Partition filling up

G

glee

said to right click it for options but it didn't have the ones
specified. It had
hide,zoom,rescan,open,recycle, and remove. So I selected open and it
gave me a page with
ALLOT of uninstall files.

So how do I remove all the uninstall files or should I?

Thanks,
R

No one is going to tell you have to remove files until we know where
they are and what files they are. You have not mentioned the location
of these files or anything. If they are uninstall files and they keep
increasing, but you are not installing any programs, then you may have a
stuck update or something that is continually reinstalling itself, as
someone mentioned already (I think it was Paul).
 
G

glee

OK, I created the scanner folder in the program files but when I tried
to extract the
files it said it was password protected? I actually was able to run the
scan for the C:
partition earlier when the files was in my documents and settings but I
forgot to read the
txt file in order to know how to read the pie chart. This sure isn't
as easy as it
sounds.

R

Are you doing this in Windows XP? Program Files is not "password
protected" on XP. Are you working from an administrative profile, or
are you logged into a limited-user profile? I asked this once already
and you have not replied to that.

Have you done a malware check yet, using Malwarebytes AntiMalware (MBAM)
as someone already suggested?
 
S

Stefan Patric

I've already run a Malwarebytes full scan on all the partitions and it
came back with nothing found.

R

Do the same with SuperAntiSpyware, too. Then you'll be 99.999% clean.

Stef
 
M

magineer02

No one is going to tell you have to remove files until we know where

they are and what files they are. You have not mentioned the location

of these files or anything. If they are uninstall files and they keep

increasing, but you are not installing any programs, then you may have a

stuck update or something that is continually reinstalling itself, as

someone mentioned already (I think it was Paul).

--

Glen Ventura

MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009

CompTIA A+

I'm trying to follow the instructions given. No one said anything about locations etc. and to be honest I don't know where the location is or how to find it. Please be specific in your instructions so that I can answer questions. As I said, when I read the zip file instructions they were NOT the same as when I right clicked on the pie chart. So I'm not at fault here.

I haven't installed anything new so how do I find out if something is reinstalling itself or whatever?


R
 
G

glee

I'm trying to follow the instructions given. No one said anything about
locations etc. and
to be honest I don't know where the location is or how to find it.
Please be specific in
your instructions so that I can answer questions. As I said, when I
read the zip file
instructions they were NOT the same as when I right clicked on the pie
chart. So I'm not
at fault here.

I haven't installed anything new so how do I find out if something is
reinstalling itself
or whatever?

Use Scanner to scan your drive/partition. It will show you a pie chart.
Move your mouse pointer over the different colored sections of the
chart, and at the top of the Scanner window, it will show the
path/location of each section as you hover over them.
Single-click a folder in the pie chart and it will show a new chart of
just that folder's contents.

You can also right-click a pie section and click Open.... it will open a
folder window showing you the files in that location. The address bar
at the top of the folder window will have the path/location of the
folder and files. You *do* know how to view the address bar in a
Windows folder window, yes? (View menu> Toolbars> Address Bar)

As I mentioned in a previous reply, look at the scan of the drive, then
do another in a few days and see if there is a big increase of used
space in one of those folders. Your issue according to you is that your
partition is filling up... look for where there is a large increase in
files over that period of time when it 'fills up'.

You mentioned Installer files, but if you just see a lot of installer
files, that doesn't mean it's what filling up the partition. You have
to look at what INCREASES in size over the time period you are referring
to. just scanning once and saying, there's a lot of files in this spot,
does not mean those are what are *growing* in size.
 
M

magineer02

Do the same with SuperAntiSpyware, too. Then you'll be 99.999% clean.



Stef

I downloaded and did a full scan with superantispyware and it found 128 threats - Adware tracking cookies. I removed them all and then checked but it made no difference as to the problem.

Robert
 
M

magineer02

Use Scanner to scan your drive/partition. It will show you a pie chart.

Move your mouse pointer over the different colored sections of the

chart, and at the top of the Scanner window, it will show the

path/location of each section as you hover over them.

Single-click a folder in the pie chart and it will show a new chart of

just that folder's contents.



You can also right-click a pie section and click Open.... it will open a

folder window showing you the files in that location. The address bar

at the top of the folder window will have the path/location of the

folder and files. You *do* know how to view the address bar in a

Windows folder window, yes? (View menu> Toolbars> Address Bar)



As I mentioned in a previous reply, look at the scan of the drive, then

do another in a few days and see if there is a big increase of used

space in one of those folders. Your issue according to you is that your

partition is filling up... look for where there is a large increase in

files over that period of time when it 'fills up'.



You mentioned Installer files, but if you just see a lot of installer

files, that doesn't mean it's what filling up the partition. You have

to look at what INCREASES in size over the time period you are referring

to. just scanning once and saying, there's a lot of files in this spot,

does not mean those are what are *growing* in size.

--

Glen Ventura

MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009

CompTIA A+


I will go back and try to do this and let you know what I find. Thank you all for your excellent help but please bear with me as I'm disabled and it takes me awhile to do things.

Robert
 
M

magineer02

Use Scanner to scan your drive/partition. It will show you a pie chart.

Move your mouse pointer over the different colored sections of the

chart, and at the top of the Scanner window, it will show the

path/location of each section as you hover over them.

Single-click a folder in the pie chart and it will show a new chart of

just that folder's contents.



You can also right-click a pie section and click Open.... it will open a

folder window showing you the files in that location. The address bar

at the top of the folder window will have the path/location of the

folder and files. You *do* know how to view the address bar in a

Windows folder window, yes? (View menu> Toolbars> Address Bar)



As I mentioned in a previous reply, look at the scan of the drive, then

do another in a few days and see if there is a big increase of used

space in one of those folders. Your issue according to you is that your

partition is filling up... look for where there is a large increase in

files over that period of time when it 'fills up'.



You mentioned Installer files, but if you just see a lot of installer

files, that doesn't mean it's what filling up the partition. You have

to look at what INCREASES in size over the time period you are referring

to. just scanning once and saying, there's a lot of files in this spot,

does not mean those are what are *growing* in size.

--

Glen Ventura

MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009

CompTIA A+

I did as you suggested but to go through each and every folder one by one is rather tedious and daunting to say the least. Is there no other way of doing this other than using a pie chart?

Robert
 
C

Char Jackson

I did as you suggested but to go through each and every folder one by one is rather tedious and daunting to say the least. Is there no other way of doing this other than using a pie chart?

There's actually a much better (in my opinion) program for this task
called Treesize, which has a free version located here:
<http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/>

You can see at a glance which folders are taking up the most real
estate on the drive, and you can drill down all the way to the file
level quickly and easily.
 
S

Stefan Patric

I downloaded and did a full scan with superantispyware and it found 128
threats - Adware tracking cookies. I removed them all and then checked
but it made no difference as to the problem.

Robert

Okay. Now you know it's something else causing the problem. Did you
check the Restore configuration? For now, just turn it off.

Check what services you have running. What background processes. What
Startup processes. Think back to when you first noticed the problem.
Did you install anything, and I mean anything, just prior?

Stef
 
G

glee

Char Jackson said:
There's actually a much better (in my opinion) program for this task
called Treesize, which has a free version located here:
<http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/>

You can see at a glance which folders are taking up the most real
estate on the drive, and you can drill down all the way to the file
level quickly and easily.

Scanner does the exact same thing, just in a pie chart instead of a
folder tree. Whichever tool is more comfortable for the OP is fine with
me. The point is, with either it has to be *monitored* over a period,
rather than just looked at one time, in order to see what is *growing*
in size, which is the poster's original complaint.
 
G

glee

inline...
J. P. Gilliver (John) said:
[attribution has got lost]

It was me.

news:[email protected]... []
Use Scanner to scan your drive/partition. It will show you a pie
chart. [explanation of how to delve with scanner snipped]
As I mentioned in a previous reply, look at the scan of the drive,
then

do another in a few days and see if there is a big increase of used

space in one of those folders. Your issue according to you is that
your

partition is filling up... look for where there is a large increase
in

files over that period of time when it 'fills up'. []
I did as you suggested but to go through each and every folder one by
one is rather tedious and daunting to say the least. Is there no
other way of doing this other than using a pie chart?

Well, you have to do it with something, whether it's scanner which
produces a pie chart, or something else which produces a different
display. With the sort of growth rates you were describing, I would
have thought it would be fairly obvious where the growth was
occurring, especially if you take a screenshot on the earlier date.

When you say each and every folder, if you mean on the whole disc, you
don't really have to do that: just the top level of C: (I assume you
have not _that_ many in C: - it was C: where the growth is happening,
wasn't it?); once you have identified that, you then repeat the
process just for that folder, to see which subfolder is growing. With
scanner's hierarchical pie chart, you may be able to see to the
subfolder level anyway.

Exactly. The only reason I did not include suggesting taking
screenshots in my original instructions is to avoid giving magineer
sensory overload with too much info at once. I don't know if he knows
how to do screenshots, so I may have to explain that separately... :-\

I know treesize. I, and the other person above, happen to think
scanner's hierarchical pie chart is a particularly good way of seeing
what is hogging drive space; however, as the other person has pointed
out, the problem is not what is using the space as such, but what is
growing. They may well be the same thing, but not necessarily.

Yep, that's what I said.
 
G

glee

Stefan Patric said:
Okay. Now you know it's something else causing the problem. Did you
check the Restore configuration? For now, just turn it off.

Check what services you have running. What background processes.
What
Startup processes. Think back to when you first noticed the problem.
Did you install anything, and I mean anything, just prior?

I do NOT suggest turning off System Restore, especially for a user who
is not very tech savvy, and may well need it during the troubleshooting
of this issue.

The problem with the default settings of SR is that in XP it defaults to
using 12% of the hard drive for Restore Points. XP's SR was developed
when drives were very small. With more recent, much larger drives, 12%
is way too much space for restore points.... so much so that it causes
SR to fail, as well as taking up large amounts of the drive.

The space allotted to restore points should only be one or two GB if
possible, in XP. The size can be adjusted using the slider on the
System Restore tab of the System control panel applet: Start> Control
Panel (large icon view)> System> System Restore tab, select the
partition> Click Settings button> adjust slider for size> click OK all
the way out.

How to Adjust the amount of disk space System Restore uses to hold
restore points:
http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html
 
M

magineer02

Okay. Now you know it's something else causing the problem. Did you

check the Restore configuration? For now, just turn it off.



Check what services you have running. What background processes. What

Startup processes. Think back to when you first noticed the problem.

Did you install anything, and I mean anything, just prior?



Stef

I don't know how to check or to turn off system restore. I don't know how to do any of the things you suggested e.g. what services am I running? background process etc. I thought I gave all the pertinent information when I posted the problem.

I noticed the problem when another person on here volunteered to help me via Team Viewer and he is the one who made the partitions and the changes etc after I had reinstalled XP. We were addressing this very problem when he bailed on me and left it as is.

As far as installation yes Malwarebytes, Team Viewer, and initiated Yahoo Messenger. He may have done more.

Robert
 
M

magineer02

I do NOT suggest turning off System Restore, especially for a user who

is not very tech savvy, and may well need it during the troubleshooting

of this issue.



The problem with the default settings of SR is that in XP it defaults to

using 12% of the hard drive for Restore Points. XP's SR was developed

when drives were very small. With more recent, much larger drives, 12%

is way too much space for restore points.... so much so that it causes

SR to fail, as well as taking up large amounts of the drive.



The space allotted to restore points should only be one or two GB if

possible, in XP. The size can be adjusted using the slider on the

System Restore tab of the System control panel applet: Start> Control

Panel (large icon view)> System> System Restore tab, select the

partition> Click Settings button> adjust slider for size> click OK all

the way out.



How to Adjust the amount of disk space System Restore uses to hold

restore points:

http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html



--

Glen Ventura

MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009

CompTIA A


I followed your instructions and the ones in the link but I don't see a System Restore tab? Also, I've given up on the pie chart, its beyond me. I'veclicked on the folders only to find more folders and files and I've open folders only to find the same thing but your not seriously suggesting to go through each and every folder manually ?????? This is getting very confusing for me with so many people telling to do this or that.

Robert
 
M

magineer02

I do NOT suggest turning off System Restore, especially for a user who

is not very tech savvy, and may well need it during the troubleshooting

of this issue.



The problem with the default settings of SR is that in XP it defaults to

using 12% of the hard drive for Restore Points. XP's SR was developed

when drives were very small. With more recent, much larger drives, 12%

is way too much space for restore points.... so much so that it causes

SR to fail, as well as taking up large amounts of the drive.



The space allotted to restore points should only be one or two GB if

possible, in XP. The size can be adjusted using the slider on the

System Restore tab of the System control panel applet: Start> Control

Panel (large icon view)> System> System Restore tab, select the

partition> Click Settings button> adjust slider for size> click OK all

the way out.



How to Adjust the amount of disk space System Restore uses to hold

restore points:

http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html



--

Glen Ventura

MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009

CompTIA A+

Your name sounds familiar to me; I think you've helped me before and you might remember me as NavyGuy. In any event,... I agree with you about leaving System Restore alone as I may need it. As a matter of course I downloaded and ran the Treesize program:

25,418.4 MB C:\

8,991.5 MB System Volume Information
7,887.1 MB Documents and Settings
4,490.2 MB Windows
2,557.9 MB [9 files]
1,356.5 MB Program Files
83.5 MB Recycler
43.2 MB NVIDIA
4.6 MB Config MSI
3.7 MB a36dce055dc693359e08bd77
0.2 MB Dell



I opened the System Volume Information and this is what it gave me:

8,991.4 MB _restore{4C917436-A750-42C6-9080-E635532C3484}
0.1 MB [2 files]

I then open the restore file and it had allot of files such as :

533.7 MB RP245
455.7 MB RP215
434.9 MB RP220

I then opened 533.7 MB RP245

This also had allot of files such as:

64.9 MB A0051714.vpx
2.0 MB A0051870.exe
1.2 MB A0051497.dll


I can follow instructions if you just tell me what to do.

Many thanks
Robert
 
G

glee

I followed your instructions and the ones in the link but I don't see a
System Restore
tab? Also, I've given up on the pie chart, its beyond me. I've clicked
on the folders
only to find more folders and files and I've open folders only to find
the same thing but
your not seriously suggesting to go through each and every folder
manually ?????? This is
getting very confusing for me with so many people telling to do this or
that.

Click the Start button.
Right-click My Computer (using the right-side mouse button if you are
right-handed)
A menu will pop up.
Click "Properties" on the menu that pops up.
This will open the System properties.

In the System properties, there should be seven tabs along the top, in
two rows:
General, Computer Name, Hardware, Advanced, System Restore, Automatic
Updates, and Remote.

Do you see those seven tabs?
If not, tell me what you do see.
 
G

glee

Your name sounds familiar to me; I think you've helped me before and
you might remember me as NavyGuy. In any event,... I agree with you
about leaving System Restore alone as I may need it. As a matter of
course I downloaded and ran the Treesize program:

25,418.4 MB C:\

8,991.5 MB System Volume Information
7,887.1 MB Documents and Settings
4,490.2 MB Windows
2,557.9 MB [9 files]
1,356.5 MB Program Files
83.5 MB Recycler
43.2 MB NVIDIA
4.6 MB Config MSI
3.7 MB a36dce055dc693359e08bd77
0.2 MB Dell



I opened the System Volume Information and this is what it gave me:

8,991.4 MB _restore{4C917436-A750-42C6-9080-E635532C3484}
0.1 MB [2 files]

I then open the restore file and it had allot of files such as :

533.7 MB RP245
455.7 MB RP215
434.9 MB RP220

I then opened 533.7 MB RP245

This also had allot of files such as:

64.9 MB A0051714.vpx
2.0 MB A0051870.exe
1.2 MB A0051497.dll


I can follow instructions if you just tell me what to do.

The instructions were in my previous post and the link I gave but you
say you can't find the System Restore tab. That is where you make the
adjustments. You do NOT tamper with the contents of the System Volume
Information folders directly, or you will simply corrupt the System
Restore points entirely. See my other replies.

Yes, I remember helping NavyGuy some time back.
 
G

glee

I don't know how to check or to turn off system restore. I don't know
how to do any of the things you suggested e.g. what services am I
running? background process etc. I thought I gave all the pertinent
information when I posted the problem.

I noticed the problem when another person on here volunteered to help
me via Team Viewer and he is the one who made the partitions and the
changes etc after I had reinstalled XP. We were addressing this very
problem when he bailed on me and left it as is.

As far as installation yes Malwarebytes, Team Viewer, and initiated
Yahoo Messenger. He may have done more.

Yikes! You let someone you don't know get full remote access to your
computer via Teamviewer?! Not the best idea!
 
M

magineer02

Click the Start button.

Right-click My Computer (using the right-side mouse button if you are

right-handed)

A menu will pop up.

Click "Properties" on the menu that pops up.

This will open the System properties.



In the System properties, there should be seven tabs along the top, in

two rows:

General, Computer Name, Hardware, Advanced, System Restore, Automatic

Updates, and Remote.



Do you see those seven tabs?

If not, tell me what you do see.



--

Glen Ventura

MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009

CompTIA A+



I did as you said and it doesn't have 7 it has 5, they are General, Computer Name, Hardware, Advanced, Remote.

Robert
 

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