HDD Space Disappearing?

454GB is available and right now I have 390GB free, the thing is I have no programs really on this new laptop, I've removed bloatware but it seems like everyday I lose 1-3GB without installing anything.

I understand the system needs space/updates but I'm losing this space quickly...

Right now I'm defragging the system and I've lost 3GB?

 

It could be system restore points being created.

There is a limit to the amount of disk space used for restore points, but if this quota hasn't been filled yet you will continue to lose space until then.

 

Just uninstalled more programs over 4GB worth of programs but I lost 1GB, I'm now at 389GB... What is going on!

 

Installing and uninstalling programs creates restore points, you should check out how much space system restore is using.

389GB of free space is GOOD. Out of 2 TB worth of data, i got maybe 39GB free.

 

How do I check that? I know 389GB is a lot but I know for a fact I should have over 400GB, I uninstalled a total of 6GBs and ended up losing 1GB overall... Doesn't add up.

 

If you're on Vista/7, then;

1 - Right click on 'Computer' (either on the desktop or through the Start Menu) and click properties.
2 - Click 'Advanced system settings' on the left
3 - Click on the System Protection tab
4 - Click on configure and you'll see how much % of disk space system restore is using, and you can edit it.

 

It didn't tell me how much it used but I read it can take up to 15% of HDD space which does equal out with what I have. So I guess it's not a big deal?

 

I assume you are using 64 bit Vista.

 

Yeah 64 bit Vista Home Premium, my HDD is officially 500GB.

 

I had the same problem with my LG laptop. I had around 200 GB available when I bought it and I lost a lot of space every day. Probably as much as you do... around 1 - 3 GB. I tried to get my money back but they said it was supposed to be like that. My laptop stopped losing memory at 165 GB. Your laptop will probably also stop losing space after a while... trust me.

 

You mean Harddrive space.

System restore by default uses 15% of your boot partition. Which seems like a lot. But when you think about it, the worst kind of disasters are when your OS does not boot up after a new program install, which seems to happen more often than I realize.

 

Haha just lost another GB, down to 388 out of 454... Barely any programs are installed except basics...

 

That IS an awful big installation then. Barely any programs isn't very descriptive. I got Photoshop, Reader, Office, and other crap on here, and it comes up to about 20GB in the Windows/Program Files. The rest is taken up by temporary files, VHDs, music, etc.

 

Well think about it, at 15% of 500gb you're talking 75gb.

If it bothers you, then you can reduce this if you want, turn it off if you please also. But it's a safety mechanism and if you're not bothered sacrificing a little hard drive space it is a good thing to leave.

 

I haven't downloaded any music, I've uninstalled Office/Norton/Bloatware. Under add/remove programs I only have 4 programs over 100MB: 3.5GB, 2.6GB, 396MB, and 220MB. The rest are below 96MB and there is only but so many.

 

You should get a Drive space explorer that parses all the folder sizes and go from there.

But I don't see the point of this wild goose chase. What will we find in the end? All the space taken up is necesssary. Besides system restore, page files, hibernation file, everything else temporary can be cleanup with uninstalls and Disk Cleanup.

And all this temporary cleanup only serves as a temporary measure. After normal use of your laptop, those temporary files are going to come back. It's a friggin loop. The good news is your OS will automatically delete these temporary files if you ever run out of space, so there really isn't any need to fret.

 

That's why there are utility programs like Tune up utilites 2009 , which can delete all the old system restore points and leave the latest ones... they also can remove the temporary files and all which u don't need..