Hard Drive Memory Problem

chris85

Hello, got a dell laptop a few months ago and only got 1 60 gb hard drive as mostly using it for college so dont need much more.

The problem is that apparently I have only got 20 GB left although I really only have office documents saved. I have no music, videos, etc.

I have went through it and the folders in the hard drive (C and D drives) only make up about 18-20 GB, so am I wondering where the rest of the memory is going. Are there hidden folders or something like that?

I am hoping to put some music on it so I could do with the hard drive space.

highlydebased

Firstly its not gonna be 60gb as its formatted, slightly less. Probably 55gb. Windows takes up around 15gb. Whatever other software you have, and it easily comes down to what you have left.

There could also be a hidden partition for system restores but it wouldnt be that large

Ruu_Old

Probably won't reclaim much but try running CCleaner on your system and see if it makes any difference.

joePC

Download and install http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/TreeSizeFree.zip

Right click on the C: drive and select TreeSize

It will tell you all directory sizes - very handy

chris85

Neon-Circles wrote: »

Firstly its not gonna be 60gb as its formatted, slightly less. Probably 55gb. Windows takes up around 15gb. Whatever other software you have, and it easily comes down to what you have left.

There could also be a hidden partition for system restores but it wouldnt be that large

yeah its bout 58 GB. Still bout 18 Gb more i should have. The Hard drive is seperated into the one for operating system and a recovery drive.

Have CCleaner and run it regularly enough and only taken bout 30 MB off each time so thats no big deal.

Will try your download joePC and see what happens

subway

right click on C: and check the properties.
what size is listed there?

Balfa

joePC wrote: »

Download and install http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/TreeSizeFree.zip

Have you tried spacemonger? It's my favourite space-finding tool. Displays everything so it's a no-brainer where to look. It's not free, but it has a trial period if you want to try it.

chris85

subway wrote: »

right click on C: and check the properties.
what size is listed there?

Its says there is 32.1 GB being used but have checked of the folders in the C driv and they add up to 13 GB in total.

Ran that tree size program, and its saying 13 GB but not sure if that means how much is free or how much is in use??

subway

in windows explorer go to tools > folder options > view
show hiddedn files and folder and unhide protected operating system files.

you will see a whole heap of other files then, namely pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys and so on.

also, have a look at the image i have attached,
it shows that my c drive is 15 gb, the disk is actually 60gb

what does yours say?

subway

to add, my folders report as 8 gb with files hidden,
and 11 when not hidden,

you should also remember that "my documents" is considered a hidden system file so any music or videos saved there wont be included unless you show the hidden files

chris85

subway wrote: »

in windows explorer go to tools > folder options > view
show hiddedn files and folder and unhide protected operating system files.

you will see a whole heap of other files then, namely pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys and so on.

also, have a look at the image i have attached,
it shows that my c drive is 15 gb, the disk is actually 60gb

what does yours say?

Yeah the the properties say there is 43 Gb capacity and that 32.1 GB is being used which it aint as far as i know.

Went to properties of the drive and into tools but no option for folder options, only tools are for error checking, defragmentation, and backup. Running Vista if that will be any help.

May just have to get onto dell. Is it normal for so much space to be taken up. I havent added many program except office, no music, vids, etc.

subway

not sure about vista,

chekc the contents of your docs folders as per my previous post.

Soundman

Since you are running Vista then the answer could well be your Volume Shadow Copy (System Restore). By default it is set to use 12-15GB of the hard disk space.