something is comsuming my HDD space

[c0oKi3]

I partitioned a drive for a secondary OS (6GB). After a while the drive got filled. When i highlighted the whole content of the drive and click on properties it shows that I've used up 4gig. However the low space message keeps on appearing, saying that i've only have < 200MB left. Also whenever I clean the drive, deleting n uninstalling stuff, it just didnt free up the space. Sometimes, doing nothing would reduce it even furthur. I though it was infected w/ some sort of virus.
So I have reformatted the whole system. Partitioned a drive just for my primary OS. Same thing. Now the 10gb partition is 1/2 full. Highlighting the content would show me that i've only used 2gig.
Where has the rest of the space gone 2?

 

[Crusty]

Do you have Norton Protected Recycle Bin enabled? That could be a cause...

 

[c0oKi3]

Thx 4 the reply
I have it rite now... but b4 i format the system i didnt have norton installed
BTW what are those norton protected files anyway... what happens if i purge them?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: c0oKi3
Thx 4 the reply
I have it rite now... but b4 i format the system i didnt have norton installed
BTW what are those norton protected files anyway... what happens if i purge them?

The norton files are simply a recycle bin for your recycle bin. It makes it take two steps to delete a file. If you don't have it installed it doesn't apply.

It's possible you are running into problems with system restore points taking up space (under XP, you never mention the OS you are using). You can adjust these settings if you need space. If you are selecting all files and the properties to get the disk space in use, keep in mind it will not show files you don't have permissions to. Pagefile.sys &amp; the system volume information folder will not show in this total.

If you want to know where your space is going you can also use:

SequoiaView

 

[c0oKi3]

Originally posted by: Smilin
The norton files are simply a recycle bin for your recycle bin. It makes it take two steps to delete a file. If you don't have it installed it doesn't apply.

It's possible you are running into problems with system restore points taking up space (under XP, you never mention the OS you are using). You can adjust these settings if you need space. If you are selecting all files and the properties to get the disk space in use, keep in mind it will not show files you don't have permissions to. Pagefile.sys & the system volume information folder will not show in this total.

If you want to know where your space is going you can also use:

SequoiaView

Thx for the link. I have installed n run the software.
U were right, i cant inc pagefile.sys in the file size properties thing.
the file is 1.5GB!!! whats that for? but it still doesnt add up. C: properties claims that i've used 5.36
while highlighting gives me 2.95... that + 1.5 only makes 4.45.
i guess there's other files which is not shown even when the "show hidden files" option is checked.
Just for curiousity... how much does your OS take?
n yes i m running xp

 

[Smilin]

Here's a guess:

Your space is being used up by Restore Points. These are stored in your system volume information folder in the root of your drive. You do not have permissions to this folder by default (and if you're asking me what a pagefile.sys does you shouldn't be fooling in the sysvol folder ). You can reduce the amount of space used for Restore Points by going to the System Restore tab of System Properties. I would HIGHLY recommend you continue to use this feature. Crank down the space a bit if you have to but keep in mind that it is space very well spent. It WILL save your butt some day.

If you want to reclaim some of that pagefile.sys space goto system properties | advanced tab | Performance "Settings" button | advanced tab | "change" button. Don't set the maximum size any less than your physical memory + about 50mb. Reboot for the change to take effect.

 

[CTho9305]

get scanner and find out what's using the space

 

[Abzstrak]

Originally posted by: c0oKi3
Thx 4 the reply
I have it rite now... but b4 i format the system i didnt have norton installed
BTW what are those norton protected files anyway... what happens if i purge them?

the norton protect recycle bin is for people that are so damn stupid they need a recycle bin for their recycle bin... just get it off the machine and you'll be better off.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Abzstrak

Originally posted by: c0oKi3
Thx 4 the reply
I have it rite now... but b4 i format the system i didnt have norton installed
BTW what are those norton protected files anyway... what happens if i purge them?

the norton protect recycle bin is for people that are so damn stupid they need a recycle bin for their recycle bin... just get it off the machine and you'll be better off.

Until you need to use it for something you accidentally deleted. Then you'll love it. But I guess that makes you stupid.:roll:


Oh yeah, Smilin, CTho9305 - good links. That SequoiaView is a really neat program. Up until a few minutes ago, I used Easycleaner from Toniarts (which is still a good utility) to show space usage graphs, among other things. That SequoiaView is MUCH more detailed.

 

[Smilin]

Yeah, SequoiaView rocks. It's great for visually finding where all that space went.

Be sure to customize your colors when you're using it.

 

[Frightcrawler]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Until you need to use it for something you accidentally deleted. Then you'll love it.

Not quite.

Restoration is free and it can retrieve deleted files very very easily.

 

[Psych]

Handy Recovery, and PC Inspector File Recovery are still relatively small and beat Restoration in every way in my opinion.