Help: less available space after deleting files...

[Guest]

so i downloaded these files to my computer and at that point i had about 84%
free space available and to ensure that my computer doen't run to slowly i
burned these files (video) to cd and deleted them, did a disc cleanup and a
disc defragmenting but in the end i stil now have 74% free space available.
where did i go wrong? isn't deleting files supposed to ensure you have more
available disc space. how to i get my free space back?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

so i downloaded these files to my computer and at that point i had
about 84% free space available and to ensure that my computer
doen't run to slowly i burned these files (video) to cd and deleted
them, did a disc cleanup and a disc defragmenting but in the end i
stil now have 74% free space available. where did i go wrong? isn't
deleting files supposed to ensure you have more available disc
space. how to i get my free space back?

Cleaning up the drive and figuring out what is using all of your
space isn't too hard. Many tools are built right into Windows XP. Some
others may not be. Some default settings may be messing you up and taking
up some of your valuable space.

Find out what might be using the space..

Do you have hidden and system files visible?
How's your system restore settings?
Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?
Moved things to external media?


Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

DX Hog Hunt
http://www.dvxp.com/en/Downloads.aspx

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.


If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed..

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm


You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/


You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but yuor
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312


You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.


You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest 5% or
higher.
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.


You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 128MB and 512MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 128MB and 512MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Mel

Did you empty your Recycle Bin?

When you burn CD's does your software place a back up copy
on your hard drive? What programme did you use to burn the CD's?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

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

 

[Guest]

i have my computer on the show hidden files setting, i've cleaned up system
restore and turned of hibernation, uninstalled unnecessary applications.

i also empty the recycle bin and i don't know if my computer places a backup
on my hard drive. i usually just copy the files to cd then it starts the burn
or i'll use windows media player burn function. i just downloaded the cleaner
i'll see if it will help and i'll probably try out the other websites. thanks
for the response. further suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

so i downloaded these files to my computer and at that point i had
about 84% free space available and to ensure that my computer doen't
run to slowly

First, note that how much free space you has nothing to do with how fast
your computer runs.

i burned these files (video) to cd and deleted them,
did a disc cleanup and a disc defragmenting but in the end i stil now
have 74% free space available.

How big is your drive? How much difference, in MB or GB, is that 10% between
84% and 74%?

where did i go wrong? isn't deleting
files supposed to ensure you have more available disc space.

Yes, but only if you also empty the recycle bin after deleting them.

how to i
get my free space back?

How much disk you have free varies all the time. The size of your page file
varies. As you write more restore points, they take up more space, and so
on. Whether that sort of thing is enough to account for a 10% difference I
don't know, which is why I asked you how big that 10% is.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Mel

Are you using any Norton utilities?

FileSize -a useful tool for use with Windows Explorer when investigating how
disk space is being used.
http://markd.mvps.org/

The download link is not obvious. Click the here in the two sentences of the
web page accessed through the link above. "I can't count the number of times
someone has asked for this. So here is a module you can install that shows a
Folder Size column in Explorer."

How large is your hard drive? I am wondering what a 10% incease in
used space represents?

Note the Search option in Windows Explorer to search for files over 1 mb.
You sort the result in order of size by clecking on size over the list of
files.

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.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

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

 

[Guest]

going by the info on the disk defragmenting program i have a 34.20 gb
capacity .

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Mel

An additional 3 gb used space when you are expecting a reduction is
quite a turnaround.

The normal way to get drive sizes is to right click on your C drive in
Windows Explorer and select Properties.

Have you tried ascertaining one of the file names on the CD and then
searching your C drive for that file?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

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

 

[Guest]

yep tried that. nothing

Mel

An additional 3 gb used space when you are expecting a reduction is
quite a turnaround.

The normal way to get drive sizes is to right click on your C drive in
Windows Explorer and select Properties.

Have you tried ascertaining one of the file names on the CD and then
searching your C drive for that file?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

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

 

[Gerry Cornell]

You need to look at the other suggestions I made.

Do you use Norton products?

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). How much free space do you gain?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

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

 

[Guest]

yeah i've tried all that and nothing.but thanks. oh and i don't use norton.