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Accelerated loss of free space on C: disk

souris sans cervelle -  
 cd66 -
Hello,

I have Windows VISTA since last week and I have the following problem:

When I went to look at my C: drive, I realized that I’m losing about 1 GB per day.

For a capacity of 145 GB, I had only 125 left after installation and setup on November 14 (which is a huge difference compared to Windows XP that I had previously).

On Monday, November 19 there were only 120 GB left
Today, November 20 there are only 119 left!
At this rate my disk will be full in 4 months!

(I added up in their properties the memory used by all installed programs and I reach 1600 MB or 1.6 GB)

Where does the hemorrhage come from?
Has anyone else had the same problem?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Configuration: Windows Vista Internet Explorer 7.0

21 answers

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  1. dubcek Posted messages 18627 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   5 660
     
    with displaying hidden and system files?
    Windows Vista: disk space problem, your GB (Gigas) disappear… the solution
    http://www.chevalierdutemps.com/hi-fi-informatique-internet/windows-vista-probleme-despace-disque-vos-go-gigas-disparaissentla-solution.html
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    1. souris sans cervelle
       
      Hello Dubcek,

      Indeed this link, chevalierdutemps.com, looks pretty good.
      I’m going to try the maneuvers it recommends and I’ll come back to say how it goes.

      Have a good evening.

      Brainless mouse.
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      1. Souris sans cervelle > souris sans cervelle
         
        Good evening Dubcek, I followed the steps indicated on Chevalier du Temps.com, namely: Démarrer Programmes Accessoires Right-click on Command Prompt Run as administrator At this point I found myself on a black window titled: Administrateur : invite de commande with the following text on the screen: Microsoft Windows (Version 6.06000 Copyright © 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved) C:\Users\my name>_ (the 8-space dash represents the blinking cursor) Is the blinking cursor where I should type vssadmin list shadowstorage to see how much space is currently used for shadow storage/restore points? Should I then type vssadmin resize shadowstorage /On=C::For=C:/Maxsize=5 (or other) GB after that, or replace vssadmin list shadowstorage? I don’t like navigating in that area of the PC and I’d like to make sure I don’t make a mistake. Thanks in advance for your help Souris sans cervelle
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    2. cd66
       
      What disk space is required for System Restore in Vista? To store restore points, you must have at least 300 MB of free space on each hard disk that has System Protection enabled. System Restore can use up to 15% of the space on each disk. As restore points fill the available space, System Restore deletes older restore points to make room for new ones. System Restore will not run on disks with a capacity of less than 1 GB. See also - View how much free space you have on your hard disk - Remove temporary files using Disk Cleanup - System Restore: Frequently Asked Questions
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  2. MaineveNT
     
    ah no lol it works perfectly fine read carefully POST 9 it’s exactly what has to be written and not what I read on the forum, beware the slightest typo breaks everything!
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  3. dubcek Posted messages 18627 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   5 660
     
    yes, it's the command prompt window, formerly called DOS
    C:\Users\my name> vssadmin list shadowstorage<enter>

    here the result of the command vssadmin will be displayed
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  4. papy 27 Posted messages 69 Status Member 4
     
    Hello, are your restore points what make you lose your space? you delete them and you create a restore point again
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  6. dubcek Posted messages 18627 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   5 660
     
    see post #9
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  7. blux Posted messages 5035 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   3 455
     
    Hi,

    if you surf, it’s normal that your browser fills you with space with temporary files...

    I added up in their properties the memory used by all installed programs and I get 1600 MB which is 1.6 GB
    In plain terms, you’ve added carrots and leeks...

    The memory usage by a program for its execution is not at all related to its disk space, plus, when a program is too big for memory or memory is full and you want to launch another program, the system writes in the 'virtual memory' what it doesn’t use at the moment. This virtual memory is simply stored on disk.

    As proof, many games have all cinematic sequences on the hard drive and are loaded into memory only as they are read...

    Try launching 100 words, you can do it even if Word takes 20 MB in memory and you only have 1 GB...

    Don’t worry about the hemorrhage, unless you don’t surf and you don’t run programs...

    --

    A+ Blux 
     "Les cons, ça ose tout. C'est même à ça qu'on les reconnait"
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    1. souris sans cervelle
       
      Hello Blux, It happens that from May 2006 to November 2007 I surfed (browsed) avidly and also used Word, Excel and PowerPoint without moderation under Windows XP, which hardly affected the memory of my C: drive, which was at 147 GB out of 152 after a year and a half. No relation between the drop from 145 to 119 GB from November 14 to 20, 2007 under Windows VISTA! Under Windows XP, I never had to perform disk cleanup: should I do it regularly under VISTA, which seems to be a hungry memory hog? Thanks in advance for the suggestions. If I get information from another channel I will gladly share it on this forum. Brainless mouse
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  8. dubcek Posted messages 18627 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   5 660
     
    At the end of the day, perform a search for all files modified or created within the last 1 day, sort by size to spot a large one, or identify a folder where millions of files may have been created.
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  9. Souris sans cervelle
     
    Hello,

    Here again is the history of my GO loss on the C: drive:
    Computer purchased on 14.11.2007 (ACER Aspire running WINDOWS VISTA)
    Capacity of the C drive: = 145 GB
    18.11.2007: 125 GB left
    19.11.2007: 120 GB left
    20.11.2007: 119 GB left
    21.11.2007: 116 GB left
    Has anyone else had the same problem in the meantime and solved it?
    Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

    Brainless mouse
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  11. Souris sans cervelle
     
    Hello,

    The aforementioned link does nothing except bringing me back to the site for the question I asked.
    Being on VISTA for a week, could there be a link between not being the administrator of my PC and the loss of GO? (indeed, I am only regarded as a user by the system and I don't even have the right to choose my default mail app: I am asked to ask permission from an administrator or a power user... since I’m alone at home...)
    Could an invisible administrator (Fantomas may be back...) be siphoning from our hard drives to feed their own capacity?
    Surely I am being paranoid and maybe everything is just due to system bloat, but it’s ruinous for the nerves of the poor mouse I am.
    Here, I prefer to go back to my cheese wheel while awaiting the next chapter of the saga...

    Good evening to all net users (the enlightened and the novices)

    Brainless mouse.
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  12. dubcek Posted messages 18627 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   5 660
     
    The link pointed to my suggestion:
    at the end of the day, run a search for all files modified or created in the last 1 day, sort by size to spot a large one
    or identify a folder where millions of files might have been created.
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    1. Souris sans cervelle
       
      Good evening Dubcek, I don’t have millions of files piled up in a folder and I haven’t created or saved anything today, but I still have one more gigabyte missing... I’m at 115 now. It’s always in the morning that I notice the hard drive space losses, as if things happen during the night even though my PC is off! Even if there were updates that run at startup, we’ve never seen one that large! A number of people complain about even larger losses on various forums. Read on Zebulon.fr forum: Loss of GB on the hard drive - Zebulon forums ... and there it is written that on my 250 GB hard drive I only have 112 GB left whereas when I right-click on my user+programs folder ... This guy must have piled up trillions of files... Anyway, it would be necessary for confirmed computer scientists to look into this and explain to us what’s going on. If I ask the person who takes care of my PC to come and see what happens at every gigabyte loss, my bank account will melt even faster than the memory on my hard drive. I’m going back to sulk in my cheese. Good evening everyone! Brainless mouse
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  13. Souris sans cervelle
     
    Good evening everyone!

    I had a good surprise this morning: my PC recovered 2 GB!! and I’ve gone back up to 115 (I had dropped to 113).
    If things stabilize I won’t touch the restores because that still leaves me a lot of memory to work with.
    I hope it will be similar for everyone.

    Thanks to those who looked into the problem.

    Brain-dead mouse
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  14. xela76 Posted messages 2 Status Member
     
    Hello everyone, I also have a hard drive failure... what should I do?? Sometimes I download a song and it takes 2 gigabytes, there's a problem with my hard drive like this for no reason, it's strange... my PC is new, only 3 weeks old, it has happened since the second day at least... when I uninstall a program I don’t recover everything even after deleting everything... so I’d like someone who can help me... just reply to me or leave me a message... and I’ll give my MSN address... thanks it would be cool ...
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  15. xela76 Posted messages 2 Status Member
     
    I don’t know how to do the knight of time solution????? please help me… even after cleaning the disk there isn’t much left to show
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  17. patou
     
    I also have the same problem under Vista: on January 30 there was 234 GB free and on February 1 there was 228; there are 6 GB missing even though there are no games, only music. In my opinion it’s Vista the program that is doing this, because with Windows XP I didn’t have this problem. I checked if I had a spy on my computer that was pumping out gigabytes or using my computer to steal information, but I haven’t found anything yet. What should I do?
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  19. FLOFLO13
     
    Hi, me too I have this problem but my gigs fly away when my computer is on !!!!!!!!!! and when I turn it on!!!!! and the strongest part is that I don’t download anything and since I have this problem that is to say since December 2007 I have at least lost 60 GB without doing anything it’s catastrophic and moreover I even changed antivirus I have Kaspersky Professional Edition and it doesn’t detect anything. The last time I was in boot C (in My Computer) and a strange file appeared and there was something like fffjkjdfidfdjhfudjdsdgd and it disappeared a few seconds later. My hard drive is 500 GB if this continues I’m going to have a 200 GB hard drive. I have Windows Vista Family Premium. Am I hacked, is it Windows system or is someone hacking me.
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  20. MaineveNT
     
    But I still don’t understand, in fact I still can’t recover my lost Gigs,

    knowing that I did lose 32 anyway. I went into Windows DOS and typed

    vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=D: /MaxSize=5GB

    right after typing this one that tells the number of gigabytes used no matter what and it tells me

    that it doesn’t work, that it can’t find the snapshot/thumbnail.

    So I really don’t know what to do I’m losing 4 to 5 gigabytes per day for no reason
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  21. maxou
     
    I have some questions because if I limit the restore to 5 GB, won't that cause problems later when restoring the system? or anything else?
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