Accessing the "dark matter" on hard drive??

[Guest]

My C drive is using 65G of disc space and this is making the computer very
slow and unresponsive...but when I look at the individual folders I can only
find 25G of content...I want to get rid of unnecessary stuff but how do I get
to all the "dark matter" that's occupying 40G of hard drive space? I tried
unhiding files but that doesn't do it. I had a crash and did a system
restore and now cannot find a lot of music and photo files that I once had.
Could it be that this is hidden away somewhere on my C drive? If so, how do
I get to it to delete the junk?

 

[Guest]

When unhiding the files make sure that you also have the Hide Protected
Operating System files unchecked.
It is possible that the data is stored as .chk files. If your data is in
..chk files it might be possible to recover it though the odds are not too
good.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

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 to 700 mb.
Once the allocated space is fully taken the oldest restore point is removed
when a new restore point is created ( or it should be ).

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

After taking these measures how much free space do you have on your C drive?

Do you use any Norton timidities. If so what package and version?


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[bxf]

My C drive is using 65G of disc space and this is making the computer very
slow and unresponsive...

Why would using space make the computer "slow and unresponsive"? That's
what disks are for, to be used. Your comment implies that it is OK to
have large disks, as long as they are not used "too much".

Aside from other comments/responses you have, keep in mind that stuff
in your Recycle Bin still occupies the original space.