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    HDD space problem...where did it go?

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by oogabubchub, Aug 28, 2009.

  1. oogabubchub

    oogabubchub Notebook Guru

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    Got my M17x recently and I was looking at my HDD space and it's reporting that I only have 675gbs of 917gbs left. My HDD is set up in RAID 0. After checking how much data is in all the folders on my C: drive, it seems like around 150gbs are unaccounted for.

    1.4 gb - Program files
    32 gb - Program Files (x86)
    0.8 gb - ProgramData
    45.5 gb - Users
    8.1 gb - Windows
    ~88 gb

    The other couple of folders are negligible in size. HDD usage was calculated by right clicking and checking properties on each folder. Am I missing something here? Where did my 150gb go? The sum of all my installed programs only comes to about 22gb and I heard that the Vista install is only around 15 or 20gb.
     
    oogabubchub, Aug 28, 2009
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  2. Wests

    Wests Notebook Guru

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    Respawn?....
     
    Wests, Aug 28, 2009
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  3. blade445

    blade445 Notebook Consultant

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    Respawn is like 15GB I believe?
     
    blade445, Aug 28, 2009
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  4. oogabubchub

    oogabubchub Notebook Guru

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    Revo created a restore point...are these typically large? And even still, shouldn't any of these things be included within the folders on my C: drive? If I've added up all files and folders I've found on the C: drive, shouldn't that equal the total HDD space used up?
     
    oogabubchub, Aug 28, 2009
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  5. BatBoy

    BatBoy Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Everytime you install a driver, Vista creates a restore point. If you have Shadow Copies enabled, this will also take up a lot of space.

    If the system is running fine and you want to delete the restore points up to the last one, you can open up the properties of your HDD, click Disk Clean Up, before clicking OK, click the more option tab then click on 'Clean Up' in the System Restore & Shadow Copies section. You'll be amazed at how much space is freed up. After multiple driver installs, etc. I have had it free up close to 20GB.

    Be aware that if you do this, you will lose all restore points up to the last point. Granted its not 150GB but you will see some return.
     
    BatBoy, Aug 28, 2009
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  6. Wests

    Wests Notebook Guru

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    Ahhhh. It was just a guess :)
     
    Wests, Aug 28, 2009
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  7. The_Moo™

    The_Moo™ Here we go again.....

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    Respawn doesn't even show up in windows since it's on a seperate partition so 917 is not counting respawn
     
    The_Moo™, Aug 29, 2009
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  8. oogabubchub

    oogabubchub Notebook Guru

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    Thanks for the help guys. I'll look into the Disk Cleanup. It seems that every time I uninstall something with Revo, it creates a restore point also, so maybe my drive is just filled up with restore points.
     
    oogabubchub, Aug 29, 2009
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  9. mingocr83

    mingocr83 Notebook Geek

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    Yes, you must be loaded with restore points. Windows will create a restore point for any change that occurs on Windows. That means, Software Install/Uninstall, drivers, Windows Updates, etc etc etc.

    The respawn is on a separate partition.

    Use Disk Cleanup or Tune Up utilities... to clean up the HDD's
     
    mingocr83, Aug 29, 2009
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  10. oogabubchub

    oogabubchub Notebook Guru

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    Update on the issue:
    I did a disk cleanup as recommended, but that didn't seem to clear out the restore points. After a quick google search, I discovered that disabling restore points deletes all previous ones. That ended up doing the trick. It turns out that it was in fact primarily restore points taking up the missing HDD space. Thanks for the help!
     
    oogabubchub, Sep 10, 2009
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  11. Ethrem

    Ethrem Notebook Prophet

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    The thing that pisses me off the most about Vista is the damn winsxs folder... Mine is currently sitting at 28GB...
     
    Ethrem, Sep 10, 2009
    #11