Issue with hard disk space.

[ThinkPad]

Im having an issue with my hard disk losing space. It seems everytime I install a program, especially downloaded from the internet, more hard disk space is used than the actual software.

For example I installed a program that was about 30 mb, but I lost close to 200 mb. I uninstalled the program and only gained the 30meg. My hard disk shows 17.4gb free but 16.2 actual free.

I installed the Microsoft Flight simulator demo which was about 700 mb download and the actual program was about a gig. I uninstalled the simulator and deleted the download file and Im still missing about a gig space...

One of my hypothesis is the hibefil.rsys files increases as the programs are installed...? Its up to 2 gigs.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

p.s I ran the ccleaner software, which uncovered nothing but 12mb

[ThinkPad]

I have also deleted windows and internet temp files...

[joester]

Worth a shot....

Try Sequoia View to find it.

The bigger the box, the bigger the file.

Joe

[ThinkPad]

I have that, been searching with no luck... the largest file hiberfil.sys at 2 gigs

[dsvochak]

hiberfil.sys is the file created and used to hibernate the machine. It's size is always the same as the amount of installed ram, so it wouldn't have increased in size unless you installed more ram.

If you never hibernate, you can turn the option off in power properties and delete the file.

[ThinkPad]

You are right. After some research, I found out the hibernation file is pretty much the same as the amount of RAM you have.

My next hypothesis is that its a temp or backup file....

[GomJabbar]

System Restore can take up a bit of your hard drive. The default setting is 12% I believe. You can reduce this or turn it off (which I don't recommend). Type System Restore in Start > Help and Support, to learn more about it.

[ThinkPad]

But does the system restore progressively take up more space? Also under disk clean up I have an option of deleting all but the most recent restore point. Should I do that?

My current properties show 17.4gb available but shows actual 16.2

Here is a hd screen shot
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l201/ ... erties.jpg

[GomJabbar]

But does the system restore progressively take up more space?

On a fresh install, there are not many restore points, so not all the 12% of the disk is not used up.

Another source of diminishing disk space is Windows Update. Normally Windows keeps the previous setup on your hard drive so that you can roll back any Windows Update by simply uninstalling it (there may be some exceptions). You can delete these Windows Update backups (very similar to system restore points) and recover this space. I believe the Desktop Cleanup Wizard will do this for you. Right-click on an open area of the Desktop and choose Properties > Desktop > Customize Desktop to get to the Desktop Cleanup Wizard.

[egibbs]

The only thing that could eat the kind of space he is talking about (GB at a time) is Rescue and Recovery. It is probably set to make automatic backups and is saving multiple copies of everything on his disk.

Click Start/Thinkvantage/Rescue and Recovery and view all backups, delete them as necessary. Use the preferences button to turn automatic backups off if they are on, or to change the backup location.

Ed Gibbs

[ThinkPad]

Thanks for your help guys (or gals )

I finally found the issue. The Rescue and Recovery had backed up all the downloads, about 2 gibs of info. I cut the 12% down to 9% and gained about 4 gigs of hard disk space

Thanks for the good information everyone.