Hard drive full... NOT

[Guest]

I tried defragmenting (in safe mode) my C drive (a few times) and I am left
with 21% still fragmented.
The report showed that files c:windows/0 had over 800 files that could not
be defragmented and file c:windows/4 had over 400 files

When I rebooted, I was warned that I was critically low on space. My "C"
partition is 16 Gig and it only contains Windows XP sp2 and some safety
software such as antivirus, antispyware and firewall.

When I look in Explorer, I find the following strange files:
C:WINDOWS/0 1 375 440 System file
C:WINDOWS/4 1 375 440 System file
C:WINDOWS/6 1 375 440 System file
C:WINDOWS/8 1 375 440 System file
C:WINDOWS/9 1 375 440 System file

I also had this critically low space problem a few months ago and the
problem was the System Volume Information that was full due to the System
Restore not functioning. But this is not the case now.

I am absolutely, positively certain I do not have any virus or spyware.
I am running continuously Norton antivirus, Ad-Aware, Microsoft Antispyware,
SpySweeper and ZoneLab and do a full scan of ALL drives every night..... I am
a little fanatic, but absolutely sure not is gonna get in my machine!

I tried doing an Error checking on the drive with no difference.
I tried deleting all TMP and LOG files with no difference.
I even tried deleting the mysterious files but Windows says it cannot be
done because they are system files in use???

OK, I'm open to any constructive suggestion now.

Stephane

 

[Mike Hall]

How many times have you re-installed XP?

 

[Guest]

None.
I started from a freshly formated partition (back in September)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

 

[Miss Perspicacia Tick]

I tried defragmenting (in safe mode) my C drive (a few times) and I
am left with 21% still fragmented.
The report showed that files c:windows/0 had over 800 files that
could not be defragmented and file c:windows/4 had over 400 files

When I rebooted, I was warned that I was critically low on space. My
"C" partition is 16 Gig and it only contains Windows XP sp2 and some
safety software such as antivirus, antispyware and firewall.

When I look in Explorer, I find the following strange files:
C:WINDOWS/0 1 375 440 System file
C:WINDOWS/4 1 375 440 System file
C:WINDOWS/6 1 375 440 System file
C:WINDOWS/8 1 375 440 System file
C:WINDOWS/9 1 375 440 System file

I also had this critically low space problem a few months ago and the
problem was the System Volume Information that was full due to the
System Restore not functioning. But this is not the case now.

I am absolutely, positively certain I do not have any virus or
spyware.
I am running continuously Norton antivirus, Ad-Aware, Microsoft
Antispyware, SpySweeper and ZoneLab and do a full scan of ALL drives
every night..... I am a little fanatic, but absolutely sure not is
gonna get in my machine!

I tried doing an Error checking on the drive with no difference.
I tried deleting all TMP and LOG files with no difference.
I even tried deleting the mysterious files but Windows says it cannot
be done because they are system files in use???

OK, I'm open to any constructive suggestion now.

Stephane

Suggest you ditch the native defrag tool and try something decent. I use
PerfectDisk (www.raxco.com) it will defrag a drive with less than 1% free
space - the native defrag requires at least 15%.

 

[Guest]

I like the idea of trying that software, however I think I got a bigger
problem on my hands. I think that defrag has left some crap files (the ones
listed above), but for some funky reasons, I cannot delete them because
Windows tells me that they are system (heu?) files in use.

Plus, that hardrive is 16 Gig and only contains Windows and my
antieverything programs. Logicly, I should not use anymore than 4-5 Gig, and
I am being generous. Where has all my free space gone to? Well those listed
files account for 6.55 Gig, so how do I get my space back, and where's the
rest of the crap, I did delete all tmp and log files and emptied the
trash?????

 

[Mike Hall]

I have not seen folders with names like Windows/0/4/6/9/ etc other than in
cases where Windows has been reloaded over an existing installation, hence
the question..

My only advice would be to start from scratch, use the 'write zero's'
function to correct drive problems, and then re-install everything..

Slightly OT.. if your line of %%%%%'s was meant to be ????????'s, you have
not loaded the correct language for the keyboard in use..

--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/user

 

[Jerry]

A Google search turns up a lot of info on C:WINDOWS.0. Could be a browser
hijack or something similar...trojan maybe? Google for HijackThis, Spybot
Search and Destroy, SpwareBlaster, AdAware (all free). Back up important
files.

Turn off system restore.

Navigate to "c:\windows\Prefetch" folder. Delete all files in the Prefetch
folder (don't delete the folder itself...windows will rebuild it later.)

Install above programs but don't run yet. Get all updates for them first.

Start Windows to a command prompt. Change directory to C:\Windows. Type
"del C:WINDOWS/0" (without quotes). Do that for each of those files.

Restart Windows in safe mode.

Run those programs you downloaded. (Some may not run in safe mode.) Take
actions needed to fix but be careful.

Restart Windows normally.

Go to pandasoftware.com and run a virus scan. Select All My Computer and
check all the scan options.

When finished, restart computer normally and try defrag again.

Hope that helps.

 

[Guest]

Steph, I'm having the same problem. I run XP with 640MB memory. My Maxtor
30GB hard drive only has 2% free space and tells me it can't defrag with less
than 15%. It will ask you if you want to try. Let it try and then click on
"view results". This will tell you what is soaking up all your GB's. I found
my problem is "temoprary internet files". I deleted all temp files but I'm
still showing 2% free space. Oh well "a work in progress" I'm still trying.
Jim

 

[Phillips]

Lower the Recycle Bin and IE allocated space.
Read more here here:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/ntcmds_o.mspx
Try the -f switch (Run: defrag -f) for low free space; -b switch would
optimize the boot. I cannot remember the boot time defrag switch, but you
can change it in Registry -google for it.
Michael

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Here's my message from yesterday which did not arrive.

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.

What happens to the free space available if you select Start, Disk
CleanUp, More Options, System Restore to remove all but the latest
restore points?

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 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 ).

Empty your Recycle Bin. Are you using Norton. Do you have a Norton
Protected Recycle Bin. The size of this folder can catch users out. Read
here for more information:
http://snipurl.com/dir8

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Phillips, I tried the Command Prompt to no avail so for but haven't given up.
Thanks, Jim

 

[Guest]

Gary, I checked and unchecked the boxes you suggested. The disk cleanup and
more options delete files but I get an error message, "framedyn.dll was not
found" so I can't get into "System Restore". How do I restore "framedyn.dll"?
I've emptied my Recycle Bin and deleted all "incomplete" music downloads
which soak up the MB's. I use AVG, Ad-Aware, Spybot and CW Shredder. Thanks
for the help. Us amatures would be lost without the likes of you and the
others. Jim

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Try Start, Run, and type the words "sfc /scannow" without the quotes
and click OK. This should restore a copy of the missing dll to where it
is
needed.

Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker
(Sfc.exe)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310747


Is Windows XP SP2 installed?

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Using invalid email address

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



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

 

[Guest]

Gerry, I typed sfc/scannow but it says that file cannot be found. I even
tried to reinstall Windows XP but my computer freezes up. What about
formating my hard drive and trying to reinstall XP? I tried sfc/scanonce and
numerous command prompts to no avail. Something has really screwed this
computer up. Thanks, Jim