:\FOUND.011, etc, upto C:\FOUND.038, each contained files with different sizes, but in total they appear to end up with the space I lost, i.e. about 12GB.

In each of these new folders, I could see files with similar names, such as FILE0000.CHK, FILE0001.CHK, etc. with description "Recovered File Fragments".

Can I delete all of these folders manually, or do I need a specific program to remove them? And how to avoid the situation in the future?

Thanks and regards,
K Luu

 

[Richard Urban]

You ran bootvis, didn't you?

--
Regards

Richard Urban
aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

*****************************

 

[BPD]

What is bootvis?!

-----Original Message-----
You ran bootvis, didn't you?

--
Regards

Richard Urban
aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

*****************************




.

 

[bpd]

Hi Ken,

You said that my system might have been compromised.
Not sure what you mean by this. The only thing I can
think that I did was rip some of my cds onto the hard
drive in mp3 format.

Other than that it was normal java
coding/compiling/running which I have been doing on
the laptop since November without any hitches. I also
ran the flash installer.

It really is baffling, I can't think what it might be.
You suggested a site to go to to download some tools.
Which would you suggest using?!

regards,
Brian

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, K.

new folders created in my C:\, named C:\FOUND.010, C:\FOUND.011, etc, upto C:\FOUND.038

files with similar names, such as FILE0000.CHK, FILE0001.CHK, etc. with

description "Recovered File Fragments".

This is probably bad news. When Chkdsk runs, sometimes it finds "orphaned"
clusters: they are marked as used, but no folder (directory) has an entry
pointing to that chain of clusters. Chkdsk can't determine the name of the
file that "owns" this chain of clusters, so it creates a new filename
pointing to that chain. The new filenames start with FILE0001.CHK,
FILE0002.CHK, etc. Since Chkdsk doesn't know which folder should hold these
files, it creates new folders and names them FOUND.000, FOUND001, etc.

If you have just a few lost chains of clusters, it MIGHT be worth trying to
identify them and rename them back to their proper filenames; you chances
are better if they are mostly plain text files. In most cases, though, this
is a tedious and probably hopeless task. Unless you have plenty of time and
some expertise, AND the lost files are VERY valuable to you, the best course
is to simply delete them all (and then empty the Recycle Bin) to reclaim the
disk space they are taking up.

Can I delete all of these folders manually, or do I need a specific

program to remove them? And how to avoid the situation in the future?

Yes, just do it manually. It's hard to say how to avoid the situation.
About all we can say is to practice safe computing. If it occurs often, you
may need a new hard drive or at least new cables.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

Hi,

I got the same prob as Brian--My C: drive has 20GB, initially be used of

about 3 or 4GB for installation. After few times of restoring last week, I
received a message of low space warning.

I checked things, cleaned up disk, turned off restoring function and reset

a new date of restoring, cleaned up disk again, and had claimed back about
3GB only.

I then reviewed all hidden files and folders (by using FOLDER OPTIONS,

VIEW, uncheck "Hide protected operation system files")and found out that
there have been a lot of new folders created in my C:\, named C:\FOUND.010,
C:\FOUND.011, etc, upto C:\FOUND.038, each contained files with different
sizes, but in total they appear to end up with the space I lost, i.e. about
12GB.

In each of these new folders, I could see files with similar names, such

as FILE0000.CHK, FILE0001.CHK, etc. with description "Recovered File
Fragments".

Can I delete all of these folders manually, or do I need a specific

program to remove them? And how to avoid the situation in the future?

 

[Lou]

Check your wallet and find the founds for a new Harddisk

you might be victim of some bad written sectors due to a bad cable or so,
replace cables, save your data and low-level format the drive with a
lowlevel formatting utility, found at Acronis and other disk software.
Then reinstall and see what occurs.

Lou

 

[Guest]

Thanks very much for your explation and advice, White and Lou.

I will remove the folders.

You two mentioned to cables that I'd better to change, but I have no clue what cables are. Could you please tell me a little bit more about that?

One more problem that I have. I have no permanent CD-rom (I mean the one that is fixed with the PC) but an external CD-rom writer drive (HP7500 plus). I plugged and connected it to my PC and installed driver succesfully. The system says the CD-rom works properly, and in fact it works ok when I test with various types of disk (CDs, CDrom etc.)

But whenever I turn off and then turn on, or restart the PC, the PC couldn't get into WinXP. Rather, it keeps rebooting forever. I always have to unplug the CD-rom drive to have my PC working properly, and then have to reinstall the CD-rom drive for use.

I guess that the unaware folders created in my C:\ (found.010, etc.) were resulted from countless rebootings in relation with CD-rom drive plugged? Is it so?

And I wonder why I couldn't install the CD-rom to have it connect with the PC AND work properly instead of having me unplug and reinstall it all the time? Could you explain the reason(s) for me?

Many thanks and regards,
K. Luu