C Drive (SSD) Loses Space for No Reason

jkremis · Jul 27, 2017

EDIT (SOLVED): WinDirStat told me that there were 72.0GB of Temp files in my C:\Windows\temp folder. I had checked this previously, and it said always "Empty Folder" when I hovered on it, and "0 bytes" if I right clicked/properties. I actually had to double click the folder, grant permission, and then it told me correctly, that there was "greater than 70.9GB" in the folder. So I deleted that, emptied recycle bin, and now have under 2MB in the folder (two folders were in use, and honestly, screw those folders now that I have 70GB free again - not worth the trouble) and 71.9GB free space!

-------OP BELOW THIS LINE-------

Hi everyone.

I have been Googling, looking through these forums, checking Windows Support, everything I can think of.

For the past 6 months or so, I have been completely unable to get over 100MB of free space on my C Drive, and even before that it was slowly dwindling from about 50-60GB remaining. It's a 128GB SSD, and I only have very select things installed on it (Avast, OpenOffice, Video Drivers, PDF Reader, .NET Framework, etc.). Quick math tells me I should have roughly 30GB MINIMUM available, but I have under 5MB without fail at any time, and if I delete something to make more space, it disappears within minutes or seconds. It's to the point where I can't even open photos because there isn't enough free space on the drive.

I tried to run CCleaner yesterday, but every time I tried to install it, there were "problems with the source file, you must contact the software provider" (or something similar), but I can't clear any more space to install it anyways. I've run Malwarebytes in the past, never had any viruses/loggers.

- System Restore is completely off
- Looked through Hidden Files, nothing unusual came up
- Hibernation has always been off since I built the PC
- I have looked through literally every Folder on the Drive, and nothing is larger than expected in any way shape or form

I don't know what else to do or check to try and gain some space back on this drive and keep it from becoming damaged. Had I known I wouldn't be able to gain space, I would have kept everything else, like Autodesk, on my C Drive. I have two other drives, plus an external drive, with plenty of space, but there is literally nothing left to move, delete, uninstall or clean that I can find anywhere on the drive. I'm completely at a loss.

thisguy365 · Jul 27, 2017

Run Windirstat, at least itll give yo a good idea of where space is being used. Might reveal somethign you havent checked yet

https://windirstat.net/
make sure you run it as an admin.

JackNaylorPE · Jul 27, 2017

We no longer will install an SSD for users less than 250 GB in size for this reason ... they keep coming back asking us to clean the junk off. Assuming you have done Windows Disk Cleanup. Things you can do:

1. Turn off the page file on the SSD and move it to another drive.
2. Move the temp folder to same location
3. I usually create a small partition at the begining of the HD / SSD for 1 and 2 as the outer rim is 2x faster than the inner.
4. Clean out all your windows service pack uninstall files.
5. Do a file search on *.dmp and *.tmp and remove all files older than ya last boot.
6. The level of AV / Malware protection is worth what you paid for it. Te internet suites from Kaspersky and BitDefender provide a level of protection that the free stuff can not approach. 30 day free trials are available from both
7. Do a *.* search of the drive and rank the results by file size. See if any "don't belong".... such as downloaded GFX card driver installation files.
8. Make sure any folder with "My" in front of it is empty ...
9. Search for log files that can be deleted such as backup logs that are outdated
10. recognize that you are being fooled when you buy a 128 GB SSD... it only fits 119 GB if files... with the 15% recommended free space, that's 101 GB.
11. Watch out for utilities like Furmark which leave a 2GB dat file if installed to the SSD.
12. Programs like iTunes like to install huge *.ipa files in C:\Users as well as *.mpg files

How to's for all of the above will quickly be obtained with a web search

jkremis · Jul 27, 2017

JackNaylorPE :

1. I will look into that. I haven't seen that solution yet, and actually don't know exactly what it means.
2. Temp folder is cleared (have done this both manually and through Disk Cleanup numerous times)
3. Being that I have two other drives (480GB SSD, 600GB HDD), I've just simply never felt the need to do this. If it helps after I find a fix, I may consider it now though.
4. I found one, and deleted it, but it was only 8.31MB.
5. Just deleted two files totaling 300kb, which is about what I expected.
6. I agree with the premise, but I honestly have been using Avast free for 10 years now, and have loved it.
7. Graphics card install files were among the first things to go, trying again yielded no unexpected results.
8. The "My" folders have no clutter in them whatsoever, they are as bare as they can be for my purposes (none are over a few MB in size).
9. This was done very recently, within the past week.
10. I understand the concept of storage on drives, I generally assume 10% less than the total amount. But even if I use a round 100GB number, I should have a minimum of a few GB remaining (as opposed to under 5MB), and that's with quick, but very conservative, math.
11/12. I don't use either program. I only use Windows Media player for music, and VLC for videos.

Thank you very much for the suggestions, I didn't mean to sound dry (or possibly even rude) in response, but I'm just passing along responses to your answer - don't mean to project a specific tone. Most of that I have done previously, and doing now did not change anything from my OP

jkremis · Jul 27, 2017

thisguy365 :

windirstat tells me that in My C:/Windows/Temp there is 72.0GB of data. I navigate to the folder, and it says "Empty Folder" through Windows Explorer.

** After Typing that, the reason I never cleaned out those temp files is because of that message. However, I never physically OPENED the folder, and after I granted yself permission, sure enough, "Properties" tells me "greater than 70.9GB. **

So in summary, it was temp files, and I just didn't have permission to access the ones in my C/Windows folder, for whatever reason. Being that it said Empty Folder, I never double clicked to open/grant permission to it.

But that solved my problem, and I know have deleted nearly 73GB of metaphorical dog <mod edit> (sorry, frustration being released). Thank you!

JackNaylorPE · Jul 27, 2017

WinDir Stat basically just presents what Explorer shows you but in a graphical format.

1. I will look into that. I haven't seen that solution yet, and actually don't know exactly what it means.

Its the biggest file on your PC .
https://www.howtogeek.com/196238/how-big-should-your-page-file-or-swap-partition-be/

2. Temp folder is cleared (have done this both manually and through Disk Cleanup numerous times)
The system makes these all day long, clearing them is a temporary thing

3. Being that I have two other drives (480GB SSD, 600GB HDD), I've just simply never felt the need to do this. If it helps after I find a fix, I may consider it now though.

Right now my page file is just under 16GB ... that's 1/6th of the **available** space on your SSD

4. I found one, and deleted it, but it was only 8.31MB.
Using Windows Disk Cleanup take care of this.

5. Just deleted two files totaling 300kb, which is about what I expected.
Sounds like it's been done recently

6. I agree with the premise, but I honestly have been using Avast free for 10 years now, and have loved it.
Avast did very well in the last AV test catching 99.8 % in May ... that means it didn't catch 21 different "widespread and prevalent malware discovered in the last 4 weeks"

7. Graphics card install files were among the first things to go, trying again yielded no unexpected results.
If you have already deleted, them, then they won't be there till the next upgrade.

8. The "My" folders have no clutter in them whatsoever, they are as bare as they can be for my purposes (none are over a few MB in size).
As above.

9. This was done very recently, within the past week.
A above

10. I understand the concept of storage on drives, I generally assume 10% less than the total amount. But even if I use a round 100GB number, I should have a minimum of a few GB remaining (as opposed to under 5MB), and that's with quick, but very conservative, math.

There's no reason for an assumption as the % is a known number because the marketing types have redefined a GB and 1000 MB instead of the real definition of 1024.... just multiply by 0.931 (1000/1024)^3. If you have just 5 GB free. Below they recommend 25% but as drives have "hidden space" that it can use, I go with 15%. An Intel paper once stated that , by their testing 17% was optimal.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6489/playing-with-op

11/12. I don't use either program. I only use Windows Media player for music, and VLC for videos.
When I say "utilities like Furmark" and "like iTunes". I am referring to any testing utility, multimedia app or syncing program

Forgot one ...

13. Disable File Content Indexing and not only free up space but improve performance

Thank you very much for the suggestions, I didn't mean to sound dry (or possibly even rude) in response, but I'm just passing along responses to your answer - don't mean to project a specific tone. Most of that I have done previously, and doing now did not change anything from my OP

No worries, had no idea what was and was not done. Item 2 will solve your problem forever

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C Drive (SSD) Loses Space for No Reason

jkremis

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thisguy365

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JackNaylorPE

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JackNaylorPE

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