Missing hard disk space..?

ChrissyT88

ChrissyT88

ChrissyT88

Associate
Joined
9 Mar 2008
Posts
1,039
Hi,

I tried doing a search, but couldnt find anything that relevant. I built a new pc about a month ago using a samsung 640 gb hard disk and vista 64. When formated, this gives my nearly 600 gb. I have recently copied a lot of music to my computer using lossless compression, and have finally got round to installing my most played games etc. However, i was a little shocked to see that that windows explorer reports that i have used 200 gb of disk space.

However, when actually selecting all of the files on the hard disk, there is only a little over 100 gb of files - this seems a little odd to me. I thought it could be a bug with windows explorer, but using the treemap software windirstat confirms that i only have 114 gb of files on the disk. I have enabled the view hidden files option via control panel, so i am not sure it can be this. Is there anything else that could be causing this (pretty big) difference? Do files take up more space on the disk than their file size?

It may be worth mentioning that this is actually the second time i have installed vista. I reinstalled after overclocking to ensure stability, and selected the delete partition option in the setup, which it promptly did, although it showed no signs of formatting the drive. Could it be that the old windows files are still on the disk?

Thanks very much for reading, any help would be appreciated.
 
Would these not show up when selecting every file on the drive and on the treemap? Certainly the page file shows up on the treemap, although running it again does not show any restore files.. perhaps system restore is the cause?
 
ChrissyT88 said:
Would these not show up when selecting every file on the drive and on the treemap? Certainly the page file shows up on the treemap, although running it again does not show any restore files.. perhaps system restore is the cause?
Click to expand...

Not sure but check disk space now, then after disabling the System Restore, then again after disabling Hibernation then again after removing the Low Disk Limit and then again after disabling the Page File then again settng the Recycle Bin to as small as it lets you (may even be 0MB).

You will have gain many GB's.


Even with all the above it sounds weird, and I do not think Vista even does a FULL Format, it goes too fast from findings

I normally use a Floppy or CD with a Low Format App on it, this wipes the HDD to Zero's so you get a fresh Filesystem and Full NTFS install.


http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_install_03.asp


"Format. On a hard disk with existing partition(s), you can use the Format command to wipe out any data contained on those partitions and return them to like-new, pristine condition. Note that formatted disks are essentially empty and that Windows Vista Setup does not requiring you to explicitly format a partition before installation: If you choose an empty partition, Vista Setup will automatically format the disk for you. "

The above part takes a long time on a large HDD in XP if you choose FULL NTFS over QUICK NTFS, so IMO its not doing a Full Format.
 
Last edited:
helmutcheese said:
Not sure but check disk space now, then after disabling the System Restore, then again after disabling Hibernation then again after removing the Low Disk Limit and then again after disabling the Page File then again settng the Recycle Bin to as small as it lets you (may even be 0MB).
Click to expand...

I highly advise against disabling the pagefile.

helmutcheese said:
I normally use a Floppy or CD with a Low Format App on it, this wipes the HDD to Zero's so you get a fresh Filesystem and Full NTFS install.
Click to expand...

This has never been part of a full format. Formatting does not wipe your drive.

Burnsy
 
@ Burnsy2023, I do not advise disabling a Page File, it was all examples of what uses the HDD space without you knowing,

XP with a Full NTFS, erases the HDD fully (not as secure as a proper App) but it rewrites the full File System for a fresh install of Windows after it completes it (good if its totally trashed).

A Quick NTFS just basically tells XP to regard the HDD as empty (same as Quick Format on a Floppy or CD/DVD) and you do have aspects left behind that will still be there until written over again and not a good as a Full Format.

When did I say Windows CD could actually erase your HDD totally/securely ?.

Thats why I use Maxtors Tools or such.

None of that you aimed towards me helps with his missing space TBH.
 
helmutcheese said:
XP with a Full NTFS, erases the HDD fully
Click to expand...

No it doesn't. A full format does several things like rewrites the boot sector, MFT and also checks the whole disk for bad sectors and then maps them so they are not written to. No erasure of data on the disk occurs.

And I apologise for going off topic :)

Burnsy
 
When did I say it does erase the HDD Fully (actually Zero Write over all DATA, 2nd time now) ?

Why do you think I use a Low Format App. ?

And yes your off topic and actually not helping the OP and trying to teach your granny to suck eggs (if your old enough to know the meaning) ;)
 
Thanks guys - i will look into it a bit further. I hope there isnt anything really wrong - would be a royal PITA. Im pretty sure its not the pagefile as this shows up in the treemap, and to be honest, ive put too much stuff on here now to go through another format... The recycle bin is pretty empty (matter of MBs), and hibernate is not enabled, but will try disabling system restore.

EDIT: System restore is off - 100 Gb of extra free space! Thanks guys - im slightly embarrassed that it was something quite so simple, but i presumed that any restore files would be present within the c drive directories or at least show up on the drive treemap. Anyhow, i think i'll leave it enabled, but it is good to know that i am not just 'missing' hard disk space.
 
Last edited:
I turn the machine off every night (completely off, not sleep/hibernate), so it had a fresh start this morning, but i think the problem is due to system restore. As i said, i feel slightly embarrassed that it was something so trivial, i just presumed that the system restore data would show up upon analysing the disk.

Once again, thanks for the help sp00n, helmut and burnsy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom