Showing DRAMATICALLY less memory on the C: drive than there should be.

emenend

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Nov 4, 2009
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My computer says that the C: drive has 22.9GB free of 113GB, but this seems wrong because when I check and I add up the memories taken up by each folder in the drive the total turns out to be less than 7GB, which should mean that I should have about 106GB of free space. Whats the problem? Also, a couple of days ago it says I had 28GB left and now it says 22.9GB of 113GB. I haven't installed much in the computer. Has anyone else had this problem?
 
Solution
First of all: memory = RAM, storage space = disk.

C: is your system drive, so it has lots of additional stuff: restore points, pagefile, hibernation file and other crap. :)

If you are using FAT (old filesystem) its possible you really lost some storage space; you can regain that with a disk check (chkdsk) but XP and up should use NTFS which doesn't have this problem.

Try to remove the restore points and try again. =)

sub mesa

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First of all: memory = RAM, storage space = disk.

C: is your system drive, so it has lots of additional stuff: restore points, pagefile, hibernation file and other crap. :)

If you are using FAT (old filesystem) its possible you really lost some storage space; you can regain that with a disk check (chkdsk) but XP and up should use NTFS which doesn't have this problem.

Try to remove the restore points and try again. =)
 
Solution

raybob95

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Upload to Photobucket, then use the IMG tags.

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There are programs that will show you if you have any unpartitioned space left on your hard drive.

And yes, some of the hard drive is used for your Hibernation file and backups. With 4GB of RAM, I suspect I could have close to 10GB not seen but your numbers seem way off.

On Windows, the program is called "Disk Management"; Google or use HELP to find it.

Also, get the program called "ExplorerXP"; if you have Vista or Windows 7 you will have to right-click-> Properties and "disable visual themes."
 

emenend

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Ok. So officially checked how much space its being used on the C: drive and it is about 40GB, but in the Properties it says that I'm using 91.5GB. So what happened to the other 51.5GB? I'm guessing it has something to do with restore points. But I'd appreciate some light on this.
 
About "explorerxp"

http://www.explorerxp.com/

I use this because it shows me folder sizes. I also use it to manage my Comic (CBR and CBZ) collection as it is amazing at batch renaming.

Some points:
1. For Vista/Win 7 you need to disable visual themes or the screen is blank. Go here C:\Program Files (x86)\ExplorerXP" and right-click "explorerxp.exe" then "properties"-> "disable visual themes."

2. Settings->
- "Show Empty Environment"
- "Show hidden files and folders"

 

blackhawk1928

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Well first off before counting every folder, enable viewing of "hidden files and folders" and show protected operating system files.
-There are also other things that can take up space which include Pagefile, restorepoints, hibernation file...etc
In addition make sure your space is measured consisently with either bits or bytes.
Also your sector allocation can cause space loss. If your XP is on Fat32 and using some ridiculously large cluster size units of 256k or something then this can steal space. If your XP is on ntfs then that shouldn't be of a problem as the max is 64k. Make sure you don't have duplicates and other stuff. Try downloading a third party storage managment problem like EASEUS partition mananger (free) and check out whats wrong.
 
System Restore:

There's a program called "System Restore" that can use a lot. I don't turn it off but if things are running fine I often delete the contents and start fresh.

1) Open "System Restore"
2) Uncheck ALL enabled drives
3) OK
4) Just enable the C drive
5) OK

You should do this occasionally anyway. I recommend doing it every month or so after you have backed up any critical documents to a second hard drive folder.

Backing up:
1) have a second hard drive
2) Make an IMAGE of the C-Drive (i.e. Acronis True Image)
3) backup "My Documents" automatically (free Syncbackse) http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/
4) backup e-mail
5) backup Internet Favorites
6) backup any other files that need to be done manually

I like to put any automated backup files in "Documents" (or "My Documents" on XP) and then have SyncbackSE automatically back these up.

*Summary:
1) A hard drive usually has a little over 90% of the advertised space available after formatting (and how sizes are listed, but never mind). 1TB drive holds about 930GB.

2) System Restore. You can disable and reenable to discard backup files which can be large. (again, backup first)

3) Hibernation. If enabled it uses the same space as your RAM which is usually 1GB to 4GB.

4) Pagefile. If enabled often uses up to 2.5x your RAM. Can vary.

5) Other hidden files. If you add up only viewable folders these won't be included.

6) ExplorerXP can show you Hidden Files so you can see EXACTLY where everything is including your Pagefile and Hibernation file. Click "SIZE" to put the folders in order of size.