winXP, temp folder, low disk space.... problem

[Jeff]

Hey

I have a winXP pro (sp2) computer with 2 harddrives.:
disk C: capacity: 9GB, unused disk space: 901MB
disk D: capacity 40GB unused disk space: 24.4GB

This low disk space on C gives me problem when downloading big files (1GB)
to this computer. I always download to D, but it seems like the download
process first save it to C: and when the download is finished, then the file
is transfered from C to D

System variable on my computer:
TMP = c:\windows\temp
TEMP = c:\windows\temp

User variables on my computer:
TEMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp
TMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp

I want to change this so that when starting a download, the file is first
saved to D drive...

(I don't want to reinstall windows, it takes too much time)

What should I do?

Jeff

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hey

I have a winXP pro (sp2) computer with 2 harddrives.:
disk C: capacity: 9GB, unused disk space: 901MB
disk D: capacity 40GB unused disk space: 24.4GB

This low disk space on C gives me problem when downloading big files (1GB)
to this computer. I always download to D, but it seems like the download
process first save it to C: and when the download is finished, then the file
is transfered from C to D

System variable on my computer:
TMP = c:\windows\temp
TEMP = c:\windows\temp

User variables on my computer:
TEMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp
TMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp

I want to change this so that when starting a download, the file is first
saved to D drive...

(I don't want to reinstall windows, it takes too much time)

What should I do?

Jeff

The system partition should have at least 20% of total capacity
in free disk space. In your case that's 1.8 GBytes. You have
only 0.9 GBytes free, i.e. the partition is 95% full. You can
continue to ignore the issue until you paint yourself into a
corner and have an inoperative Windows installation because
of a full disk, or you can do something about it now while the
system still runs nicely. I suggest you buy a new disk (they are
cheap!) and clone the system partition across.

If you decide to live dangerously then you can avoid the
current issue by using a browser that lets you specify where
the downloaded files should go, without taking the path via
drive C:. Firefox is one of them.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a winXP pro (sp2) computer with 2 harddrives.:
disk C: capacity: 9GB, unused disk space: 901MB
disk D: capacity 40GB unused disk space: 24.4GB

This low disk space on C gives me problem when downloading big
files (1GB) to this computer. I always download to D, but it seems
like the download process first save it to C: and when the download
is finished, then the file is transfered from C to D

System variable on my computer:
TMP = c:\windows\temp
TEMP = c:\windows\temp

User variables on my computer:
TEMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp
TMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp

I want to change this so that when starting a download, the file is
first saved to D drive...

(I don't want to reinstall windows, it takes too much time)

What should I do?

Change the location of your temporary folders and Temporary Internet Files
folder...

In addition - cleanup that C drive some...

Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?
Moved things to external media?

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

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but yuor
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 128MB and 512MB. (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.

 

[Pennywise]

Hey

I have a winXP pro (sp2) computer with 2 harddrives.:
disk C: capacity: 9GB, unused disk space: 901MB
disk D: capacity 40GB unused disk space: 24.4GB

This low disk space on C gives me problem when downloading big files (1GB)
to this computer. I always download to D, but it seems like the download
process first save it to C: and when the download is finished, then the file
is transfered from C to D

System variable on my computer:
TMP = c:\windows\temp
TEMP = c:\windows\temp

User variables on my computer:
TEMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp
TMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp

I want to change this so that when starting a download, the file is first
saved to D drive...

Download treesize and find where you largest space wasters are .DMP
files for one. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/treesize.html

As mentioned you can change the location of the temp directory.
I dual,triple boot and all systems use C:\Temp as their temp drive.
None of that c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp stuff -
just too much digging.

Right click on "My computer". Properties, Advanced, Environment
Variables - edit all the temp dir's to the place of your choice.

I also use a Ramdisk you might find of use
http://www.ramdisk.tk/ it's my B:\ drive
I download junk to it, so when I reboot it's all deleted.

I use the free version so only have 30megs to play with and have never
transferred my temp directories to it, so don't know how that would
work,but it should.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Jeff

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.

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.

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%.

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

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.

Then run Disk Defragmenter.


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

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

 

[Jeff]

Thanks, I've already gained 600MB of free disk space based on your tip.

Now I have 1.5GB of free disk space

Thank you

 

[Jeff]

Thanks, I'm using Ghost to regulary reinstall windows (i have a image I just
transfer to C:, I don't do a complete installation from scratch).... thanks,
I'll go and buy a new hard drive one day

 

[Courtney]

How to change the location of your temp files....

1. Create a folder on the drive you want to use for your temporary files.
2. Right-click on My Computer | Properties | Advanced | Environmnet
Variables.
3. Edit the location of the TMP and TEMP variables to point to the folder
you created in step 1. If the variables don't exist, create them.
4. Reboot.

You can now delete all of the files in your old temporary folder. Don't
delete the folders themselves.

Courtney sends....

 

[Jeff]

Hey

I have a winXP pro (sp2) computer with 2 harddrives.:
disk C: capacity: 9GB, unused disk space: 901MB
disk D: capacity 40GB unused disk space: 24.4GB

This low disk space on C gives me problem when downloading big files (1GB)
to this computer. I always download to D, but it seems like the download
process first save it to C: and when the download is finished, then the
file is transfered from C to D

System variable on my computer:
TMP = c:\windows\temp
TEMP = c:\windows\temp

User variables on my computer:
TEMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp
TMP = c:\document and settings\Jeff\Local settings\Temp

I want to change this so that when starting a download, the file is first
saved to D drive...

(I don't want to reinstall windows, it takes too much time)

What should I do?

Jeff