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Question: Nearly Empty, But Still Full Hard Drive

S

Searcher7

Flightless Bird
I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.

For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.

And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
correct this problem?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
R

RnR

Flightless Bird
On Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:02:41 -0800 (PST), Searcher7
<Searcher7@mail.con2.com> wrote:

>I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
>drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.
>
>For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
>files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
>keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
>problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
>begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.
>
>And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
>anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
>correct this problem?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Darren Harris
>Staten Island, New York.



Sounds like you didn't do a Disk Cleanup. Deleted files aren't
really gone.
 
R

Rey Santos

Flightless Bird
Try this:

WinDirStat: Windows Directory Statistics
http://sourceforge.net/projects/windirstat/

--
Rey


"RnR" wrote:

> On Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:02:41 -0800 (PST), Searcher7
> <Searcher7@mail.con2.com> wrote:
>
> >I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
> >drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.
> >
> >For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
> >files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
> >keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
> >problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
> >begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.
> >
> >And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
> >anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
> >correct this problem?
> >
> >Thanks.
> >
> >Darren Harris
> >Staten Island, New York.

>
>
> Sounds like you didn't do a Disk Cleanup. Deleted files aren't
> really gone.
> .
>
 
M

meerkat

Flightless Bird
"Searcher7" <Searcher7@mail.con2.com> wrote in message
news:55afc7d7-fdba-44f3-9a83-dd7854b0a5e3@l30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
>I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
> drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.
>
> For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
> files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
> keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
> problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
> begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.
>
> And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
> anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
> correct this problem?
>
> Thanks.
>

Apart from, disk cleanup
, you should check to see how much space
Ststen Restore is using.
Every little helps when you`ve only got a small hard drve.
 
M

MowGreen

Flightless Bird
How is the drive formatted ... FAT32 or NTFS ?
If it's FAT32, convert it to NTFS.

MowGreen
===============
*-343-* FDNY
Never Forgotten
===============

banthecheck.com
"Security updates should *never* have *non-security content* prechecked"



Searcher7 wrote:
> I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
> drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.
>
> For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
> files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
> keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
> problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
> begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.
>
> And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
> anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
> correct this problem?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.
>
 
B

Bri

Flightless Bird
Had a similar problem - uninstalling Zone Alarm cured it for me.
Bri.


"Searcher7" <Searcher7@mail.con2.com> wrote in message
news:55afc7d7-fdba-44f3-9a83-dd7854b0a5e3@l30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
>I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
> drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.
>
> For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
> files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
> keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
> problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
> begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.
>
> And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
> anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
> correct this problem?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.
>
 
S

Searcher7

Flightless Bird
On Jan 12, 2:04 am, Rey Santos <ReySan...@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
> Try this:
>
> WinDirStat: Windows Directory Statisticshttp://sourceforge.net/projects/windirstat/
>
> --
> Rey
>
> "RnR" wrote:
> > On Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:02:41 -0800 (PST), Searcher7
> > <Search...@mail.con2.com> wrote:

>
> > >I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
> > >drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.

>
> > >For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
> > >files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
> > >keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
> > >problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
> > >begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.

>
> > >And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
> > >anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
> > >correct this problem?

>
> > >Thanks.

>
> > >Darren Harris
> > >Staten Island, New York.

>
> > Sounds like you didn't do a Disk Cleanup.   Deleted files aren't
> > really gone.  
> > .


Thanks.

Most of the files are in "Documents and Settings", in which there are
three folders that are *somewhat* redundant. Inside each of these
folders are desktop folders.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll257/Statenislander/Computer/WinDirStat..jpg

It'll be a tedious process figuring out how to get to and compare and
the contents so I can delete whatever there are multiples of. Obvious,
since I didn't reformat some stuff carried over.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
W

William R. Walsh

Flightless Bird
Hi!

> I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a
> 20Gig hard drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows
> XP.


That should be enough hard disk to run XP with space to spare. I have
a number of systems doing fine with the same size drive.

It sounds like you didn't get the drive erased before installing that
fresh copy of XP. (Windows XP setup--for reason known but to
Microsoft--will let you install XP to a non-blanked drive, essentially
reusing the formatting that the drive already has.)

> Can anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I
> could try to correct this problem?


The first things I'd look at are an "abandoned" recycle bin and the
System Restore folder. The Recyle Bin is easy enough to find, just
locate the "Recycler" folder (it's hidden, so make sure you're seeing
hidden files) and nuke it.

System Restore is a little harder to deal with. Restore Points are
stored in the System Volume Information folder, which users of any
type have no access to. You'll need to view the properties on this
folder, choose the Security tab and admit yourself by adjusting the
permissions. Then you can see and delete the folder.

(If you have Windows XP Home Edition, you will have to boot into safe
mode to do this. The Security tab doesn't show up there when running
normally.)

Failing that, I'd empty all temporary directories. Do this manually,
by navigating to the folder and emptying it. You should look at temp
and Temporary Internet Files at the very least.

Someone mentioned ZoneAlarm, and older versions of it did have an
issue with writing log after log and never deleting the old ones. The
end result was disk space exhaustion.

Have you checked using the Computer Management console to see if the
hard drive is not partitioned to its size, or if there are multiple
partitions?

Does the system BIOS report the correct disk size? (It appears that
Dell actually got this right for the most part--many of their systems
have 48-bit LBA support (for disks larger than 137G8) where you
wouldn't expect it. Others, such as the Dimension XPS R550, will
report the wrong capacity in the BIOS while the drive still works fine
and shows up correctly to the OS.

Finally, some unlikely causes that I wouldn't expect out of either
malice or hardware failure:

1. Someone's set an HPA or DCO on the drive, and it is consuming some
or most of the drive's available space. Setting the HPA or DCO on the
drive will make it smaller by everyone's account--except for utilities
that can recognize it. Even the system BIOS will not see the whole
capacity of the drive.

A tool like HDAT2 can reset the HPA or DCO to give you back all of the
drive's capacity if some has been taken away. Beware that this may
lead to data loss because the drive's geometry will actually change.
Backup your data FIRST.

2. The drive is massively bad and has suffered so many reallocations
of bad space to good spare sectors that no more spares are left. The
only option for the drive at that point is to reduce its usable size.

Any tool that monitors SMART data can help you determine this.
SpeedFan and HDAT2, along with any manufacturer's diagnostic that will
report such information, are good tools to use for the purpose of
examining this data.

William
 
T

Twayne

Flightless Bird
In news:55afc7d7-fdba-44f3-9a83-dd7854b0a5e3@l30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com,
Searcher7 <Searcher7@mail.con2.com> typed:
> I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
> drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.
>
> For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
> files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
> keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
> problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
> begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.
>
> And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
> anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
> correct this problem?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.


When you did your "fresh install" of XP you didn't wipe out all the data,
most likely. The only positive way to do that is to Delete and then Recreate
the partitions on the drive. Otherwise pieces of viruses and malware can be
left scattered around the place.

At the same time: 20 Gig is awfully small for XP! Between XP, a pagefile,
Restore and a couple other things like clutter and temp files, you may well
have a huge amount of assigned disk space. I'll bet the pagefile alone would
cause problems if it got very large. Things must run incredibly slow.

So many thing could cause that, that it's not possible to be sure of a good
resolution, but you should start with a computer that's compatible with XP,
which that one isn't.
 
M

Mark

Flightless Bird
Use something like WinDirStat to SEE what is taking up space
 
M

MJMIII

Flightless Bird
"Searcher7" <Searcher7@mail.con2.com> wrote in message
news:55afc7d7-fdba-44f3-9a83-dd7854b0a5e3@l30g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
> I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
> drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.
>
> For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
> files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
> keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
> problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
> begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.
>
> And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
> anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
> correct this problem?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.


Darren, not to be a stick-in-the-mud, but they're practically giving away
200GB drives. Instead of aggravating yourself trying to find space, pick up
a new drive. The only downside is you'll need to install a copy of XP SP2
for the full size of the drive to be recognized.
--


"Don't pick a fight with an old man.
If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you."
 
B

Bill Sharpe

Flightless Bird
Searcher7 wrote:
> I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a 20Gig hard
> drive, which is running a fresh install of Windows XP.
>
> For some reason even though I've transferred about 1 gig worth of
> files back to the drive it is almost full, causing the reminders to
> keep popping up. Before I re-installed windows XP I had the same
> problem, and even thought I deleted all I could the hard drive would
> begin to fill up again for no discernible reason.
>
> And this is definitely not the first time I've had this problem. Can
> anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I could try to
> correct this problem?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Darren Harris
> Staten Island, New York.
>

I'd say it's about time to replace the whole computer -- faster
processor, at least 1 gb memory, at least 250 gb hard drive. Win 7.

Bill
 
S

Searcher7

Flightless Bird
On Jan 13, 10:24 am, "William R. Walsh" <wm_wa...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> > I have a Dell XPS-Z 866Mhz Pentium 3, with 384mb and a
> > 20Gig hard drive, which is running a fresh install ofWindows
> >XP.

>
> That should be enough hard disk to runXPwith space to spare. I have
> a number of systems doing fine with the same size drive.
>
> It sounds like you didn't get the drive erased before installing that
> fresh copy ofXP. (WindowsXPsetup--for reason known but to
> Microsoft--will let you installXPto a non-blanked drive, essentially
> reusing the formatting that the drive already has.)
>
> > Can anyone list the things that would cause this, and what I
> > could try to correct this problem?

>
> The first things I'd look at are an "abandoned" recycle bin and the
> System Restore folder. The Recyle Bin is easy enough to find, just
> locate the "Recycler" folder (it's hidden, so make sure you're seeing
> hidden files) and nuke it.
>
> System Restore is a little harder to deal with. Restore Points are
> stored in the System Volume Information folder, which users of any
> type have no access to. You'll need to view the properties on this
> folder, choose the Security tab and admit yourself by adjusting the
> permissions. Then you can see and delete the folder.
>
> (If you haveWindowsXPHome Edition, you will have to boot into safe
> mode to do this. The Security tab doesn't show up there when running
> normally.)
>
> Failing that, I'd empty all temporary directories. Do this manually,
> by navigating to the folder and emptying it. You should look at temp
> and Temporary Internet Files at the very least.
>
> Someone mentioned ZoneAlarm, and older versions of it did have an
> issue with writing log after log and never deleting the old ones. The
> end result was disk space exhaustion.
>
> Have you checked using the Computer Management console to see if the
> hard drive is not partitioned to its size, or if there are multiple
> partitions?
>
> Does the system BIOS report the correct disk size? (It appears that
> Dell actually got this right for the most part--many of their systems
> have 48-bit LBA support (for disks larger than 137G8) where you
> wouldn't expect it. Others, such as the Dimension XPS R550, will
> report the wrong capacity in the BIOS while the drive still works fine
> and shows up correctly to the OS.
>
> Finally, some unlikely causes that I wouldn't expect out of either
> malice or hardware failure:
>
> 1. Someone's set an HPA or DCO on the drive, and it is consuming some
> or most of the drive's available space. Setting the HPA or DCO on the
> drive will make it smaller by everyone's account--except for utilities
> that can recognize it. Even the system BIOS will not see the whole
> capacity of the drive.
>
> A tool like HDAT2 can reset the HPA or DCO to give you back all of the
> drive's capacity if some has been taken away. Beware that this may
> lead to data loss because the drive's geometry will actually change.
> Backup your data FIRST.
>
> 2. The drive is massively bad and has suffered so many reallocations
> of bad space to good spare sectors that no more spares are left. The
> only option for the drive at that point is to reduce its usable size.
>
> Any tool that monitors SMART data can help you determine this.
> SpeedFan and HDAT2, along with any manufacturer's diagnostic that will
> report such information, are good tools to use for the purpose of
> examining this data.
>
> William


Windirstat helped me out a lot. From now on I'll re-format completely
when I have to.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
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