What will cause windows xp to claim more space on a hard drive than it normally does?
Computer says, Windows is using 35.7 GB in it's directory. I periodically receive low disk space message pop up windows.
I believe that windows should only be between 10 - 15 GB in size.
How do I find how to fix this situation? I am down about 7.50 MB. There seems to be something that is tricking my computer to think it has very little space available.
Windows XP
Submitted by t-bone on April 20, 2008 - 8:05am.
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Re: Windows XP
April 25, 2008 - 6:45am
Check these folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Temp
C:\Windows\Temp
C:\Windows\ - look for $Uninstall_KBxxxx$, these can be removed without causing any errors.
You may also want try virus and adware scanning your Windows partition/drive. There are many virii and adware that will repopulate themselves over and over again to eat up hard drive space without actively deleting anything on your hard drive.
If you right click on C:\Windows\System32, check the properties for space used. This is where a lot of them populate files. There is also a couple that will populate across several folders in your Windows profile so check the first folder I mentioned above.
Side notes:
Windows XP (up to SP2, haven't tried SP3 yet) requires 2GB max of hard drive space. This is counting only the install and SP2 with all updates and no active paging file.
My home PCs have a Windows partition that has a max of 5GB. The partition has only Windows XP running on it. My paging file (virtual memory), Temp folders and My Documents are running on a second partition to alleviate the XP partition and remove some of the risk of losing the XP partition.
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Re: Windows XP
April 20, 2008 - 8:58am
common places where Windows can eat up space are:
C:\Temp and C:\Windows\temp - its usually safe to delete whatever is in them.
Empty your recycle bin if you havn't already.
Your Internet Explorer cache can also suck up a lot of space: go into Internet Explorer, select TOOLS|Internet Options, then under browsing history/temporary files press the delete button (it might take a while to delete everything.) Then you can click SETTINGS to reduce the number of MB that Internet Explorer uses for it's cache.
There are 1,000,000 other places/ways that Windows can fill your HDD, but those are a few common/easy ones..
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Re: Windows XP
April 20, 2008 - 8:18am
What will cause windows xp to claim more space on a hard drive than it normally does? Computer says, Windows is using 35.7 GB in it's directory. I periodically receive low disk space message pop up windows. I believe that windows should only be between 10 - 15 GB in size. How do I find how to fix this situation? I am down about 7.50 MB. There seems to be something that is tricking my computer to think it has very little space available.
Let's find it. Unhide Hidden and System files at Tools\Folder Options\View. Then Open your Windows folder. Select the top half and choose Properties. Is it big? No? Then go to the bottom half. Keep narrowing the folders down. Keep splitting the half that was big and looking at the Properties until you find it. Then when you do find it, squash it with your foot. :) Then re-hide your Hidden and Systems files.
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