Free space inconsistency

[tonync_01]

I just installed a new OCZ 120GB SSD drive on my computer. I did a new install of windows 7 (this required doing an initial install and then an upgrade of windows because of the version I have). After the install the drive is very fast and seems to working properly except that in windows properties it shows that I have used up 60GB of space just from the windows and office install, however when I actually check the properties of files on the drive (including system and hidden) it only adds up to 20GB. Does anyone have any idea of the reason for the disparity between these two measures of drive space? Thanks.

 

[kelthic]

It is possible that some of the space is being allocated as a paging file. I don't think that this would account for an additional 40GB on your SSD, but when I built my gaming pc, i installed a 64GB SSD with a 1 TB mechanical for a data drive. I ended up lowering the paging file on the SSD and creating a system managed paging file on the mechanical. This allowed me enough space on the SSD to install another full game. You can probably find a ton of information on this subject by googling "windows 7 paging files"; some of the information i've read on the subject suggests if you have enough ram, you may not need much of a paging file at all.

Hope this helps!

 

[WyomingKnott]

I have found that WinDirStat is a useful tool to figure out where all that space went. Download it, run it with Admin access, and enable the display of Hidden files. Let us know what you see.

 

[tonync_01]

Thanks, I tried the WinDirStat and I found the culprits: 2 files that aren't shown in explorer pagefile.sys (16GB) and hiberfile.sys (12GB). I'm guessing the hiberfile.sys has to do with what is saved when the computer sleeps, can I reduce or delete this? What is pagefile.sys, it seems large given that all I have on computer is windows and office.

 

[kelthic]

pagefile.sys is the paging file i mentioned above. You can change this file to be smaller on your SSD and use a system managed file on your mechanical drive. Please reference http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2599-63-page-file-indexing for more information if necessary. I've been using a 1gb paging file on my ssd and a system managed size on my mechanical and it has worked very well for me.

Hope this helps~!

 

[Guest]

disabling hibernation http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/819-hibernate-enable-disable.html . You should also turn off system restore. Right click computer /properties /advanced system settings / system protection/configure/ turn off system protection and delete restore points .

 

[tonync_01]

Best answer selected by tonync_01.