Encyclopedia Brown and the Mystery of the Missing Hard Drive Space
March 29, 2006 4:35 PM Subscribe
Where the %$&*@! did all of my hard drive space go?!?
I'm running Windows XP. My C: drive is on a five gig partition. I can account for three gigs worth by checking folder/file sizes, but I only see about 300 megs in My Computer or Explorer when I check for free space.
I'm running my swap file off of a second hard drive. If I actually go to the Virtual Memory option of the advanced tab and click on the C: drive it tells me I have about 1.8 gigs available. The math seems to work, but clearly something in Windows thinks otherwise.
I had this same problem on a previous install of Windows XP. I vaugley recall that there was a very large swapfile.sys (or something similar) sitting on the C: drive that I had to whack through a DOS prompt, but I can find no such file this time.
And clues?
I'm running Windows XP. My C: drive is on a five gig partition. I can account for three gigs worth by checking folder/file sizes, but I only see about 300 megs in My Computer or Explorer when I check for free space.
I'm running my swap file off of a second hard drive. If I actually go to the Virtual Memory option of the advanced tab and click on the C: drive it tells me I have about 1.8 gigs available. The math seems to work, but clearly something in Windows thinks otherwise.
I had this same problem on a previous install of Windows XP. I vaugley recall that there was a very large swapfile.sys (or something similar) sitting on the C: drive that I had to whack through a DOS prompt, but I can find no such file this time.
And clues?
Files in your recycle bin still take space. If you need space and there isn't enough, Windows will delete files in the recycle bin -- but until it does, the space they take up isn't reflected in the "Free space" report on the drive.
By the way, if you are using the C drive for the OS, 5 gig is pretty tiny and will cause you trouble. (I can't believe I just wrote that.)
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 4:41 PM on March 29, 2006
By the way, if you are using the C drive for the OS, 5 gig is pretty tiny and will cause you trouble. (I can't believe I just wrote that.)
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 4:41 PM on March 29, 2006
There are If you've been using Windows Update, there's probably a load of space taken up with hidden uninstall files. I think they're under directories called $NTupdate or something similar. If you're not going to uninstall the patches, I believe these can be deleted.
Also, XP is happy to chew up a lot of disk space with System Restore. If you've got your drivers and apps working, you could turn that off, free the space, and then turn it back on.
posted by pompomtom at 4:45 PM on March 29, 2006
Also, XP is happy to chew up a lot of disk space with System Restore. If you've got your drivers and apps working, you could turn that off, free the space, and then turn it back on.
posted by pompomtom at 4:45 PM on March 29, 2006
Run spacemonger it will give you a visual representation of all of the files on your drive and their relative size.
posted by harrigton at 4:48 PM on March 29, 2006
posted by harrigton at 4:48 PM on March 29, 2006
Do you have enough space to install and run WinDirStat? 730k max. I adore it, and it should be great for showing you exactly where that space has gone.
On preview: the pictures are prettier than spacemonger's.
posted by booksandlibretti at 5:05 PM on March 29, 2006
On preview: the pictures are prettier than spacemonger's.
posted by booksandlibretti at 5:05 PM on March 29, 2006
My guess is the hidden C:\hiberfil.sys You can only get rid of it by disabling hibernation in the power options. It will be gone next time you restart. There is also a hidden C:\pagefile.sys but that is necessary. Also unless your hard drive is very small you might want to consider a larger C partition than 5GB
posted by harrigton at 5:06 PM on March 29, 2006
posted by harrigton at 5:06 PM on March 29, 2006
Response by poster: OK, I ran spacemonger (thanks, harrington) and there is a 1.6 gig pagefile.sys sitting on my C: drive (turning off System Restore bought me about another 100 megs, which helps.) It's on the root of C: (the beer left behind a few memory brain cells. That's nice to know...) but I can't find it searching through Windows or DOS. Checking the properties through spacemonger gives me a ghosted "hidden" checkbox. I know I was able to get rid of this thing before (again, after moving my swap file to another drive...)
And the last time I had this problem was on a partition half this size. I've got a big enough hard drive that I hear echoes when I save files, but more than five gigs? Yikes.
posted by Cyrano at 5:15 PM on March 29, 2006
And the last time I had this problem was on a partition half this size. I've got a big enough hard drive that I hear echoes when I save files, but more than five gigs? Yikes.
posted by Cyrano at 5:15 PM on March 29, 2006
In order to control the pagefile size, you have to be an administrator.
Right-click "My Computer" and choose "Properties". Under the "Advanced" tab click the "Performance" settings button.
That brings up a new window. Press the "Advanced" tab, and at the bottom you can find the current size of the pagefile. Using the "Change" button allows you to alter its size.
But be forewarned: the pagefile in Windows is the total size of virtual memory including the memory currently swapped in. If you have 1 gig of RAM and a 1.6g swapfile, you have a total of 1.6 gig of virtual memory, not 2.6 gig. Your current size of 1.6 gig is probably the smallest it should reasonably be set to; much smaller and you're going to have a lot of apps terminating because they can't get as much virtual memory as they need to run.
But all is not lost. If you have another partition (e.g. D) which is permanent (i.e. not on an external USB drive) which has more space (and I would assume you do) then with that button you can move the pagefile to it and delete it from C. (Reboot needed for the change to go into effect.)
So you shouldn't try to make it smaller, but you can reasonably move it to some other partition where you've got more room.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:32 PM on March 29, 2006
Right-click "My Computer" and choose "Properties". Under the "Advanced" tab click the "Performance" settings button.
That brings up a new window. Press the "Advanced" tab, and at the bottom you can find the current size of the pagefile. Using the "Change" button allows you to alter its size.
But be forewarned: the pagefile in Windows is the total size of virtual memory including the memory currently swapped in. If you have 1 gig of RAM and a 1.6g swapfile, you have a total of 1.6 gig of virtual memory, not 2.6 gig. Your current size of 1.6 gig is probably the smallest it should reasonably be set to; much smaller and you're going to have a lot of apps terminating because they can't get as much virtual memory as they need to run.
But all is not lost. If you have another partition (e.g. D) which is permanent (i.e. not on an external USB drive) which has more space (and I would assume you do) then with that button you can move the pagefile to it and delete it from C. (Reboot needed for the change to go into effect.)
So you shouldn't try to make it smaller, but you can reasonably move it to some other partition where you've got more room.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:32 PM on March 29, 2006
do a search (Start -> Search) for *.* and list by filesize.
posted by nitsuj at 5:46 PM on March 29, 2006
posted by nitsuj at 5:46 PM on March 29, 2006
A 5GB partition? Not to sound too glib but you can get a brand new 250GB drive for about $80USD on sale, so why are you torturing yourself with the nickel-and-dime business?
Failing that, windirstat.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:10 PM on March 29, 2006
Failing that, windirstat.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:10 PM on March 29, 2006
Response by poster: Ha! I got it!
I had to disable the virtual memory on all of the partitions (even though the only one that had it wasn't the problematic one) then reboot, and I was able to delete the pagefile.sys (since it was no longer in use) using windirstat. Set the paging file again on the second hard drive, reboot again and I've got all my space back!
But thanks for the windirstat and spacemonger suggestions. I knew that damn pagefile.sys was the problem, I just needed a way to prove it.
(And, Rhomboid, the reason I only have a 5GB C: drive is that the only thing I run of that drive is Windows. I have a seperate partion for all of my apps (including MS Office,) another one for my downloads, and another just for games. Five GB always seemed like more than enough for just Windows.)
posted by Cyrano at 6:56 PM on March 29, 2006
I had to disable the virtual memory on all of the partitions (even though the only one that had it wasn't the problematic one) then reboot, and I was able to delete the pagefile.sys (since it was no longer in use) using windirstat. Set the paging file again on the second hard drive, reboot again and I've got all my space back!
But thanks for the windirstat and spacemonger suggestions. I knew that damn pagefile.sys was the problem, I just needed a way to prove it.
(And, Rhomboid, the reason I only have a 5GB C: drive is that the only thing I run of that drive is Windows. I have a seperate partion for all of my apps (including MS Office,) another one for my downloads, and another just for games. Five GB always seemed like more than enough for just Windows.)
posted by Cyrano at 6:56 PM on March 29, 2006
Sequoiaview to visually see what's taking up your HD.
As for the pagefile, setting the same number for maximum and minimum size (so windows won't decide to change the pagefile size on whim at some random moment and suck up a load of resources) should help with performance.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 7:37 PM on March 29, 2006
As for the pagefile, setting the same number for maximum and minimum size (so windows won't decide to change the pagefile size on whim at some random moment and suck up a load of resources) should help with performance.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 7:37 PM on March 29, 2006
I have a similar setup -- a small C: partition for Windows with D and E for data and apps. This same thing happens to me.
As it turns out, it's when I have too many windows/apps open and a dialog box pops up saying "Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory file" or somesuch. It creates a swapfile on C:, which remains even after a reboot, when it no longer needs the space. I just delete it.
Derail: What's a good / recommended swapfile size for a 512MB XP system? I mainly browse and do email, with some Office apps and occasional PhotoShop or development work.
posted by cps at 8:07 PM on March 29, 2006
As it turns out, it's when I have too many windows/apps open and a dialog box pops up saying "Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory file" or somesuch. It creates a swapfile on C:, which remains even after a reboot, when it no longer needs the space. I just delete it.
Derail: What's a good / recommended swapfile size for a 512MB XP system? I mainly browse and do email, with some Office apps and occasional PhotoShop or development work.
posted by cps at 8:07 PM on March 29, 2006
cps - i've set my sempron64 2600+ with 512 ... (64meg onboard video ... ick) ... to a minimum of 672 and maximum of 1344
512 - 64 = 448
1.5 * 448 = 672
672 * 2 = 1344
i'm not going to swear that's the only effective formula one could use ... people debate this all the time ... but it works well for me ... and i think the most important thing is to have a minimum size and a maximum size to reduce fragmentation ... (i run fat32 on xp sp2, mostly because it seems to work better for music apps)
posted by pyramid termite at 9:00 PM on March 29, 2006
512 - 64 = 448
1.5 * 448 = 672
672 * 2 = 1344
i'm not going to swear that's the only effective formula one could use ... people debate this all the time ... but it works well for me ... and i think the most important thing is to have a minimum size and a maximum size to reduce fragmentation ... (i run fat32 on xp sp2, mostly because it seems to work better for music apps)
posted by pyramid termite at 9:00 PM on March 29, 2006
Same size min and same size max is preferable. It avoids "random" slowdowns as the OS tries to resize the pagefile.
For 512, I'd go for 1024 minimum, 1024 maximum.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 9:38 PM on March 29, 2006
For 512, I'd go for 1024 minimum, 1024 maximum.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 9:38 PM on March 29, 2006
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Clear the caches of your web browsers
Run Disk Cleanup (Accessories > System Tools)
Search your drive for anything named tmp or temp (make sure you include system and hidden folders in the search), delete if necessary.
posted by Brian James at 4:39 PM on March 29, 2006