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re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 4:28 am Posted by Keith Stanier (1655 messages posted) You use CCleaner so give Defraggler a run. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 5:32 am Posted by Kevinh (634 messages posted) Possible cause is system restore, it has to keep it's backup somewhere, try disableing it, re-boot and see if you get your space back. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 4:28 am, Keith Stanier wrote: >You use CCleaner so give Defraggler a run. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 5:57 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) Thank you.Since I posted my query the freespace has dropped from 170 MB to 27 MB and is still dropping even though I am not using any programs, only the Desktop. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 4:28 am, Keith Stanier wrote: >You use CCleaner so give Defraggler a run. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 7:02 am Posted by Ricer46 (23825 messages posted) If you really meant MB and not GB, then your basic problem is that your disk is way too small for your needs. The difference between 170MB and 27MB relative to the size of your Used Space is negligible. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 5:57 am, Reuven Ben-Daniel wrote: >Thank you.Since I posted my query the freespace has dropped from 170 MB to 27 MB >and is still dropping even though I am not using any programs, only the Desktop. > > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 7:05 am Posted by Ricer46 (23825 messages posted) Defragging does NOT reclaim space on a hard drive. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 4:28 am, Keith Stanier wrote: >You use CCleaner so give Defraggler a run. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 7:41 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) When I put in my query the freespace was 170MB, but in the one day before it had dropped from1.5GB. I have not altered the programs in anyway and was only surfing on my usual sites. As I said no viruses have been revealed, and it has never happened before. Since my last letter I have downloaded Defraggler, and it is working now.But as it works it is continually showing less freespace,I had deleted some files and raised the freespace to 200MB. Yes I can use a larger HD, but as I have not installed any new programs the freespace should not alter. I want to thank you for your assistance. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 7:02 am, Ricer46 wrote: >If you really meant MB and not GB, then your basic problem is that your disk is way >too small for your needs. The difference between 170MB and 27MB relative to the size >of your Used Space is negligible. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 7:50 am Posted by Steve (23810 messages posted) Windows XP does that. System Restore, Recycle Bin alone allocate a lot off free space for there use. You just need a Bigger Hard Drive. I try to keep at lease 5 gigs of free Space on the Windows Partition for breathing room. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 8:20 am Posted by Ricer46 (23825 messages posted) Free space continually varies by several hundred MB. You are up against a wall, and downloading files that will not help retrieve free space just reduces it further. You've never once mentioned the size of your hard drive, why do you continue to hide this information? You will either need to part with some of your programs, or sift through your folders to determine what you can part with. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 7:41 am, Reuven Ben-Daniel wrote: >When I put in my query the freespace was 170MB, but in the one day before it had >dropped from1.5GB. I have not altered the programs in anyway and was only surfing >on my usual sites. As I said no viruses have been revealed, and it has never happened >before. Since my last letter I have downloaded Defraggler, and it is working now.But >as it works it is continually showing less freespace,I had deleted some files and >raised the freespace to 200MB. Yes I can use a larger HD, but as I have not installed >any new programs the freespace should not alter. I want to thank you for your assistance. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 9:06 am Posted by Steve (23810 messages posted) Link is Googles first hit on how to control Disk space on XP. Do yourself a favor though, and spend 50 bucks for a additional Drive. http://www.windowsreference.com/windows-2000/how-to-get-extra-disk-space-in-windows-vistaxp2003/ [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 10:24 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) Thank you all, but this problem is nothing to do with size of the disk. The programs are taking up exactly the same amount of room as for the last 6 months. the space used for virtual memory, system restore has all been allowed for. When no operation but showing desktop, the freespace is disappearing gradually. Yes if I want to add more programs on C:\, but I don't as I have D:\. , E:\ and F:\. Not only that to increase space on C:\, I have in the last days transferred programs from C:\ to D:\, but the freespace on C:\ is still steadily decreasing. Size of Partitions--C:\ 9GB. D:\ and E:\ and F:\ 150GB. Total size of HD 160GB. C:\ only holds operating system plus programs connected to XP. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 9:06 am, Steve wrote: >Link is Googles first hit on how to control Disk space on XP. Do yourself a favor >though, and spend 50 bucks for a additional Drive. >http://www.windowsreference.com/windows-2000/how-to-get-extra-disk-space-in-windows-vistaxp2003/ [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 10:55 am Posted by Steve (23810 messages posted) Increase the C partition ton 20 gigs, then you won't notice the decreasing space. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 11:01 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) I won't notice it straight away, but it will still be decreasing until the present state is reached.. I have been using XP for several months after upgrading from Win98, and this is the first time this has happened. Unless there is a solution the same situation will occur regardless of the size of the HD. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 10:55 am, Steve wrote: >Increase the C partition ton 20 gigs, then you won't notice the decreasing space. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 11:14 am Posted by Steve (23810 messages posted) Windows has nothing to do all day but create temporary files, and logs. To stop Disk Space usage, Disable your AV Software so it won't update definitions Disconnect from the Internet, so no temp Internet Files are made. Don't install Microsoft Updates. Don't Install any new programs. Don't Update any old Programs or Drivers. Make your Page File smaller. Turn Off System Restore. Set Recycle Bin to One percent. I Have 3 Video Editing Computers set up this way for several years They have 10 gig Windows Partitions with about 6 gigs Free space the free space only fluctuates a few hundred MBs. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 11:19 am Posted by Sebastian (270 messages posted) I need a list of the software you have installed on that computer, cuz there's a program generating a lot of logs and thats why this happens.... [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 2:33 pm Posted by epoch (87 messages posted) As many have tried to say, some resident program is running in the background and creating either log files, temporary internet files that aren't being cleared automatically upon closing the browser, gaining data through regular use (saved games lists, emails, pretty much anything.) The way to see what's taking up space on the drive is to use a program called SpaceMonger. The "old version 1.4.0" is free and doesn't require installation and I believe it can be used from any drive, not just the current one. It may give you some idea of what's going on. Epoch On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 12:33 am, Reuven Ben-Daniel wrote: >Th free space on my HD has today started to disappear. I have deleted files, but >the free space continues to drop. I have checked with Avast Anti virus , SpyBot ,MalWare, >and all come up negative. Checked with CCleaner and also did a search for any large >unknown files. But I cannot find where the free space has, and is going.Please help. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 2:16 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) I had already carried out these suggestions without helping. On being informed by one of my friends, that he read of a similar case on google search. I checked and exactly the same, it being due to a virus/trojan. As a test my freespace being down to 170MB, I deleted files to value of 700MB.This meant I had freespace of 870MB. In the following 2 hours I made no operation on the computer, except to check freespace. The freespace went down to 60MB. Checking on my virus programs, no virus was detected. Will it help if I submit a Hijack log? On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 11:14 am, Steve wrote: >Windows has nothing to do all day but create temporary files, and logs. > >To stop Disk Space usage, > >Disable your AV Software so it won't update definitions >Disconnect from the Internet, so no temp Internet Files are made. >Don't install Microsoft Updates. >Don't Install any new programs. >Don't Update any old Programs or Drivers. >Make your Page File smaller. >Turn Off System Restore. >Set Recycle Bin to One percent. > >I Have 3 Video Editing Computers set up this way for several years >They have 10 gig Windows Partitions with about 6 gigs Free space >the free space only fluctuates a few hundred MBs. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 4:02 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) Scan saved at 1:58:13 PM, on 11/21/2009 Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600) MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180) Boot mode: Normal Running processes: C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jusched.exe C:\WINDOWS\SOUNDMAN.EXE C:\Program Files\Microsoft Hardware\Keyboard\type32.exe C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KHost.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe D:\Program Files\WinZip\WZQKPICK.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KService.exe C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\wscntfy.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - E:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll O2 - BHO: (no name) - {31FF080D-12A3-439A-A2EF-4BA95A3148E8} - (no file) O2 - BHO: Ask Toolbar BHO - {D4027C7F-154A-4066-A1AD-4243D8127440} - C:\Program Files\Ask.com\GenericAskToolbar.dll (file missing) O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll O2 - BHO: JQSIEStartDetectorImpl - {E7E6F031-17CE-4C07-BC86-EABFE594F69C} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\deploy\jqs\ie\jqs_plugin.dll O3 - Toolbar: Ask Toolbar - {D4027C7F-154A-4066-A1AD-4243D8127440} - C:\Program Files\Ask.com\GenericAskToolbar.dll (file missing) O3 - Toolbar: (no name) - {E0E899AB-F487-11D5-8D29-0050BA6940E3} - (no file) O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avast!] C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TkBellExe] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jusched.exe" O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SoundMan] SOUNDMAN.EXE O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "E:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTTask.exe" -atboottime O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroFilterCheck] C:\WINDOWS\system32\NeroCheck.exe O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (reboot)] "C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\mbam.exe" /runcleanupscript O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IntelliType] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Hardware\Keyboard\type32.exe" O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HPDJ Taskbar Utility] C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3\hpztsb06.exe O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [kdx] C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KHost.exe -all O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe O4 - Global Startup: WinZip Quick Pick.lnk = D:\Program Files\WinZip\WZQKPICK.EXE O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Reader Speed Launch.lnk = E:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe O8 - Extra context menu item: Add to Google Photos Screensa&ver - res://C:\WINDOWS\system32\GPhotos.scr/200 O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe O12 - Plugin for .mu3: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPMyrMus.dll O12 - Plugin for .mus: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPMyrMus.dll O12 - Plugin for .mxl: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPMyrMus.dll O12 - Plugin for .mya: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPMyrMus.dll O12 - Plugin for .myr: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPMyrMus.dll O12 - Plugin for .myt: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPMyrMus.dll O12 - Plugin for .xml: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\PLUGINS\NPMyrMus.dll O12 - Plugin for .xmz: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Plugins\NPMyrMus.dll O16 - DPF: {0E5F0222-96B9-11D3-8997-00104BD12D94} (PCPitstop Utility) - http://utilities.pcpitstop.com/Nirvana/controls/PCPitStop.CAB O16 - DPF: {94E5218F-9737-4FC2-8457-567B1FF23DC0} (diskhealth Class) - http://utilities.pcpitstop.com/Nirvana/controls/DiskMD3Ctrl.dll O16 - DPF: {A553720A-BFED-4EA4-A71F-7EFCA690A1F7} (PCPitstop AntiVirus) - http://utilities.pcpitstop.com/Nirvana/controls/pcpitstopAntiVirus.dll O16 - DPF: {FFB3A759-98B1-446F-BDA9-909C6EB18CC7} (PCPitstop Exam) - http://utilities.pcpitstop.com/da2/PCPitStop2.cab O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{C16C1A83-52BE-4FD5-8A99-9C519F5CBFB5}: NameServer = 80.179.52.100,80.179.55.100 O17 - HKLM\System\CS1\Services\Tcpip\..\{C16C1A83-52BE-4FD5-8A99-9C519F5CBFB5}: NameServer = 80.179.52.100,80.179.55.100 O17 - HKLM\System\CS2\Services\Tcpip\..\{C16C1A83-52BE-4FD5-8A99-9C519F5CBFB5}: NameServer = 80.179.52.100,80.179.55.100 O23 - Service: avast! iAVS4 Control Service (aswUpdSv) - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe O23 - Service: avast! Antivirus - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe O23 - Service: avast! Mail Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe O23 - Service: avast! Web Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe O23 - Service: Google Updater Service (gusvc) - Google - C:\Program Files\Google\Common\Google Updater\GoogleUpdaterService.exe O23 - Service: Java Quick Starter (JavaQuickStarterService) - Sun Microsystems, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe O23 - Service: KService - Kontiki Inc. - C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KService.exe -- End of file - 6199 bytes On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 11:14 am, Steve wrote: >Windows has nothing to do all day but create temporary files, and logs. > >To stop Disk Space usage, > >Disable your AV Software so it won't update definitions >Disconnect from the Internet, so no temp Internet Files are made. >Don't install Microsoft Updates. >Don't Install any new programs. >Don't Update any old Programs or Drivers. >Make your Page File smaller. >Turn Off System Restore. >Set Recycle Bin to One percent. > >I Have 3 Video Editing Computers set up this way for several years >They have 10 gig Windows Partitions with about 6 gigs Free space >the free space only fluctuates a few hundred MBs. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 5:33 am Posted by Steve (23810 messages posted) If you think you have a Virus post at a Malware Forum like SpywareBeware. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 9:48 am Posted by Ricer46 (23825 messages posted) It really does, note that 170MB is only 2% of your drive, which is next to nothing. My C:\ drive is partitioned to 20GB and the used space varies from 6GB to 7GB, the range would be huge if I had a 9GB partition. With 20GB, I never even pay any attention to it. You will always be fighting this problem, until you take Steve's suggestion. On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 10:24 am, Reuven Ben-Daniel wrote: >Thank you all, but this problem is nothing to do with size of the disk. The programs >are taking up exactly the same amount of room as for the last 6 months. the space >used for virtual memory, system restore has all been allowed for. When no operation >but showing desktop, the freespace is disappearing gradually. Yes if I want to add >more programs on C:\, but I don't as I have D:\. >, E:\ and F:\. Not only that to increase space on C:\, I have in the last days transferred >programs from C:\ to D:\, but the freespace on C:\ is still steadily decreasing. >Size of Partitions--C:\ 9GB. D:\ and E:\ and F:\ 150GB. Total size of HD 160GB. >C:\ only holds operating system plus programs connected to XP. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 10:59 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) I have had the same setup for several months,the same programs and only now has this problem occurred. The problem started to occur when there was 950MB freespace on the C:\ of 9GB. That is 10%. According to Microsoft 200MB freespace is the minimum to ensure all services on XP regardless of the size of the drive. And that rapidly decreased even though I recently freed an additional 700MB. Thank you all for your help. Speaking to a friend of mine who works at Intel Kiriyat Gat, it is caused by a virus. And as I said there are similar cases recorded on google search. On Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 9:48 am, Ricer46 wrote: >It really does, note that 170MB is only 2% of your drive, which is next to nothing. >My C:\ drive is partitioned to 20GB and the used space varies from 6GB to 7GB, the >range would be huge if I had a 9GB partition. With 20GB, I never even pay any attention >to it. You will always be fighting this problem, until you take Steve's suggestion. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 4:21 pm Posted by Adam Bradley (8786 messages posted) Minimum means the OS sitting there and looking at you. Nothing installed, running or added or any user files. You do not have enough free space for windows to run right, how many times do you need to be told a basic fact? On Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 10:59 am, Reuven Ben-Daniel wrote: >I have had the same setup for several months,the same programs and only now has this >problem occurred. The problem started to occur when there was 950MB freespace on >the C:\ of 9GB. That is 10%. According to Microsoft 200MB freespace is the minimum >to ensure all services on XP regardless of the size of the drive. And that rapidly >decreased even though I recently freed an additional 700MB. Thank you all for your >help. Speaking to a friend of mine who works at Intel Kiriyat Gat, it is caused >by a virus. And as I said there are similar cases recorded on google search. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 6:53 pm Posted by caveman (2 messages posted) Hey Ben, do a search by date ( when you noticed loss) with advanced options showing system folders, hidden files and folders, and sub folders. post results. I'm no computer Guru but it seems like virus or possible hard drive going out. On Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 10:59 am, Reuven Ben-Daniel wrote: >I have had the same setup for several months,the same programs and only now has this >problem occurred. The problem started to occur when there was 950MB freespace on >the C:\ of 9GB. That is 10%. According to Microsoft 200MB freespace is the minimum >to ensure all services on XP regardless of the size of the drive. And that rapidly >decreased even though I recently freed an additional 700MB. Thank you all for your >help. Speaking to a friend of mine who works at Intel Kiriyat Gat, it is caused >by a virus. And as I said there are similar cases recorded on google search. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 7:16 pm Posted by caveman (2 messages posted) Some of you need to chill out, this forum is to assist those in need. He's stated when he does have space, it rapidly disappears. Ben, you may want to ask one of the responders if they have the time to use remote assistance to check out your system. It may save alot of your time and frustration. Be safe [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 9:34 pm Posted by Adam Bradley (8786 messages posted) The posters here are trying to assist him. He simply does not like the answer. On Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 7:16 pm, caveman wrote: >Some of you need to chill out, this forum is to assist those in need. He's stated >when he does have space, it rapidly disappears. >Ben, you may want to ask one of the responders if they have the time to use remote >assistance to check out your system. It may save alot of your time and frustration. >Be safe [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 8:00 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) First, all my programs are running correctly until freespace nears zero. I have since my last letter increased my freespace to 1.4 GB on C:\ of 9GB, which is far above the 200MB minimum advised by Microsoft. and in 2 days my freespace has dropped to 1.2GB. Checking with the program WinDirStat under 'unknown' it has 77MB. I also sent a Hijack file which no one has commented on. I have asked questions previously on different subjects, and been answered courteously, It seems the policy has changed. On Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 4:21 pm, Adam Bradley wrote: >Minimum means the OS sitting there and looking at you. Nothing installed, running >or added or any user files. You do not have enough free space for windows to run >right, how many times do you need to be told a basic fact? > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 10:24 am Posted by MartinM (7551 messages posted) No change in policy: simply, I think, no ideas what the cause is. It happens :-( Some things have so many possibilities they are really hard to diagnose using a forum, and I suspect you have one of these. Not many people are qualified to interpret a HiJack this file - if you suspect malware (and its one possibility) then I'd post at SpywareBeware but be sure to read the pinned posts first. If they help you to an answer though, we'd be grateful to hear - all adds to the pool of knowledge. And good luck :-) [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 11:34 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) Than you. On using WinDirSat, I get 'unknown files'. A total of 4GB on my HD. How can I find out what these files are, and if it is possible to delete? On Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 10:24 am, MartinM wrote: > >No change in policy: simply, I think, no ideas what the cause is. It happens :-( > >Some things have so many possibilities they are really hard to diagnose using a forum, >and I suspect you have one of these. > >Not many people are qualified to interpret a HiJack this file - if you suspect malware >(and its one possibility) then I'd post at SpywareBeware but be sure to read the >pinned posts first. > >If they help you to an answer though, we'd be grateful to hear - all adds to the >pool of knowledge. And good luck :-) > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 11:45 am Posted by MartinM (7551 messages posted) Where are they in the file structure ? What file extension do they have ? (None, I guess) What dates do they have ? What sort of filename do they have ? Let's try and work out a course of action when we know a little more. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 11:29 pm Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) Nothing only 'Unknown files' On Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 11:45 am, MartinM wrote: > >Where are they in the file structure ? > >What file extension do they have ? (None, I guess) > >What dates do they have ? > >What sort of filename do they have ? > >Let's try and work out a course of action when we know a little more. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 11:52 pm Posted by MartinM (7551 messages posted) Curiouser and curiouser. I don't know the tool you are using - can it not be made to say more - any clues as to what and where the "unknown" files are ? Meantime its possible you have corruption in your file structure and I'd run CHKDSK with both /r and /f flags. The scan may take a very long time - but don't use the /c or /i switches in your circumstances. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 3:28 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) I am using WinDirStat.As you can see on former replies, I have deleted files from C:\ to make freespace I.3GB. Then it gradually decreased to 1.24GB, and now it is 1.1GB. Checking on WinDirStat again there are no more clues. But on starting WinDirStat before the graphic display. it states--C:\Total 7.4GB, Free1.1GB, Used85.0%. So it is stating that 1.5% is unaccounted for. I have already used CHKDSK disk, and the result was no corruption. On Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 11:52 pm, MartinM wrote: > >Curiouser and curiouser. > >I don't know the tool you are using - can it not be made to say more - any clues >as to what and where the "unknown" files are ? > >Meantime its possible you have corruption in your file structure and I'd run CHKDSK >with both /r and /f flags. The scan may take a very long time - but don't use the >/c or /i switches in your circumstances. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 4:16 am Posted by MartinM (7551 messages posted) At this stage I don't think I can contribute any more without sitting down at the PC and having a good explore. Sorry :-( [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 4:51 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) Thank you. If I solve the problem, I will post the result. On Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 4:16 am, MartinM wrote: > >At this stage I don't think I can contribute any more without sitting down at the >PC and having a good explore. > >Sorry :-( > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 27, 2009 at 3:32 am Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) One more query. I found on D:\ drive a large number of DIR00000 files. I understand they were formed by running CHKDSK. Are they needed and can they be deleted? On Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 4:16 am, MartinM wrote: > >At this stage I don't think I can contribute any more without sitting down at the >PC and having a good explore. > >Sorry :-( > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 27, 2009 at 10:40 am Posted by MartinM (7551 messages posted) Now that's interesting. These are data which CHDSK has partially or completely recovered from dead disk sectors, and it suggests that your HDD is having some significant problems. I'd find and download the manufacturer's diagnostics to see what state it is on. It is just possible that you have stumbled on the cause of the "disappearing (reported) space" issue. As for the DIR00000 files, they could be vital, or not (that doesn't help much !). To find out what they are you need to guess (from the date, size, any missing files etc - use what clues you can get) and try renaming the file extension to see if a. you are right and b. you can open them. But I'd leave this for the moment whilst you investigate the health of your HDD. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 27, 2009 at 9:10 pm Posted by epoch (87 messages posted) According to WinDirStat's Help file: On my XP WinDirStat shows more than a GB , what's wrong? Nothing. XP quite often creates rather big 'System restore points' under C:\System Volume Information, but denies access to it. Also in the Help file: If you have activated "Show Unknown" in the Options menu, each drive has an item. The matter is as follows. On the one hand, WinDirStat knows the total capacity of the drive and the free disk space. (These values tally with the number shown by the Windows Explorer properties dialog for the drive.) On the other hand WinDirStat has determined the sizes of all files and added them up. Well, is the difference: Total capacity minus free space minus determined sum. This rest can be greater than zero by serveral reasons. For instance there can be directories (e.g. "System Volume Information") with read-access denied. Their size cannot be included in the sum calculated by WinDirStat. In the treemap, the item is colored vivid yellow. So while having "Unknown files" appearing in WinDirStat isn't something you should be alarmed about (My system shows as much as 8.8% (20.5Gb) as ""), the presence of DIR000000 files should be followed up as suggested. The best explanation I've seen about .chk files is this: Chk files are unrecognizable 'broken bits' of files. If they were once txt files then you can open them in notepad and resave the contents as a text file. If they are parts of a system file, e.g. an EXE or a DLL or such, then if you open them in notepad all you will see is garbage. They basically are no use to you. All you can do, apart from recovering text from them, is delete them to get the disc space back. You cannot, even with the advanced knowledge required, reassemble them back into usable files. As for your original issue (if a faulty hard drive isn't the culprit), first try disabling your browser cache by following the instructions found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bypass_your_cache. It's possible that an update to your browser has this reset to cache pages where you had it set to not cache before the trouble started. Next, if you have System restore enabled then it may be that your System Restore points are being set automatically everytime you make a major change to your system such as when you install or uninstall a program. To clear your System Restore Points, go to Start>>Run...>> and type "C:\WINDOWS\system32\Restore\rstrui.exe" (without the quotes) into the box and hit . Go to the "System Restore Settings" link and check the box next to "Turn off System Restore" and hit "Apply". Uncheck the box and it "Apply" again to turn it back on if you want but you may want to leave it off while you test and see if it solves your problem. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK THOUGH!!! A way to clear all but your most recent Restore points is by going to Start>>Run...>> and type "cleanmgr" (without the quotes) into the box and hit . Go to the "More Options" tab and select "Clean up..." under the System Restore section. If you use Hibernate Mode then this writes a copy of your system state directly to your hard drive and could be another source of the issue. To disable this: 1. Go to Start>>Run...>> and type "Powercfg.cpl" (without the quotes) into the dialog box and hit . 2. Click the "Hibernation" tab, then uncheck the box next to "Enable Hibernation" 3. Press "OK." Check your PageFile (Virtual Memory) settings. Windows may be dynamically resizing the pagefile.sys file in order to run programs on your system efficiently. To change thiis: 1. Go to Start>>Run...>> and type "sysdm.cpl" into the dialog box and hit . 2. Go to the Advanced tab and hit the "Settings" button under the "Performance" section. 3. Go to the Advanced tab and hit the "Change" button under the "Virtual memory" section. 4. If the radio button next to "System managed size" is selected then change it to "Custom size" and change the Maximum size to 1.5 times your total memory on the system. Change the Initial size to 1/2 the Maximum size. 5. These are the recommended settings but you may choose to try something lower if you like. You may want to change the option to "No paging file" just for testing purposes but Microsoft does not recommend this. If you use PeerGuardian (although I don't see it in the HijackThis log) then your history.db file may be growing too large. All it is is a history of all the connections it's blocked/allowed and I've caught this hogging disk space before. To get rid of it (assuming you're using PeerGuardian2), open up PeerGuardian and click on 'View History'. Then click file, then click 'Clear Database'. Just do this one every couple of months to keep it a small file. Also, under the 'Settings' tab of the main program, uncheck 'Log Allowed Connections' under the History heading, and that should keep the file smaller too. These are just some of the main potential culprits. The frustration both you and those who responded are feeling is that in order to diagnose the problem accurately we would need have first-hand access to your system. Otherwise, we can only offer unsubstantiated guesses. I see that you have posted your HiJackThis log to http://forums.techguy.org/windows-xp/879194-disappearing-freespace.html which is good and I looked through it myself but don't see any obvious signs of malware either (although I'm no expert.) On Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 3:28 am, Reuven Ben-Daniel wrote: > I am using WinDirStat.As you can see on former replies, I have deleted files from >C:\ to make freespace I.3GB. Then it gradually decreased to 1.24GB, and now it is >1.1GB. Checking on WinDirStat again there are no more clues. But on starting WinDirStat >before the graphic display. it states--C:\Total 7.4GB, Free1.1GB, Used85.0%. So >it is stating that 1.5% is unaccounted for. I have already used CHKDSK disk, and >the result was no corruption. > > > Epoch [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Friday, November 27, 2009 at 11:06 pm Posted by Reuven Ben-Daniel (91 messages posted) Thank you.First of all,let me clarify, I have no CHK files. I wanted to know if XP had them. I checked my HD with a program HDTune.This gives a visual picture of the HD similar to Surface Scan onWIN98. My HD is in perfect condition. I had,as I thought, turned off system restore several months ago. On going to it today I found no restore points, but it was not disabled. On disabling correctly I retrieved 30MB. I have been told there is a method of opening (unknown) files, by altering the registry. I will keep you informed. On Friday, November 27, 2009 at 9:10 pm, epoch wrote: >According to WinDirStat's Help file: [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Free space disappearing on HD. Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 6:39 pm Posted by Pete (1 messages posted) The respondents aren't listening. I've had a similar problem. I add up everything on my drive, compare it to the free space available and I have 4 gig that I can't account for (I've gone into the drive with various utilities to look at hidden files before coming up with that 4 gig estimate) I have removed temp files, logs files, etc and have gotten it back up to several hundred Mg available.. which then steadily decreases and I start getting low disk space warnings. I am having the same problem as the original poster and it's not because I don't have a big enough drive. Not reading what he's saying and smugly saying he's 'hiding the size' of his drive by not answering or doesn't like the answers he's getting is hardly productive or helpful. On Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 9:34 pm, Adam Bradley wrote: >The posters here are trying to assist him. He simply does not like the answer. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum