A suspiciously half full drive C

  • Thread starter Thread starter bbsmallkid
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bbsmallkid

I bought a brand new computer some three months ago which
came preloaded with Windows XP home edition, loved it so
much that I bought another identical computer, reasoning
that as I'm a writer I needed the back up of another
computer should something happen to the first one. I
transferred all my settings, notes etc to computer 2 and
yet two days ago I happened to right click on drive C to
check on the properties and while the second computer
shows only a tiny wedge of the pie used my first computer
says that the drive is already half full. I swear there is
nothing on computer 1 that isn't on computer 2 so I'm
wondering if
1. Could I inadvertently have downloaded a virus to
computer 1 - I have both Zone Alarm and Norton anti virus
loaded on both computers
2. Can I use my recovery disc on computer 1 to start all
over again. System restore only seems to show restore
points up until two months ago and I've tried using that
only to see the hard drive still showing half full.
Any help gratefully received
 
bbsmallkid said:
I bought a brand new computer some three months ago which
came preloaded with Windows XP home edition, loved it so
much that I bought another identical computer, reasoning
that as I'm a writer I needed the back up of another
computer should something happen to the first one. I
transferred all my settings, notes etc to computer 2 and
yet two days ago I happened to right click on drive C to
check on the properties and while the second computer
shows only a tiny wedge of the pie used my first computer
says that the drive is already half full. I swear there is
nothing on computer 1 that isn't on computer 2 so I'm
wondering if
1. Could I inadvertently have downloaded a virus to
computer 1 - I have both Zone Alarm and Norton anti virus
loaded on both computers
2. Can I use my recovery disc on computer 1 to start all
over again. System restore only seems to show restore
points up until two months ago and I've tried using that
only to see the hard drive still showing half full.
Any help gratefully received
Click to expand...

Are you sure the disk sizes are the same on both PCs, its not uncommon for
manufacturers (especially if you bought it from a retail shop like PC World)
to change the specification of their PCs without much warning.
Just check the 'Capacity' on the C: Drive properties of both and make sure
it's the same.

Possible you have a virus, though if ZoneAlarm and Norton AV are installed
and configured correctly then that is quite unlikely.

If it is possible to fire bothe PCs up side by side, you could do a visual
comparison of the Folders on both and see if you can spot any differences.

You could try a file search for files bigger than (say) 10Mb and see if
you've got anything large files extra on one.

ChrisM
 
| I bought a brand new computer some three months ago which
| came preloaded with Windows XP home edition, loved it so
| much that I bought another identical computer, reasoning
| that as I'm a writer I needed the back up of another
| computer should something happen to the first one. I
| transferred all my settings, notes etc to computer 2 and
| yet two days ago I happened to right click on drive C to
| check on the properties and while the second computer
| shows only a tiny wedge of the pie used my first computer
| says that the drive is already half full. I swear there is
| nothing on computer 1 that isn't on computer 2 so I'm
| wondering if
| 1. Could I inadvertently have downloaded a virus to
| computer 1 - I have both Zone Alarm and Norton anti virus
| loaded on both computers
| 2. Can I use my recovery disc on computer 1 to start all
| over again. System restore only seems to show restore
| points up until two months ago and I've tried using that
| only to see the hard drive still showing half full.
| Any help gratefully received

Hi bbsmallkid -

You probably just need to clean up all the trash on the drive on your first
computer. An amazing amount of stuff builds up over very short periods of
time and you should regularly be managing it.

Right-click on the drive and select Properties. On the lower right of the
Properties sheet is a Disk Cleanup button. Press this button and you'll get
a screen of items which may be cleared from the computer:

.. Downloaded program files
.. Temporary internet files
.. Recycle bin
.. Temporary files
.. WebClient/Publisher temp files
.. Compress old files
.. Catalog files for content indexer

Click on each item for a description of what is cleared by the option and
place checkmarks in the boxes of the items you wish to clear down. There is
also a More Options tab where you can select the following options:

.. Remove optional windows components that you do not use
.. Remove programs that you do not use
.. Clear down all but the most recent System Restore Checkpoint (use caution
with this one if you think you're going to need to go back further than the
most recent restore point)

Once you've made your selections click OK to clear down the items you've
selected.

Jef
 
System Restore and Internet Temporary Files can take an extraordinary amount of disk space.

In addition, one computer may be used regularly, whilst the other has been switched off for a few weeks. The active computer will, unless the defaults are altered, be accessing Microsoft's Update Site and downloading files to your hard drive.

All of the above can account for several Gbs of data which are 'not created' by the user and change the free space on the disk drive: whilst you may only see 'My Documents' on both PCs as being the same amount of space.

You can manage the space used by Restore and Internet : click on Help annd you will locate the instructions very quickly.

Apart from this one can only suggest to a physical difference in capacity between the two systems: yes it is possible.
 
They're identical, Chris, but I'll try the folder search
you suggested. I just can't figure out why this should be
when both seem to be loaded with the same things but maye
something else is in computer 1. I've even thought - but
maybe this is a bad idea of using the recovery disk which
came with the computer to erase everything on computer 1
and start again
Maggie
 
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