Where'd My Hard Drive Space go?

[kctom]

Hello. I have a laptop with a 70 GB hard drive. Recently I was running defrag and it came back and said that I'm running out of space on my hard drive and it's hurting my performance. Seemed odd to me since it's relatively new. So, I checked the size of the C drive by right clicking on that directory and it showed that I only have 6 or 7 GB's left. The problem is when I click each of the folders in the C drive, it shows only 36 GB's used. I downloaded an application called "JDiskReport" and it also showed only 36 GB's of space being used. I've attached two screen shots of what I was looking at. 30 GB's seems like a lot of space to be missing...
I'm hoping my hard drive is defective since it's under warranty. Otherwise I'll have to buy a larger one since I've weeded out most of the things I don't want/need on there.
Thanks for your help.

 

[Triple6]

Right click on the C Drive and go to "Properties". Click on "Disk Cleanup". Then click on the "More Options" Tab and click on the "Clean up" in the "System Restore" section to clear out old system restore points. Then go back to the "Disk Cleanup" and check all but the last two boxes and click OK.

Then right click on the C Drive again and "Properties" again and click on the "Tools" tab and then click on "Check Now". Click the top box to "Automatically fix file system errors" and click "Start". You'll get a message saying it can't run but it can run on the next reboot if you click yes, so click "Yes" and then restart your computer and let the scan run through.

After scanning is done re-check the free space.

 

[kctom]

Thanks. That freed up about 3 GB's of space. I'm still a little puzzled where the 20 GB's of "missing" space went. I have attached a current status of my C drive.

 

[Triple6]

There's Hidden folders and files that could be using up that space. Examples would be the System Restore folder and the page file.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/hiddenfiles.mspx
Also in Folder Options uncheck the box to Hide Protected System files and folders as well.

 

[Triple6]

Also to better clean some of the temp folders you can use CCleaner: http://www.ccleaner.com/
By default not all the options of the first page are checked, you can check them all and you'll get some more space back as well but here's a guide to help you decide what to clean: http://www.internetrotsyourbrain.com/ccleanerbeginnersguide/

 

[Rich-M]

If you use ccleaner, make sure you uncheck the page that has Registry entries or you can have a far worse problem.

 

[flavallee]

Some Easy And Safe Ways To Reclaim Hard Drive Space:

Right-click RECYCLE BIN, click Properties, move the slider from 10% to 3%, then click Apply - OK.

Right-click MY COMPUTER, click Properties - System Restore, move the slider from 12% to 3%, then click Apply - OK.

Open the C:\Windows\Temp folder, then delete everything from inside that Temp folder.

Open the C:\Documents And Settings\(Username)\Local Settings\Temp folder, then delete everything from inside that Temp folder.

Empty the Recycle Bin, then restart your computer.

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[kctom]

I should already be pretty "clean" I use "CleanUp!", Advanced Disk Cleaner, Advanced Windowscare V2 Personal, Eusing Free Registry Cleaner and Registry Clean Expert in addition to the regular Windows Chkdsk and defrag. I use these about every week or two. I'm also showing the hidden and system files via the folder options in Windows Explorer.
Anyone know of a way to see if Hidden or System files are using that 20-30 GB's of missing space?
Thanks

 

[Triple6]

If you unhide them then you can check their properties.

Be careful usign Registry Cleaners, they can do more damage then the good they claim.

 

[kctom]

I ended up running a full diagnostic on my hard drive via an application from the manufacturer. It came back clean, so I opened a ticket with them and after a few quick fixes, they believe I have some kind of corruption on my boot drive. They suggested that I reinstall Windows, so I'll do that sometime soon to see if my entire drive is recognized. Thanks for everyone's help. I'll report back once I see if the re-install fixed the issue.