Hi. . .
Eventhough you have personally saved only 1GB of data, your user profile is generating and adding data to files as you read this. Dozens and dozens (+/- 100+) of Vista OS Services are running silently "behind the scenes", again, creating and editing files. More than likely, every time that your antivirus software runs, certain files are backed up and others created. New virus defnition files may be downloaded daily, etc... For a look at these in case you haven't yet, right click on the taskbar (an empty space) and select Task Manager. Click on each of the various tabs.
Two of the biggest culprits that I have found thus far that are guilty of Vista HDD space consumption are as follows:
1. By default, Vista's System Restore utilizes <=15% of HDD capacity for its backup file system, System Shadow, creating "restore points" whenever (a) a program is installed or uninstalled; or (b) A regularly scheduled System Checkpoint (backup of modified files) is performed, sometimes 2x per day, primarily dependent upon program install/uninstall activity.
To find out the number of restore points currently available to your system, left click on Start; type "cmd.exe" (no quotes); right click "cmd.exe" - top left of screen, under Programs; select "Run as Administrator"; DOS type prompt will appear.
Type the following command next to the ">"
vssadmin list shadows
To find out the amount of HDD being consumed by System Restore, left click on Start; type "cmd.exe" (no quotes); right click "cmd.exe" - top left of screen, under Programs; select "Run as Administrator"; DOS type prompt will appear.
Type the following command next to the ">"
vssadmin list shadowstorage
If you want to change the HDD space allocation for System Restore enter the following command next to the ">"
vssadmin resize shadowstorage /on=c: /for=c: /maxsize=13GB
Of course, replace 13GB with the size you wish to choose. For info, this laptop has a 120GB HDD, with 17.5GB allocated to System Restore.
** NOTE: A reduction in the space currently allocated to System Restore will most likely cause the older/ oldest restore points to be lost.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. The ever-growing static page file "c:\pagefile.sys". This file is used by Vista for page swapping files from RAM to the HDD. The page file is used as additional RAM, a.k.a. Virtual Memory. The page files size is usually determined by multiplying RAM x 1.5 (some use a 2.0 multiplier, other use 1.0).
To view/change the page file allocation size:
Start > Control Panel >System and Maintenance > System >
Change Settings (1/2 way down on right side, across from Computer Name) > Select Advanced tab > select Settings (under Performance) >
Select Advanced tab. Look down the page (no pun intended) and you'll see:
Virtual Memory - Total paging file size for all drives: (the page file size)
click on "Change. . ."; the next screen is the allocation for pagefile.sys
(For info, this laptop:
- 2GB RAM installed
- Paging file size for all drives:
- Minimum Allowed: 16 MB
- Recommended: 3055 MB
- Currently Allocated: 2337 MB
I know that 50GB used, eventhough 300GB total HDD, sounds like alot; however, check the items in this post and see what remains. A third piece to this is the Windows allocated partitioned drive for the NT kernel. It is a non NTFS format, does not have a conventional drive letter, and it is not able to be seen from COMPUTER. My NT kernel partition currently uses almost 12GB of my 120GB HDD. Also, do you have any other partitions? Is it possible that there is a partitioned drive D:? I have a windows partitioned drive D:, allocated at 1GB. Check it out.
I hope this information helps. Any ??? - post again.
Good Luck.
regards. . .
jcgriff2