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General discussion

Running very low on space

May 9, 2010 6:14PM PDT

I am on Vista, I only use my main drive (CHappy for programs, I haven't downloaded anything on there, but now I keep getting the message that my main drive is filled to capacity (0% free space) How did this happen & what can I use to free up space? I put my music, pics, & even some programs on my storage (EHappy...I tried deleting programs that I don't use & even moving programs to my storage drive, but this still doesn't free up any space...I tried defrag. & disc cleanup..still doesn't free up any space...can anyone help me? I even uninstalled Mozilla Firefox (which I was using regularly)..I tried downloading a program which was supposed to help, but that didn't work, so I uninstalled that as well..Is there anything on CNet that is free that will help me?

Sounds confusing, but......
about a month ago, I upgraded my storage drive.
Everything from the old storage drive(ZHappy was transferred to a new storage drive(EHappy.
I started looking for ways to free up space on my main drive(CHappy..I just happened to see a program that my ex put on there....it was called 'keylogger', so I researched & found out that it opens with Mozilla Firefox as well as other programs & that Malware was supposed to get rid of it. I ran Malware & it found 'keylogger', it said it deleted it, but for some reason, out of curiousity, I pressed 'start' then typed in "keylogger" & it said it was on my (ZHappy drive....how can this be if there is no longer a (ZHappy drive? How can I get this off my pc? I even went as far as to deleting Mozilla Firefox which I love.....please help.....

Discussion is locked

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What is the capacity of your C drive?
May 9, 2010 8:18PM PDT

You don't say what size your C drive is, nor that of your other drive(s).

What is the Z drive? Is it a completely different hard disk inside the system, or a 'partition' on the main hard disk, (shared with the C partition), or an external USB hard drive?

What do you mean by there is no longer a Z drive? Where did it go?

What are the details of this computer?

Mark

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No space left....
May 9, 2010 11:29PM PDT

Things get saved at the My Docemets folder [or the Username folder at the desktop] even if you do not save anything there. One file which can get largr and larger is the system restore. Try a **** cleanup and also opt to remove all restore points except the latest one. You will be surprised at how much space you can recover.

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No Space left
May 12, 2010 6:36PM PDT

I tried a disc clean up & disc defragmenter many times before!!!! I went into my documents & cleared things out of there too...doesn't help!! I heard of many of programs that can help, but they really don't! One freeware that I downloaded was supposed to clean my system, but when it got to the end, it said it can only clean a little of it & for the rest of it to be cleaned out, I had to purchase another version....so I deleted that as well.....I know I'm working with a very small hard drive...but I haven't downloaded anything to it...when I DO download, I store everything onto my storage drive!! I plan on getting a bigger hard drive but until I get it, is there anything I can do?

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Low Storage....
May 12, 2010 6:25PM PDT

Sorry, I'm just getting to learn about pc's...but when I hit 'start', computer, right click on properties, I see my main drive (CHappy says: 22.4GB Capacity, 20.6GB Used & 1.81GB Free.....now on my storage drive (EHappy...931GB Capacity, 35.6GB used & 895GB free..my (CHappy drive is an IDE drive...I have a SATA compatiable motherboard

Now..what I was trying to explain before...the (ZHappy drive was an old IDE internal storage drive I had..I took my pc to get it repaired because the (ZHappy drive was messed up...the tech guy in the store said I needed to replace the (ZHappy IDE drive....therefore, I bought another drive & he transferred all my files over to (EHappy SATA drive & took out the (ZHappy....sounds complicated but basically, I just swapped INTERNAL storage drives...does this help? If not, please let me know what other info you need & I will gladly submit them to you in return for your help....Thanks in advance....

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Yep that helps.
May 12, 2010 7:02PM PDT

And thank you.

With a C drive of only 22 GB you are always going to have to 'manage' the system, and your options are quite limited, especially since this is Vista, a larger Operating System, (OS), than Windows XP is.

What that means is that you will not be able to install many programs into the OS before you start running into space problems. Some software will install onto a 2nd internal hard drive, but not all, and those that do will still install certain system files and personal files onto the C drive.

Defragmenting will not free up space.

So, what other options do you have?

1] Move your Documents folders onto the E drive.

If you open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Users\{Your-User-Name}\Documents then right click the Documents folder, select Properties. In the Properties dialog window, choose the Location tab. You can change that location to wherever you want it to go, eg your E drive.

You can do the same for the Music, Pictures and Videos folders.

2] Be thoughtful about installing new programs/applications.

If the install process allows you to select a different drive, then see if an application will install there. If not, you may have to uninstall some other application to make room.

3] Manage your System Restore backup files.

System Restore backs up many files for each Restore Point chosen, and places these in a hidden folder called "System Volume Information". If your computer is otherwise running well, you can use "Disk Cleanup", (Start > All programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup), to remove all but the latest System Restore backup files.

When you click that Disk Cleanup, select "All files", then select the C drive. After a short check of compressed files a new window will display. Look at the "More Options" tab and use the "System Restore and Shadow Copies" Cleanup button. Only use this if there are no other problems with this system.


This isn't much but it will help you manage the smallish size of your hard disk.

Mark

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Low Disc Space...
May 14, 2010 8:09AM PDT

Thanks so much.....I will do these things until I can get a bigger drive....I appreciate everything!!! Thanks again!!

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Running very low on space
May 17, 2010 11:13AM PDT

ok...I'm gonna get a bigger hard drive to replace my main drive (CHappy.....I've been checking into 'Ghost' programs to image my main drive so I can transfer everything over to the new & bigger drive.....any suggestions?

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Re: low disc space
May 12, 2010 7:07PM PDT

22.4 GB for a drive is prehistoric and should give some troubles indeed once in a while. Now your 2 choices:
1. Replace it by a bigger IDE-drive.
2. Keep cleaning.

Useful tools for cleaning (all free):
a. ccleaner (free download)
b. disable and immediately enable System Restore
c. treesize (free download)
d. knowledge of Windows
e. patience and time

Kees

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low disc space...
May 14, 2010 8:12AM PDT

ok...which one or are they both the same? ccleaner or treesize? Can I install them on my storage drive (E:)??

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Re: programs
May 17, 2010 6:11PM PDT

No, they are totally different programs.
- ccleaner is a program to clean up old files
- treesize is a program to analyse your disk usage

They are small, so I would just install them on your hard drive.

Kees

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Running Low On Memory.
May 19, 2010 5:11AM PDT

I am having the same problem with low disk space. Even though I added another 2 GB of RAM to the original 2 GB. I have noticed that all of the windows updates you have to download take an awful big chunk of precious space.
I have got the same message ( almost out of disk space ), I got rid of a lot of programs, some of which I probably shouldnt have.
Then one day as I sat waiting for the computer to fire up, a message came up that has saved me some time, its not for the faint of heart, but at this point I will soon be getting another pc. Heres what I did... Go to Control Panel > System > On the left side of screen click on System Protection, uncheck the drives you want ( in my case i uncheked them all ) > click ok, and Bobs your uncle. I havnt had any more low space messages. I hope this helps.

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Re: low on disk space
May 19, 2010 5:53AM PDT

Turning off System Protection is a good way to free disc space. But only do it if you have a good backup scheme (because your lose the ability to go back to previous versions of your files) and at least turn System Restore immediately on again.

It might be a good idea to allocate less space for the shadow copy if your disk space is running low.

Kees

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That 2 GB
May 19, 2010 5:55AM PDT

That 2 GB was probably RAM, (Memory), not hard disk space. Adding more RAM would not have prevented 'low disk space' warnings.

However, your method of turning off System Restore is good one, if the system is working well otherwise.

Be sure to re-enable it afterwards and create a new System Restore point. It might be useful in future.

Mark