Hard Drive Space Missing

[melvin.soh]

Windows XP
Norton XP Antivirus 2006
70 GB hard drive

Problem:
My Computer shows: Total Hard Drive Size = 70 GB; Free Space = 21.6GB
Clicking on Properties of ALL files on C: (include hidden, system
files etc.) yields = 15.9GB

Remedies tried:
I have tried running:
Chkdsk
Defrag
Antivirus
Ad-Aware
moved the system restore file size down to 700MB
Emptied Trash Can
Reading up on various posts on Google Groups

All to no avail. I keep a very simple computer with no partitions
whatsoever. This problem is a little unlike others that have been
posted, i'm losing more than HALF my hard drive. Please help.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Windows XP
Norton XP Antivirus 2006
70 GB hard drive

Problem:
My Computer shows: Total Hard Drive Size = 70 GB; Free Space = 21.6GB
Clicking on Properties of ALL files on C: (include hidden, system
files etc.) yields = 15.9GB

Remedies tried:
I have tried running:
Chkdsk
Defrag
Antivirus
Ad-Aware
moved the system restore file size down to 700MB
Emptied Trash Can
Reading up on various posts on Google Groups

All to no avail. I keep a very simple computer with no partitions
whatsoever. This problem is a little unlike others that have been
posted, i'm losing more than HALF my hard drive. Please help.

Is your disk fully partitioned or do you have unpartitioned space?
The command diskmgmt.msc, when typed into the Start / Run box,
will tell you.

Do you really know what you're storing where? Either of these
tools will tell you:
DriveUse:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/freeware/index.html
Bullet Proof Folder sizes: http://www.foldersizes.com/

 

[Gerry]

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.

If you are using the Norton Protected Recycle Bin, Norton Ghost or
Rollback RX Pro these can create significant free disk space issues.
The programmes create hidden folders, which can grow to colossal sizes.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[melvin.soh]

Is your disk fully partitioned or do you have unpartitioned space?
The command diskmgmt.msc, when typed into the Start / Run box,
will tell you.

Do you really know what you're storing where? Either of these
tools will tell you:
DriveUse:http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/freeware/index.html
Bullet Proof Folder sizes:http://www.foldersizes.com/

Hi Pegasus,


Diskmgmt.msc indicates the following:
Layout: Partition
Type: Basic
File System: NTFS
Status: Healthy
Capacity: 70.09GB
Free Space: 21.66 GB
% Free: 30%
Fault Tolerance: 0%
Overhead: 0%

Drive Use indicates the following:
C: 16326MB
C:\RRbackups - Access is denied
C:\ System Volume Information - Access is denied

Drive Use shows hard drive usage similar to that when i just right
click on properties on ALL files in C:

Any idea on the discrepency?

Gerry,

Yes trust me i've done all you suggested already and i'm only using
Norton Antivirus and not any of the other Norton programs.


Thank you both for your time and help.



Regards,
M. Soh

 

[Gerry]

Rollback RX Pro??
http://www.rollbacksoftware.com/

It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore
on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700
mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System
Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this
time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and
exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and
exit.

Another default setting on a large drive which could be wasteful is
that for temporary internet files especially if you do not store
offline copies on disk. The default allocation is 3% of drive.
Depending on your attitude to offline copies you could reduce this to
1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer select Tools, Internet Options,
General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings to make the change. At the
same time look at the number of days history is held.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to
5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor
on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and
move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get
too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will
bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.



--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hi Pegasus,


Diskmgmt.msc indicates the following:
Layout: Partition
Type: Basic
File System: NTFS
Status: Healthy
Capacity: 70.09GB
Free Space: 21.66 GB
% Free: 30%
Fault Tolerance: 0%
Overhead: 0%

Drive Use indicates the following:
C: 16326MB
C:\RRbackups - Access is denied
C:\ System Volume Information - Access is denied

Drive Use shows hard drive usage similar to that when i just right
click on properties on ALL files in C:

Any idea on the discrepency?

Gerry,

Yes trust me i've done all you suggested already and i'm only using
Norton Antivirus and not any of the other Norton programs.


Thank you both for your time and help.



Regards,
M. Soh

As Gerry suggests, my suspicion is on C:\RRbackups. Find out
what its settings are. You should also seize ownership of this
folder so that you can examine it it detail. Click Start / Help,
then look for help on Ownership if unsure how to do it.

 

[kodiyan]

I had this same problem. My disk is partitioned and had this size
difference. I moved the data file and formatted the other partitions
ad its ok now. Only C: drive still have the problem and I am not able
to partition it. I checked the files including the hidden files, still
the difference is almost 3gb. I checked with different antivirus
software, all are clean.
Sijo Kodiyan

 

[kodiyan]

I had this problem in C and all other drives.
I did the following and found the solution.

1, Clean up your disk using the disk cleanup utility. Select all to
clean.
2, Make sure that you considered the hidden files and folders when you
try to find out the total size.
3, Check the drive with anti virus.
Still you have the space difference, try the following.

For temporary purpose do the following and find out and chage in free
space.

1,Turn of your hibernate option in system power properties. (It takes
almost the size of your RAM)
2, Reduced the allocated size of system restore to minimum in system
properties.
3, If your drive is partitioned, change the page file size (virtual
memory) to a different drive and after all restart the system and
check the file size.

If you see the change, do not forget to make all these changes to
previous condition for your system stability.

Note: If the space missing in a different drive, run Drive:\recycler.
Its an recycle bin for each drive. Clean it.

Good Luck
Sijo Kodiyan