Data on system drive "C" getting larger

My operating system drive "C" continues to increase in size for no apparent reason. Over the last year or two it has grown much more than I can account for.

Here is what I found today. When I check properties on drive "C" it indicates the total size on disk is 7.50GB. When I check all the folders on "C" the total is less than 5.50GB. I do have protected operating system files shown and hidden files and folders shown.

Can someone tell me where this extra 2GB is on drive "C ".

 

Thanks Pete,

Most of this I do on a regular basis, about once a week. I did change some of the settings as you suggested. Before I do a system backup, I always clean as much as I can, including turning off system restore and restarting it to clear all restore points. My alloted space for system restore was much too high and I reduced alloted space for Temporary internet files to 50 MB as suggested.

I assume that if there is an extra 2GB of alloted space, it would show up as used in drive "C" but would not show up in the size of all folders added together. So, I may be pursuing something that does not matter.

However this does not explain why my system seems to expand at times when I have added very little to it. For example, I run Adaware SE weekly and the number of objects scanned has increased from about 95,000 to over 140,000 in just a few months. This makes me wonder if something is being added to my system without my knowledge.

I should point out that I keep a very clean system and run an on line virus scan about once a week. I run HijackThis occasionally and I do not find anything that I cannot account for.

I realize that someone else cannot tell me what is happening in my computer, but any general ideas will be appreciated.

Daniel

 

To add to Pete’s reply, these two programs will show you where space is being used:
1. TreeSize Free shows used disk space, here http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

2. This useful little program shows file statistics including a graphical display by file type. Simply let the mouse pointer hover over the coloured areas to identify different file types, here http://windirstat.info/

Also, delete more space by turning off Hibernation (if you don’t use it), right-click Desktop > Properties > Screen Saver Tab > Power at the bottom > Hibernate Tab and untick ‘Enable Hibernation’.

If your PC is behaving properly you can remove the Windows hotfix backup hidden files that begin $NTUninstallKB..... from the WINDOWS folder. There are two ways to do it, either by the preferred method of running a script which also removes the corresponding entries in Add/Remove Programs or manually deleting them.
1. Download, extract and run this little script http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm Create a system restore point first (WinXP) just in case anything goes wrong during the registry updating.

2. Manually remove them by copying them to a CD/DVD then delete them from the \WINDOWS folder but leave the now orphaned Add/Remove Programs entries intact. Only delete the $NTUninstallKB folders that relate to fixes not those for applications like Word, WMP, etc. Do not delete the $hf_mig$ folder.

 

Don't overlook the possibility that the System Volume Information folder may have some stranded files in it. It happens occasionally.

When it does happen, disabling System Restore and re-enabling it won't flush the stranded files. You'll have to do that manually.

Please see this thread for further directions if needed

 

Suferdude2,
Thanks for the suggestion about System Volume Information, but it has nothing in it.

BurrWalnut,
Thanks for the suggestions. I have a utility that deletes Hotfix uninstallers. I tried TreeSize but it did not tell any more than I already knew.

Thanks to all for trying, I may be attempting to stop my computer growth when that is normal, as suggested by Pete.

It just seems that my computer is expanding at a much faster rate in recent months.

Any further suggestions will be appreciated.

Daniel

 

I have the same issue so will try all of the above.
Disk Size -8.78Gb
Used Space - 8.6Gb
Docs & Settings - 1.75Gb
Program Files - 1.05
Windows - 3.45Gb

There seems to be a large amount of data stored in Docs & Settings even though I store my files on another drive

I install my programs on another drive but I am forced into using the Program files folder sometimes but its not especially high.

Windows seems to be the one pulling most of the space.

In windows i have a lot of folders marked $NtUninstallKB933360$ or similar. Can I delete these? They only account for 600Mb though.

 

The biggest space user seems to be programs installed on another drive putting templates etc in the docs folder. It doesn't help when it does it for the admin, default, my, my wifes and my sons' accounts. So a few meg soon mounts up.

I feel an evening of uninstalling and partition resizing coming on.