Uninstall reduced hard disk capacity?

[Guest]

I am the opposite of a computer expert and would be grateful for some advice.

I have used the disk cleanup uninstall function to remove two programs I
don't use in order to free up space to do other things. Both were around
80MB. I was expecting to free up about 160MB on my hard disk, but instead I
seem to have used about 80MB.

Can anyone suggest why this happened and what I should do to fix it?

I am using Windows XP Home Edition version 5.1.2600 on an approx 5 yr old
Sony laptop, which only has 5.58GB storage (no idea if any of this is
relevant).

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Well, first things first: The Disk Cleanup Wizard doesn't have its own
uninstaller. It simply presents Windows own Add or Remove Programs applet.

Did you reboot your computer after uninstalling? There may be temporary
files resulting from the uninstall that will be erased when you reboot.

You didn't say what programs you uninstalled. Some programs leave a lot of
files and folders behind.

The size of your hard disk is not relevant to your particular question, but
5.58GB is small for a computer running Windows XP. A new hard disk can be
had for about $50 that will give you ten times the storage space and, after
a little tweaking, your computer will run faster as well.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Ted

I have rebooted the computer a number of times, to no avail.

The programs were "Visio" and Microsoft Project - although don't quote me on
that as I may have got the names slightly wrong, and now that they are gone I
can't check them! Do you know anything about these programs that might have
caused the problem?

I am thinking about a new hard drive but haven't got that far yet ...

Thanks again

Anna

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Using Windows Explorer or Search you can determine which files and folders
are taking up the most space. Folders with 80MB worth should be pretty
obvious.

Your situation may have nothing to do with the programs you uninstalled. For
example, you may have adware or a virus.

Why would you consider replacing a hardware part to solve a software
problem?