lost space on C disk

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

The Properties dialog for my C disk says it has 3.5GB in use. When I check
the size of the files and directories (using the pop-up information in
Windows Explorer) on the C disk, they only add up to 2.5GB, including hidden
and system files.

What happened to the other gigabyte?

I noticed that my disk usage increased by about 2GB when I applied SP2.

This is on an eMachines; I also have a Dell. When I applied SP2 to the Dell,
its disk usage only increased by about 500MB. When I add up the files and
directories on my Dell C disk, the total matches the 2GB usage indicated on
the Properties dialog.

These are parallel machines with the same software and same user files; the
Dell is a backup system in case eMachines breaks. On the eMachines, the
C:\WINDOWS directory is 2GB; on the Dell, it is only 1.5GB. The difference
is almost entirely in the directory C:\WINDOWS\i386, which appears to be
some sort of installation directory, because the filetypes generally end in
an underline, e.g. SORT.EX_ and SOUND1.WA_, and a large directory of HTML
message files like "The software for 3Com DynamicAccess is not compatible
with this version of Microsoft Windows and will be disabled during the
upgrade" and a link to microsoft.com.

Can I delete this directory, C:\WINDOWS\i386? It looks like left-over junk
from some Windows install process.

Thanks,

Chaz

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Consider that every file and directory listing (no matter what size) takes
up at least one cluster. Slack space is the area between the end of the file
and the end of the cluster. It can be calculated roughly by taking 1/2 of
the drive's allocation unit (cluster size) times the number of files, this
is the average wasted space. If you have a lot of small files then the
wasted space figure could be larger.

From a command prompt at the root of the drive in question;
chkdsk
to find out your cluster size (allocation unit)

As long as you have your install media you can delete the \i386 directory.

You may want to update the Reg_Sz strings;
"SourcePath"
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

(note that this paths is one level above the \i386 folder)


--
Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Charles Rogers" wrote:
| The Properties dialog for my C disk says it has 3.5GB in use. When I check
| the size of the files and directories (using the pop-up information in
| Windows Explorer) on the C disk, they only add up to 2.5GB, including
hidden
| and system files.
|
| What happened to the other gigabyte?
|
| I noticed that my disk usage increased by about 2GB when I applied SP2.
|
| This is on an eMachines; I also have a Dell. When I applied SP2 to the
Dell,
| its disk usage only increased by about 500MB. When I add up the files and
| directories on my Dell C disk, the total matches the 2GB usage indicated
on
| the Properties dialog.
|
| These are parallel machines with the same software and same user files;
the
| Dell is a backup system in case eMachines breaks. On the eMachines, the
| C:\WINDOWS directory is 2GB; on the Dell, it is only 1.5GB. The difference
| is almost entirely in the directory C:\WINDOWS\i386, which appears to be
| some sort of installation directory, because the filetypes generally end
in
| an underline, e.g. SORT.EX_ and SOUND1.WA_, and a large directory of HTML
| message files like "The software for 3Com DynamicAccess is not compatible
| with this version of Microsoft Windows and will be disabled during the
| upgrade" and a link to microsoft.com.
|
| Can I delete this directory, C:\WINDOWS\i386? It looks like left-over junk
| from some Windows install process.
|
| Thanks,
|
| Chaz
|
|

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

"Charles Rogers" <spamitup@spammer.com> wrote in message
news:%23KvKlUr5EHA.992@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
| The Properties dialog for my C disk says it has 3.5GB in use. When I check
| the size of the files and directories (using the pop-up information in
| Windows Explorer) on the C disk, they only add up to 2.5GB, including
hidden
| and system files.
|
| What happened to the other gigabyte?
|

SequoiaView is an excellent free (and clean) utility helpful in tracking
down mysterious missing drive space.

It provides a one window graphical representation of which files are taking
up how much space where on a drive, often quickly and easily tracking down
files that Windows is reluctant to reveal.

http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

(It's kinda fun too)


--
D

I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
I was just trying to help.
Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
advice herein.
No warranty is expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
See store for details.

Remove shoes to E-mail.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

I'm having a somewhat similar problem. I'm running xp and due to business
reasons, had to upgrade from lotus office to ms office 2000. In the process
I had to uninstall several programs and in the attemp to reload Act &
McAfee, I'm told there isn't enough disk space on the c drive to open them. I
have a 20 GB hard drive partitioned at 2GB sections. Any help to free up
space would be a huge help.

Z

"Charles Rogers" wrote:

> The Properties dialog for my C disk says it has 3.5GB in use. When I check
> the size of the files and directories (using the pop-up information in
> Windows Explorer) on the C disk, they only add up to 2.5GB, including hidden
> and system files.
>
> What happened to the other gigabyte?
>
> I noticed that my disk usage increased by about 2GB when I applied SP2.
>
> This is on an eMachines; I also have a Dell. When I applied SP2 to the Dell,
> its disk usage only increased by about 500MB. When I add up the files and
> directories on my Dell C disk, the total matches the 2GB usage indicated on
> the Properties dialog.
>
> These are parallel machines with the same software and same user files; the
> Dell is a backup system in case eMachines breaks. On the eMachines, the
> C:\WINDOWS directory is 2GB; on the Dell, it is only 1.5GB. The difference
> is almost entirely in the directory C:\WINDOWS\i386, which appears to be
> some sort of installation directory, because the filetypes generally end in
> an underline, e.g. SORT.EX_ and SOUND1.WA_, and a large directory of HTML
> message files like "The software for 3Com DynamicAccess is not compatible
> with this version of Microsoft Windows and will be disabled during the
> upgrade" and a link to microsoft.com.
>
> Can I delete this directory, C:\WINDOWS\i386? It looks like left-over junk
> from some Windows install process.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Chaz
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

The missing space is owned by System Restore and contained in the directory:
C:\System Volume Information

The contents of this directory cannot be viewed by Windows Explorer, and the
files in it are not added into the total size of the directory, which will
always say, "Folder is empty".

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

> I have a 20 GB hard drive partitioned at 2GB sections.
You've split up your hard disk into 10 small partitions? I'd say this is a
very good way to waste a lot of space.

As for the missing space that I located on my computer: go to System on the
Control Panel and select the System Restore tab. You can disable System
Restore entirely and reclaim all the System Restore space, if you want, but
you probably want to keep System Restore active on your boot disk. You can
also select each disk in turn and poke the "Settings" button to disable
System Restore or reduce the amount of space reserved for each volume.

You can see how much space is actually allocated to System Restore files by
going to Accessories -- System Tools -- Backup. Poke the button for
Advanced Mode. Poke the Backup tab. Now you have a directory tree & file
list display similar to Windows Explorer, except that it displays System
Restore files. Look in the "System Volume Information" folder for each of
your disks. Under the _restore directory is a series of RPxxx directories,
one for each checkpoint. Click on these directories and their
subdirectories to see how much space these files are gobbling up.


"zulumic" <zulumic@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EC83FC74-E70E-4C85-9CEC-C7C7A69B79C7@microsoft.com...
> I'm having a somewhat similar problem. I'm running xp and due to business
> reasons, had to upgrade from lotus office to ms office 2000. In the
> process
> I had to uninstall several programs and in the attemp to reload Act &
> McAfee, I'm told there isn't enough disk space on the c drive to open
> them. I
> have a 20 GB hard drive partitioned at 2GB sections. Any help to free up
> space would be a huge help.
>
> Z
>
> "Charles Rogers" wrote:
>
>> The Properties dialog for my C disk says it has 3.5GB in use. When I
>> check
>> the size of the files and directories (using the pop-up information in
>> Windows Explorer) on the C disk, they only add up to 2.5GB, including
>> hidden
>> and system files.
>>
>> What happened to the other gigabyte?
>>
>> I noticed that my disk usage increased by about 2GB when I applied SP2.
>>
>> This is on an eMachines; I also have a Dell. When I applied SP2 to the
>> Dell,
>> its disk usage only increased by about 500MB. When I add up the files and
>> directories on my Dell C disk, the total matches the 2GB usage indicated
>> on
>> the Properties dialog.
>>
>> These are parallel machines with the same software and same user files;
>> the
>> Dell is a backup system in case eMachines breaks. On the eMachines, the
>> C:\WINDOWS directory is 2GB; on the Dell, it is only 1.5GB. The
>> difference
>> is almost entirely in the directory C:\WINDOWS\i386, which appears to be
>> some sort of installation directory, because the filetypes generally end
>> in
>> an underline, e.g. SORT.EX_ and SOUND1.WA_, and a large directory of HTML
>> message files like "The software for 3Com DynamicAccess is not compatible
>> with this version of Microsoft Windows and will be disabled during the
>> upgrade" and a link to microsoft.com.
>>
>> Can I delete this directory, C:\WINDOWS\i386? It looks like left-over
>> junk
>> from some Windows install process.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Chaz
>>
>>
>>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Do you have Norton Utilities installed? If so, its "Norton Protected
recycle Bin" can hold a lot of files, and needs to be empties periodically,
especially after a major software upgrade.

My own experience with SP2 is that it's installation created a monster-sized
sytem restore point. I deleted this by making my own restore point, then
using the advanced options under disk cleanup to delete all but the last
restore point.

Finally, SP2 offerred to save the old (pre-SP2) files just in case you
needed to go back. In my case these totalled 424 Meg. Fortunately, it
offerred to write them somewhere other than C:\ and I had a spare partition,
so I used that. These old files are contained in a directory called
$ntservicepackuninstall$. If you are happy with SP2, you can delete (or
move) this file. However, then you will not be able to uninstall SP2.

"Charles Rogers" <spamitup@spammer.com> wrote in message
news:%23KvKlUr5EHA.992@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> The Properties dialog for my C disk says it has 3.5GB in use. When I check
> the size of the files and directories (using the pop-up information in
> Windows Explorer) on the C disk, they only add up to 2.5GB, including
> hidden and system files.
>
> What happened to the other gigabyte?
>
> I noticed that my disk usage increased by about 2GB when I applied SP2.
>
> This is on an eMachines; I also have a Dell. When I applied SP2 to the
> Dell, its disk usage only increased by about 500MB. When I add up the
> files and directories on my Dell C disk, the total matches the 2GB usage
> indicated on the Properties dialog.
>
> These are parallel machines with the same software and same user files;
> the Dell is a backup system in case eMachines breaks. On the eMachines,
> the C:\WINDOWS directory is 2GB; on the Dell, it is only 1.5GB. The
> difference is almost entirely in the directory C:\WINDOWS\i386, which
> appears to be some sort of installation directory, because the filetypes
> generally end in an underline, e.g. SORT.EX_ and SOUND1.WA_, and a large
> directory of HTML message files like "The software for 3Com DynamicAccess
> is not compatible with this version of Microsoft Windows and will be
> disabled during the upgrade" and a link to microsoft.com.
>
> Can I delete this directory, C:\WINDOWS\i386? It looks like left-over junk
> from some Windows install process.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Chaz
>
>