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Windows 10 Disk Usage

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by fkaramagi, 2019/04/15.

  1. 2019/04/15
    fkaramagi

    fkaramagi Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    fkaramagi,
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  2. 2019/04/15
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    For starters, there typically is no "Windows 10" folder so not sure what you mean by that. What folder exactly are you looking at? There is no set rule for how much space Windows, with all its many folders takes up. And it varies from machine to machine - depending on how the default folders are setup for downloads, documents, etc.

    Have you run Windows Disk Cleanup? How much free disk space do you have? Note if there is an Windows.old folder that is older than 30 days, it can safely be deleted manually.

    The HD running at 100% is not normal, if it sits there for long periods of time - especially if you are using the computer for other tasks at the same time. If that is happening, that is probably what is causing the performance hit.

    What are they using for security? Is it current? Have they/you scanned with a secondary scanner (I recommend Malwarebytes) to make sure the user (ALWAYS the weakest link in security) or the primary security solution didn't let something slip by?

    Have they rebooted?
     
    Bill,
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  4. 2019/04/15
    fkaramagi

    fkaramagi Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    By Windows 10 folder, I was referring to the Windows folder - not including other folders like users and applications.
     
    Last edited: 2019/04/15
    fkaramagi,
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  5. 2019/04/16
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Okay - clearly something is going on in that folder. On two systems here, both are under 7GB each (including all sub-folders). But without knowing answers to any of the other questions, I don't know what is happening.

    You might try something like Folder Size, TreeSize and/or my favorite, WinDirStat to map out the drive(s) and see where the space is being used. But I caution, do not delete anything unless sure it is not needed by the system - Google it first.
     
    Bill,
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  6. 2019/04/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    I never understood the reason for the difference but on my LapTop, Windows 10 Home 1809, the Windows folder is 5.39 GB (26,962 files in 9,457 folders) but the size on disk is reported as 3.78 GB. Do some files get compressed? (Rhetorical question to not hijack the thread.)
     
    Christer,
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  7. 2019/04/17
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    It can be confusing because in many cases, the numbers are the other way around - that is, the "Size on disk" value is reported as larger than the "Size" value.

    It all starts with the cluster size which was setup when the disk was formatted. The cluster size (AKA: allocation unit) is the smallest amount of disk space that can be used to hold a file (or file segment). The cluster size is determined by the OS and the size of the entire disk or partition. This can range from just 512 bytes up to 64KB.

    4KB is pretty typical. Remember, this is the smallest storage location on your drive. Size is the actual size of the file or folder. But what if your file is only 2KB in size? Then your 2KB file will take up (or allocate) 4KB of space. When a drive is very cluttered with 1000s of tiny files (cookies and temporary internet files, for example) the Size on disk may be reported as larger than the total of the file actual file size.

    As you suggested, what if a file is compressed? Then the actual file size (when fully decompressed) may be 1MB but takes up only 600KB when saved to disk in compressed form. With lots of those files, the Size on disk will be reported as a smaller number.

    "Sparse" files are another reason for the reported size discrepancies. A sparse file is typically very large, but contains a very large number of zeros that represent "nothing". A large database with a bunch of blank or empty fields (fields with "nothing" in them) might be an example of a sparse file. Many image files may fall into this category too. Instead of the OS defining all the empty blocks individually, it uses magic (programming stuff way way over my head ;)) to "briefly" describe all the empty space as one big space. This description of the space takes up much less room on the disk than if each zero was described individually.

    So while the full file might appear to be huge (say when printed - because of the blank/empty fields), when saved on disk it takes up less space.

    Clear as mud, huh?
     
    Bill,
    #6
  8. 2019/04/18
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    The reasoning that "unused" bytes in an allocation unit increase the size on disk compared to actual data size and compression the other way around is clear but it got muddy when you got into ... :confused: ... "sparse files".
     
    Christer,
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  9. 2019/04/18
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Bill,
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