Plz Help - Disk Usage Shown by Windows Is Incorrect and VERY High

[Guest]

Hello:

My problem is that Windows is showing that I have used 245 Gigs of my Hard
Drive (C Drive) BUT I know that I have only used 60 Gigs.

My hard drive is 250 Gigs. When I open the C: Drive in Explorer, with all
folders unhidden, and add each folder's disk usage they total 60 Gigs of used
space. BUT when, for example. I right click on C: and open the Drive the
propertries tab it says and graphically shows that I have used 245 Gigs. For
months ,whene ever I checked my free space there was always approx 190 Gigs
of free space on my C: Drive. This number is an accord with the space
required for my insatlalled programs and data.

My C: Drive is my only drive and I know of no other partitions. My File
system is NFTS.
I am using Windows XP Home SP2.

My defrag programs show a graphical representation of my drive and they all
show tons of free disk space. At the same time, the numerical represenations
they show are that I have only 5 Gigs of free space.

One of my defrag programs generates and saves reports that, among other
things, shows disk usage and free space. Those reports say that on a few
recent occasions my disk usage has jumped dramatically by 50 Gigs in just 2
days time. This has happened a few times within the past month. I know of
nothing I have done that would cause anywhere near this amount of disk spce
to be used.

Even when I delete files or uninstall programs the disk usage and free space
numbers do not change. I am far from an expert but I suspect that there
really is nothing on the extra 185 Gigs that Windows says have been used but
rather there is some issue with the indexing or file system.

I have had system restore disabled so that is not the problem. To make
certain, I reactivated System Restore to see if there were any Restore Points
but there were none.

I have run 3 different disk cleaners as well as Scan Disk and another hard
disk analyzer/fixer with no success is resolving the problem. Those programs
say that there are no errors on my disk.

i am very concerned that the "remaining" 5 gig s will soon be used and tht
my PC will stop working.

As my PC is still under warranty I ahve been working with the manufacturer
(Velocity Micro) but so far neither an explanation of the cause or a solution
has been found. My Windows XP is OEM so I am unable to get Microsoft help on
this without a 35$/call charge.

Does anyone have any suggestions, explanations, or anything else to help me
fix my PC without a reformatting. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks For Taking the Time to Read This.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

To investigate how you are using hard disk space you need to make sure that
you can see all files. 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.

You still will not see the System Volume Information folder.
How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309531

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."

To increase you free space on your C select Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and
remove all but the latest System Restore points? Restore points can be quite
large.

You should use Disk CleanUp regularly to Empty your Recycle Bin and
Remove Temporary Internet Files. Whenever you remove redundant files you
should always run Disk Defragmenter by selecting Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.

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.

Are you using any Norton Utilities?

If your hard drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with
your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of your
C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows folder
typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ etc.

These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed the
text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not compressed
you can compress them. Right click on each folder and select Properties,
General, Advanced and check the box before Compress contents to
save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount gained
by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder compression is
only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition.

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. On your drive
5% 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%.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

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

 

[Guest]

There are several types of spyware/malware that "fool" your hard drive into
thinking that it is almost full. Try scanning your computer for spyware. I
would recommend using Spybot - Search & Destroy or Windows Defender. Be sure
to check for updates after installing these programs. Also, you should check
your disk for errors. To do this, go to My Computer. Right-click on the drive
with the problem and go to Properties. Click on the "Tools" tab. Click the
"Check now..." button and select both boxes; then click Start. You will be
prompted to restart your computer. When it restarts, a screen will come up
telling you that Windows has began checking your disk. This process usually
takes somewhere between 15 minutes to 1 hour. So don't start checking the
disk if you have work to do on your computer. Here are the links to some
anti-spyware programs:

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022-10122137.html?part=dl-spybot&subj=dl&

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...e7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&DisplayLang=en