My Hard Drive is misreporting Size being used on My Windows System

[Guest]

OK. I have a problem I tried once asking how to correct it and nobody even
bothered answering. My problem is is that windows is misreporting the amount
of hard drive space that is being used upon which partition to which it is
installed. It is saying when I select all the files aqnd right click on
properties, There is a lot of disk space mbeing used who knows how. I just
did a fresh install, I( hgave every update installed, and only a few low
volume install programs. It is sayiong when i right click on all of them
there are 34, 256 files and 4, 888 folders! There shouldnt even be that many
folders not to mentions files as I have just done a clean install. Anyways
the size it reports as size on disk is 6.54GB and actual size is 6.7GB but
when I look at the drive in its properties through My Computer is totally
off. It reports 8.49GB. And none of the programs I have installed take up a
Single GB of space yet. So what is going wrong and how can i fix it with out
having to reformat and re-install windows. I'd greatly appreciate any help. I
hadnt even yet got to the point where I had any sort of anti-virus yet! So
can someone please save me the pain of reformatting and reinstalling?[

 

[Guest]

OK. I was able to retrieve some of the space and delete a bunch of files and
folders after uninstalling 3DMark06. It doesnt even run that well on my first
gen top of the line card anyways. We'll thatll change when i buy a new gfx
card but thats sidetracking. I was able to recalim about 1.5GB's thanks to
the uninstall of 3DMark06. But it still reports a ton of files and folders
and file size that shouldnt be there. I'd really prefer not to have to
reformat windows and reinstall again. It's a pain in the ass when this
happens. It seems to happen a lot to me and I dont understand why. I Am very
careful about only downloading software and such from trusted and well known
sources. So I dont think it could be a virus but it may be. I'm currently
running a scan on AVG Free Edition.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

OK. I have a problem I tried once asking how to correct it and
nobody even bothered answering. My problem is is that windows is
misreporting the amount of hard drive space that is being used upon
which partition to which it is installed. It is saying when I
select all the files aqnd right click on properties, There is a lot
of disk space mbeing used who knows how. I just did a fresh
install, I( hgave every update installed, and only a few low volume
install programs. It is sayiong when i right click on all of them
there are 34, 256 files and 4, 888 folders! There shouldnt even be
that many folders not to mentions files as I have just done a clean
install. Anyways the size it reports as size on disk is 6.54GB and
actual size is 6.7GB but when I look at the drive in its properties
through My Computer is totally off. It reports 8.49GB. And none of
the programs I have installed take up a Single GB of space yet. So
what is going wrong and how can i fix it with out having to
reformat and re-install windows. I'd greatly appreciate any help. I
hadnt even yet got to the point where I had any sort of anti-virus
yet! So can someone please save me the pain of reformatting and
reinstalling?[

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

Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
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 64MB and 256MB. (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.

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/

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.

 

[Gerry]

How old is this computer?

Is the hard drive 6.7 gb or is this a single partition on a hard drive
containing further partitions?

Your attitude towards deleting files will lead you into troubled waters!
Windows XP does generate a lot of files and folders. You do not have to
install all Windows components. There is a list in Add / Remove Programs
( in Control Panel ) through which you can manage components. Using that
feature is far safer than your approach.

I am not sure whether you are seeing all files and folders. 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. Even then there are still certain
folders that remain hidden and this regularly promps discussion about
"lost" disk space. The System Volume Information folders containing
System Restore points, which by default is allocated 12% of the drive /
partition, is just one example of what remains hidden.

The size of files and free space reported by Windows Explorer can also
mislead. Compressed files mess up reporting.

It is obvious that you are concerned that you have insufficient free
disk space. Tell exactly how large your hard drive is and how much free
disk space you have. If the drive is partitioned please provide details
for each partition. If your hard drive is only 6.7 gb then it is not
really suitable for use with Windows XP.

--



Hope this helps.

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

OK. I have a problem I tried once asking how to correct it and nobody
even bothered answering. My problem is is that windows is
misreporting the amount of hard drive space that is being used upon
which partition to which it is installed. It is saying when I select
all the files aqnd right click on properties, There is a lot of disk
space mbeing used who knows how. I just did a fresh install, I( hgave
every update installed, and only a few low volume install programs.
It is sayiong when i right click on all of them there are 34, 256
files and 4, 888 folders! There shouldnt even be that many folders
not to mentions files as I have just done a clean install. Anyways
the size it reports as size on disk is 6.54GB and actual size is
6.7GB but when I look at the drive in its properties through My
Computer is totally off. It reports 8.49GB. And none of the programs
I have installed take up a Single GB of space yet. So what is going
wrong and how can i fix it with out having to reformat and re-install
windows. I'd greatly appreciate any help. I hadnt even yet got to the
point where I had any sort of anti-virus yet! So can someone please
save me the pain of reformatting and reinstalling?[

 

[dobey]

OK. I have a problem I tried once asking how to correct it and nobody even
bothered answering. My problem is is that windows is misreporting the
amount
of hard drive space that is being used upon which partition to which it is
installed. It is saying when I select all the files aqnd right click on
properties, There is a lot of disk space mbeing used who knows how. I just
did a fresh install, I( hgave every update installed, and only a few low
volume install programs. It is sayiong when i right click on all of them
there are 34, 256 files and 4, 888 folders! There shouldnt even be that
many
folders not to mentions files as I have just done a clean install.

How many should there be?

I have just done a check on a fresh minimal install and there are 12,700 odd
files and 700 folders.
On my installalation which is 16 months old there are 60,143 files and 3,441
folders.

Anyways the size it reports as size on disk is 6.54GB and actual size is
6.7GB but
when I look at the drive in its properties through My Computer is totally
off. It reports 8.49GB. And none of the programs I have installed take up
a
Single GB of space yet. So what is going wrong and how can i fix it with
out
having to reformat and re-install windows. I'd greatly appreciate any
help. I
hadnt even yet got to the point where I had any sort of anti-virus yet! So
can someone please save me the pain of reformatting and reinstalling?

Is your pagefile included when you select all of the files and look at the
properties? This would account for between 1 and 2 GB, maybe more. You need
to unhide system files to see it.

Also, when windows compresses files, (for example uninstall information for
the updates in the Windows directory - usually in blue font by default), it
reports the files uncompressed size. So am 800KB file that takes up 400 KB
when compressed will be reported as having a size of 800KB and size on disk
as 400KB.

There is also "slack". The minimum size a file can take up on a disk it one
cluster. By default on XP this is 4KB.
A one byte file will use 4KB space. If the cluster size it 64 KB then that
one byte file will occupy 64 KB.

This is the difference between "size" and "size on disk" in the file
properties.

6.5 GB sounds like quite a large install. Did you install everything, or use
some slipstream disk with a few extras?

Doesn't sound like a problem to me.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

OK. I have a problem I tried once asking how to correct it and nobody even
bothered answering. My problem is is that windows is misreporting the amount
of hard drive space that is being used upon which partition to which it is
installed. It is saying when I select all the files aqnd right click on
properties, There is a lot of disk space mbeing used who knows how. I just
did a fresh install, I( hgave every update installed, and only a few low
volume install programs. It is sayiong when i right click on all of them
there are 34, 256 files and 4, 888 folders! There shouldnt even be that many
folders not to mentions files as I have just done a clean install. Anyways
the size it reports as size on disk is 6.54GB and actual size is 6.7GB but
when I look at the drive in its properties through My Computer is totally
off. It reports 8.49GB. And none of the programs I have installed take up a
Single GB of space yet. So what is going wrong and how can i fix it with out
having to reformat and re-install windows. I'd greatly appreciate any help. I
hadnt even yet got to the point where I had any sort of anti-virus yet! So
can someone please save me the pain of reformatting and reinstalling?[

I doubt very much if anything is wrong. You probably are running with
the default of not showing you system and hidden files and folder.
Change it in My Computer | Tools | Folder Options.

 

[Guest]

Thank you everybody for your suggestions but I unfortunately had to reformat
and reinstall windows again anyway because after I had removed the few worms
i had which i didnt know about, I wasn't able to even boot into windows.
removing the worm destroyed everything. So My new partition on my 320GB Sata
hard drive is 30GB even. And the rest is another storage partition. Againj
after installing all updates, I have the very same problem. It is saying That
7. Some GBs is being used when I actually go into the hard drive and select
all the folders and files minus the page file which is set at 1.5GB it says
it is totaled at just under 5GB. Even that is too much. I just had to do
another complete fresh install. I will try running the Suggesstions and come
back aqgain but I hate thgis problem it always happens to me.

 

[Guest]

OK Everybody I accidentally exed out of the message popup before sending the
post i had made. SIGH. I ended up doing a completely new reformat and fresh
install anyways because the worms that AVG had found and removed well lets
just say they had nasty effects like completely wipping my hard drive clean
when I removed them. I hate those kind of Worms! Anyways it is doing what i
described again. Where on my 30GB Partition of a 320GB Hard Drive upon which
Windows is installed. It is saying in the main My computer Window under the
details on this particular partition that Free Space is reported at 22.8GB.
It should be much more than that. Because the total size on disk of all files
and folders minus the 1.5GB Paging File which I know takes up space, only
equals 4.95GB. And even then thats alot after all the updates, the usual
drivers, and basic small software that I need when I just start my computer
fresh. Even thats too much. I will try going through the suggestions one by
one to see if this fixes the problem. And until then, I will be hard at work
going through the various methods described to clean up my hard drive. I just
don't get it. This always happens.

 

[Guest]

OK. I went through all the suggestions and followed through each one. And
have now cleared up a lot more space that windows doesnt need to use. I'm
still going to use the JDirectoryAnalyzer software which I have actually used
before. And btw the DX Hog link was to a Amsterdam in otherwords Dutch site.
Sorry but I don't know Dutch. Is there also anyway to get windows to
translate any web page I read in any language to english without having to
use services like world lingo? Thatd be great if it could be done. I imagine
IE7 can do it which I will upgrade too once I authenticate my windows OS. I
have had to reinstall windows so many times that it doesnt even let me
activate over the internet anymore. It is very annoying. I would like to know
how to fix that if its possible. And yes my Windows XP is a genuine Windows
XP Home Edition 2002 version in other words SP0 Edition. Yeah I dont even get
on the net till after i upgrade to t anyways I am pretty sure the extra space
that is still missing is from the Firefox Cache usage but I dont know how to
set that option in FireFox. ActuAlly I just realized I reclaimed all I could
because all the folders and files plus the page file on the Hard Drive is
4.95GB in size. That is about right. Even though it reports that Disk Usage
is at 5.06 which is actually now right if I include the almost 1GB of space
for the System Restore Feature. Well thank you for the help. Much
appreciated.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

OK Everybody I accidentally exed out of the message popup before sending the
post i had made.

Which made life easier for most of us who are accustomed to proper
spelling, punctuation and grammar... none of which appear to be
familiar to your sorry ass.

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

OK. I went through all the suggestions and followed through each one.

[snip of some wildly incoherent stuff]

Are you finally done, or do I have to killfile you to keep from having
to try to read your shit?

 

[Gerry]

Compression of files on an NTFS formatted disk is a factor you need to
take into account when reconciling figures. Another is that 1 gb can be
taken as 1,000 x 1,000 mb not 1,024 x 1,024 mb .

--



Hope this helps.

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