I have lost memory

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My pc was hijacked 2 yrs. ago and after about 6 to 8 month later i found that
all of my memory did not add up when I did a disc defrag. Can you help me in
trying to find out where did it go. I have 512MB of Ram and i have 120GB
hard drive. When I add up the total when I do a defrag it only comes up to
11.?GB. can you help me.
 
liedon said:
My pc was hijacked 2 yrs. ago and after about 6 to 8 month later i
found that all of my memory did not add up when I did a disc
defrag. Can you help me in trying to find out where did it go. I
have 512MB of Ram and i have 120GB hard drive. When I add up the
total when I do a defrag it only comes up to
11.?GB. can you help me.
Click to expand...

You mean disk space.
Not memory.

You have a 120GB hard disk drive - which means about 111GB usable 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?

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 are confusing memory (RAM) with storage (hard drive space). Since
you were "hijacked" did anyone try cleaning up the system? A "defrag"
doesn't remove anything, just puts the file pieces together. Have you
had a professional look at the PC?
 
Shenan Stanley said:
You mean disk space.
Not memory.

You have a 120GB hard disk drive - which means about 111GB usable 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?

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.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way


To Mr. Shenan Stanley,
Click to expand...

I am asking about the total space, the capacity, the volume of the '
D ' and the ' C ' drives. When I look into the total disc volume of my PC it
says 111GB of space. My ' Ram ' is 512MB and my ' Hard Drive ' is 120. What I
want to know is where is the other missing ' GB ' on my PC. I know that the
recovery partitian which is my 'D' drive itself is '4.43GB' and the rest
which is my 'C' drive adds up to '107GB' of memory. Please explain to me what
happened to the rest of the " 120GB Hard drive ' and the 5 " 512MB " of Ram.
I have already taken off all the programs I don't need the rest I need.
 
liedon said:
My pc was hijacked 2 yrs. ago and after about 6 to 8 month later i
found that all of my memory did not add up when I did a disc
defrag. Can you help me in trying to find out where did it go. I
have 512MB of Ram and i have 120GB hard drive. When I add up the
total when I do a defrag it only comes up to
11.?GB. can you help me
Click to expand...

Shenan said:
You mean disk space.
Not memory.

You have a 120GB hard disk drive - which means about 111GB usable
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?

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.
Click to expand...
To Mr. Shenan Stanley,

I am asking about the total space, the capacity, the volume
of the ' D ' and the ' C ' drives. When I look into the total disc
volume of my PC it says 111GB of space. My ' Ram ' is 512MB and my
' Hard Drive ' is 120. What I want to know is where is the other
missing ' GB ' on my PC. I know that the recovery partitian which
is my 'D' drive itself is '4.43GB' and the rest which is my 'C'
drive adds up to '107GB' of memory. Please explain to me what
happened to the rest of the " 120GB Hard drive ' and the 5 " 512MB
" of Ram. I have already taken off all the programs I don't need
the rest I need.
Click to expand...


512MB RAM and 111GB of usable space are *not* related in any way other than
they are housed in the same computer system.

Your 120GB hard disk drive is not memory. It is a hard disk drive. It is
space you can write to and when you turn off the computer - what you wrote
to it generally stays there so when you turn back on the computer, you can
access said stuff.

Your 512MB (0.5GB) of system memory is not a hard disk drive. It stores
stuff only while your system is turned on. Most of what it contains was
read from your hard disk drive and it is only stored in memory while it is
being utilized. If you turn off your machine - anything in the RAM is
gone.. *poof*.

Your 120GB drive is the "advertised" size. It doesn't give you 120GB of
usable space. Essentially - the formulat is 93% of advertised space. So if
they sell you a 120GB space drive, you actually purchased a 111.6GB
(approximately - give or take) hard disk drive. Advertising vs. reality.
All due to how space is actually computed and the way advertisers compute
it.

You just stated that, "... When I look into the total disc volume of my PC
it says 111GB of space ..." <- correct! That's how much usable space you
have on your 120GB hard disk drive!

You then state, "... I know that the recovery partitian which is my 'D'
drive itself is '4.43GB' and the rest which is my 'C' drive adds up to
'107GB' of memory ..." <- your statement is confusing me. Let's try to
decipher it and correct you on some terminology so that you can better
explain this if needed in the future... (memory and disk space are not the
same thing... you can have virtual memory that utilizes your disk space,
but that is as close as you get to having a similarity...)

Your "Recovery Partition" was put there by the system manufacturer. You say
that it is 4.43GB in size. I can buy that. That should be enough for the
stuff needed to recover your system in the case of a non-hardware failure.
You seem to state that your C: partition is 107GB in size. (Or you might
state that your recovery partition plus your C: partition add up to 107GB in
size - this is unclear. Please clarify if you can.) If we go with this
a107GB C: partition and 4.43GB D: partition, that is 111.43GB total usable
disk space. And more than likely whatever is telling you that you have
107GB disk space total on C: is rounding down - not showing decimals. Seems
you have the total amount of disk space you paid for.

The tools I gave you can help you discover what all is being used on your
hard disk drive - helping you locate the used space so you can get rid of
the "space hogs" and utilize your computer in the way you desire.

The numbers below will give you abetter overview of the actual numbers you
get when purchasing a larger hard disk drive...

Advertised --- Actual Capacity
10GB --- 9.31 GB
20GB --- 18.63 GB
30GB --- 27.94 GB
40GB --- 37.25 GB
60GB --- 55.88 GB
80GB --- 74.51 GB
100GB --- 93.13 GB
120GB --- 111.76 GB
160GB --- 149.01 GB
180GB --- 167.64 GB
200GB --- 186.26 GB
250GB --- 232.83 GB
320GB --- 298.02 GB
400GB --- 372.53 GB
500GB --- 465.66 GB

If you are trying to figure out what is using up your space - use the tools
and suggestions I gave you to free up as much as you can.
 
Bob I said:
You are confusing memory (RAM) with storage (hard drive space). Since
you were "hijacked" did anyone try cleaning up the system? A "defrag"
doesn't remove anything, just puts the file pieces together. Have you
had a professional look at the PC?


To Bob I,
Click to expand...

No I have not had a tech. look at my PC. Please look at the
notes that Shenan Stanley posted, I am going to try those steps posted. I
have an warranty with the PC provider and if I find anything I will give
them a call, they have been stubbern in the past in helping with my pc but if
I prove them with proof maybe that will move them in helping me. Thanks a
lot.
 
liedon said:
:




No I have not had a tech. look at my PC. Please look at the
notes that Shenan Stanley posted, I am going to try those steps posted. I
have an warranty with the PC provider and if I find anything I will give
them a call, they have been stubbern in the past in helping with my pc but if
I prove them with proof maybe that will move them in helping me. Thanks a
lot.
Click to expand...


Based on the corrected numbers you posted, there is nothing missing,
everything is accounted for. You are merely using two differnt
measurments to determine the available space. What you see is just fine
and there is nothing wrong.
 
liedon said:
I am asking about the total space, the capacity, the volume of the '
D ' and the ' C ' drives. When I look into the total disc volume of my PC it
says 111GB of space. My ' Ram ' is 512MB and my ' Hard Drive ' is 120. What I
want to know is where is the other missing ' GB ' on my PC. I know that the
recovery partitian which is my 'D' drive itself is '4.43GB' and the rest
which is my 'C' drive adds up to '107GB' of memory. Please explain to me what
happened to the rest of the " 120GB Hard drive ' and the 5 " 512MB " of Ram.
I have already taken off all the programs I don't need the rest I need.
Click to expand...

Forget about the 512MB of RAM, that's your system's main memory. It's
there, it's being used, don't worry about it.

Now, as to the disk. Disk drive manufacturers quote sizes in decimal
numbers. So your 120GB disk will actually store 120,000,000,000 (120
billion) bytes. But the operating system, file system, and other
software quote disk sizes in binary terms. One binary gigabyte is 2 to
the 30th power, which works out to 1,073,741,824 bytes. So your 120
(decimal) GB disk holds about 111.76 (binary) gigabytes. You've lost
nothing.
 
No I have not had a tech. look at my PC. Please look at the
notes that Shenan Stanley posted, I am going to try those steps posted. I
have an warranty with the PC provider and if I find anything I will give
them a call, they have been stubbern in the past in helping with my pc but
if
I prove them with proof maybe that will move them in helping me. Thanks a
lot.
Click to expand...


Proof of what? Nothing is missing. The "120GB" drive is actually 111.76 GB
as reported by the PC. So nothing is wrong.
 
liedon said:
I am asking about the total space, the capacity, the volume of
the ' D ' and the ' C ' drives. When I look into the total disc
volume of my PC it says 111GB of space. My ' Ram ' is 512MB and my '
Hard Drive ' is 120. What I want to know is where is the other
missing ' GB ' on my PC. I
Click to expand...



First, forget about the 512MB of RAM. *That* is what is called "memory," but
your question isn't about memory, it's about hard disk space.

You bought a computer with what purported to be 12GB of disk space and you
only have 111GB Where's the rest?

However, despite its being called 120GB, you drive actually has only 111GB
on it. The other 9GB isn't "missing," it hasn't been lost, and it didn't go
anywhere. It never existed.

All hard drive manufacturers define 1GB as 1,000,000,000 bytes, while the
rest of the computer world, including Windows, defines it as 2 to the 30th
power (1,073,741,824) bytes. So a 120 billion byte drive is actually a
little under 112GB. Some people point out that the official international
standard defines the "G" of GB as one billion, not 1,073,741,824. Correct
though they are, using the binary value of GB is so well established in the
computer world that I consider using the decimal value of a billion to be
deceptive marketing.
 
Shenan said:
Your 120GB drive is the "advertised" size. It doesn't give you 120GB of
usable space. Essentially - the formulat is 93% of advertised space. So
if they sell you a 120GB space drive, you actually purchased a 111.6GB
(approximately - give or take) hard disk drive. Advertising vs. reality.
All due to how space is actually computed and the way advertisers compute
it.
Click to expand...

Not entirely anymore these days: The "official" gigabyte is now 1 billion
bytes exactly, with the old definition being renamed gibibytes, so the
advertised size is actually the real size, just not the size people expect.

I'm not entirely sure how the vendors got this definition passed SI, either,
since it doesn't particularly make sense in computing, which is why the
base-2 definition was used for so long to start with.

However, before vendors confused SI usage to be different from popular
usage, your statement would be entirely correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibibyte
 
P. Johnson said:
Not entirely anymore these days: The "official" gigabyte is now 1
billion bytes exactly,
Click to expand...


It has nothing to do with "these days." The official international standard
defines giga- has always been 1,000,000,000, just as mega- is 1,000,000,
kilo- is 1,000, etc.

Correct though that is, using the binary value of GB (2^30) rather than the
decimal one is so well established in the computer world that I consider
using the decimal value of a billion by drive manufacturters to simply be
deceptive marketing.
 
To: Ken Blake, MVP.

If the official rule of law of how to measure GB is actually
1 per Billion, then all retailor should be made to adhere to
this rule or law, and something should be done about this
deceptive advertising. The reason I first asked this question
is because my pc started running very slow with all of my
programs on it even though I had over 6GB of space to use
on my pc with all of the programs on it, besides all of that I
have someone that is Hacking my pc. and every time I asked
the question about the amount of disc space that I thought should
be on my pc the online tech. that I was asking about this kept
telling me basically the same as some you are saying but they did
not explain it in the terms that you did. Now I understand some of
what you all or saying. Thanks.
 
liedon said:
To: Ken Blake, MVP.

If the official rule of law of how to measure GB is actually
1 per Billion, then all retailor should be made to adhere to
this rule or law,
Click to expand...


No, it's not a law. It's a standard, and adherence to the standard is
voluntary.

and something should be done about this
deceptive advertising.
Click to expand...


I wish, but there is nobody with any power to do anything about it.


The reason I first asked this question
is because my pc started running very slow with all of my
programs on it
Click to expand...


No, whatever the reason for your computer's running slow, that isn't it.
What is running can affect your performance, but just what's loaded on your
hard drive can not.

even though I had over 6GB of space to use
on my pc with all of the programs on it, besides all of that I
have someone that is Hacking my pc.
Click to expand...


How do you know that?

and every time I asked
the question about the amount of disc space that I thought should
be on my pc the online tech. that I was asking about this kept
telling me basically the same as some you are saying but they did
not explain it in the terms that you did. Now I understand some of
what you all or saying. Thanks.
Click to expand...


You're welcome. Glad to help.
 
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