when C drive is getting too small

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mark
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M

Mark

The C drive is getting too small. I also have D hard drive (separate
hardware) and keep installing new stuff there. What parts of Windows XP SP2
can I remove or move to the D drive and how?
 
Mark

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.

To move programmes use Add / Remove Programs in Start, Control Panel, Add /
Remove Programs to uninstall programmes. Create a Programs Directory on
your other partition and reinstall there.

Some other notes you may find useful.

Create a My Documents folder in another partition and copy ( not move ) the
contents of My Documents to your new folder. Then delete the files in your
My Documents folder ( if you encounter problems deleting use Shift + Delete
to bypass the Recycle Bin ). You will also need to change Default File
locations in the Microsoft Office programmes you use. For Word go to Tools,
Options, File Locations, highlight Documents, click on Modify and change
file path. For Excel go to Tools, Options, General and change default file
path.

For Temporary Internet Files select Start, Control Panel, Internet Options,
Temporary Internet Files. Settings, Move Folder.

To move the Outlook Express Store Folder select in Outlook Express Tools,
Options, Maintenance, Store Folder, Change.
http://www.tomsterdam.com/insideoe/files/store.htm

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.

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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Mark said:
The C drive is getting too small. I also have D hard drive (separate
hardware) and keep installing new stuff there. What parts of Windows XP
SP2 can I remove or move to the D drive and how?

One of the better approaches is actually to replace the C drive if you find
it too small. If it's small, it's older, and drives do have a limited
life span. Also, new drives are inexpensive and easy to install; and if
you get one with a larger cache you may find it faster.

What I would suggest in that vein is to clear enough space to download and
install the Acronis TrueImage trial version. You'll have 15 days to use
this, and once you have the replacement drive you'll be done inside an hour
or so.

http://www.acronis.com/
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/trueimage/

You may well find that it's worth purchasing the license; it's a very useful
application.

Attach the replacement drive to the system, even to a USB2 external case.
Now, run TrueImage and use the Clone Disk option. Pay attention that you
select the correct drive for source and destination, and using the entire
space on the new drive. It's quite easy and straightforward. Let it do
what it says it needs to do, and when done, shut down the system. Remove
the current C drive and put the replacement drive in its place, making sure
jumpers are set correctly. Restart the system, and you should be up and
running with the extra space.

As to moving components to the D drive, move the Temporary Internet Files
folders to D, and then delete any content.ie5 folders and contents on the C
drive. Do the same with the Temp folders. If you're using Outlook
Express, move the message stores to D. The only way to move larger things
like MS Office is to uninstall them from C and reinstall them to D, because
of the numerous registry entries that have to be changed.

HTH
-pk
 
Thanks Gerry. I tried the first step you recommended (system restore points)
and I got back more than 400 MB.
Will try all other options later. Thanks a lot.
 
Excellent idea. Will I encounter Windows XP reactivation issues if I go this
way?


"> One of the better approaches is actually to replace the C drive if you
find
 
Patrick thanks a lot for great ideas.
What do you mean by " USB2 external case"? A special external drive or
internal drive connected somehow (is it possible?) to USB port?
 
There are many uninstall (hidden) files, for example $NtUninstallKB917953$,
in Windows folder. Most of them start with $NtUninstall. Can I delete those
files?

Drive C is FAT32. Will converting to NTFS result in big gains.
 
Mark said:
Patrick thanks a lot for great ideas.
What do you mean by " USB2 external case"? A special external drive or
internal drive connected somehow (is it possible?) to USB port?

You can buy hard drive cases that connect to the PC via USB2. They range
from CDN$25 up. The more expensive ones have FireWire ports as well, and I
suggest you stay away from those.

It's easy to assemble a hard disk into one; you just have to get the hard
disk jumper correct, and that is usually set to Master. No drivers are
required, they are built in to XP. When you plug the drive in and turn it
on (they also have a power adapter) the drive will be detected and assigned
a drive letter, assuming it's partitioned and formatted. If it isn't, you
can just go into Disk Management and partition it.

You can also get a USB2 - IDE (or USB2-SATA) connector that doesn't use the
case. These are very handy for service if you regularly need to work on
hard disks from other systems.

If your system does not have USB2 ports, get a PCI USB2 card. USB2 is
very, very much faster, the cards are inexpensive and don't require any
extra drivers.

HTH
-pk
 
Mark said:
Excellent idea. Will I encounter Windows XP reactivation issues if I go
this way?

You shouldn't, but it's not a big deal if you do. At worst, it's one phone
call to a toll-free number you will be given.

HTH
-pk
 
Mark said:
There are many uninstall (hidden) files, for example
$NtUninstallKB917953$, in Windows folder. Most of them start with
$NtUninstall. Can I delete those files?

Those folders are for service pack and Windows Update uninstallers.

If you do delete them, you won't be able to uninstall those updates or
service pack. This may not be a big problem.
Drive C is FAT32. Will converting to NTFS result in big gains.

Probably not. It won't magically increase the space, though with NTFS you
can compress files and folders. Be aware that there are considerations
prior to conversion, and you need to have some space available. But it
won't be "big gains", no.

Read some details here:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php

HTH
-pk
 
Thank you very much. Will visit my "preferred retail computer store" on
Monday.
 

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