Hi! I am troubleshooting my HDD space. I have a 16GB 'C' HDD with near 0MB space left (fluctuates probably due to restore points created).In any case, I discovered that my Windows folder contains about 7.7GB of files. (I have Win XP Home Ed, 2002, SP3 installed - with MANY updates that have been installed over the years) 7.7 GB seems like a lot. Random checking on the web (not sure of how reliable an answer) I see less than 2GB is what should be there.I don't think there is much 'other' stuff in there, certainly nothing that I have placed there. is there a way to verify / clean this folder up?Please don't suggest to re- install Windows as the solution, since at that point, i will purchase another computer first. then format this one. this one is 2.66GHz Intel Pentium, so not ready to junk it yet.Thanks for any suggestions. Regards, Frank V1 person needs an answerI do too

The way to see most hidden files is to go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings and verify that the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is checked and "Hide protected operating system files " is unchecked. You may need to scroll down to see the second item. You should also make certain that the box before "Hide extensions for known file types" is not checked.I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it is more informative.These reports sometimes reveal hidden files in the Most fragmented Files list not seen in Windows Explorer.A default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary internet files, especially if you do not store offline copies on disk. The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of days history is held.The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to 5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition.Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information, Tools, Dr Watson and verify that the box before "Append to existing log" is NOT checked. This means the next time the log is written it will overwrite rather than add to the existing file.Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.A better programme than Disk CleanUp is cCleaner but note that cCleaner will not handle System Restore points. Removing older restore points should help get Disk Defragmenter to work better.http://www.ccleaner.com/downloadThe default allocation to System Restore is 12% on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit. Hope this helps, Gerry Cornell

Gerry, Thanks, I'll try these suggestions. something is going on, since the available space is fluctuating from 4XXMB down to around 100MB in the last few hours, plus I have seen this happen before. I supose it could be a virus, but have current A-V protection - Trend Micro Titanium, I suppose there could be something it hasnt caught. In any case, I have the defrag report and will attach (once i figure out where i can do this) Any chance you can answer the how much space my XP Home Ed Windows folder should take up? 7.7GB sounds like a lot. also one new question. My HDD is actually about 110GB, but came partitioned as 95GB (D) and 16GB (C). Any chance you know of a way to move the partitioning around without re-formatting? Thanks, Frank V

FrankOpen the VolumeC.txt file and copy / paste the contents into your reply.I no longer have a running Windows XP computer with which to make a comparison. It may be a bit high.Do you have any dmp files located in the Windows folder as distinct from in sub-folders of Windows? If yes, how old are they?Which sub-folders of Windows are large?If you right click on a folder, select Properties and you will see an Advanced option. Click on it and you will find an option to compress files. Some folders contain backup copies and these can be compressed to save space.In Windows XP it is easy to search by files size. What are the results for over 200 mb?I would leave the partitions as they are. It can be much easier to move folders from C to D. My Documents and the Outlook Express are two often moved.You can generate more space in the system partition by relocation offolders.For Temporary Internet Files select Start, Control Panel, InternetOptions, Temporary Internet Files. Settings, Move Folder.To move the Outlook Express Store Folder select in Outlook ExpressTools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder, Change.http://www.tomsterdam.com/insideoe/files/store.htmHow to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder:http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310147You may also need to change Default File locations in the MicrosoftOffice programmes you choose to move the My Documents folder. For Wordgo to Tools, Options, File Locations, highlight Documents, click onModify and change file path. For Excel go to Tools, Options, Generaland change default file path.My Documents is one of a number of system created Special Foldersincluding My Pictures and My Music. These can more easily be relocatedusing Tweak Ui. Download TweakUI, one of the MS powertoys, from here:http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.aspIn TweakUi select My Computer, Special Folders. You can scroll down tosee the full list of Special Folders to the left of the ChangeHope this helps, Gerry Cornell

Gerry, Thanks. There are no .dmp Files in my Windows folder (there are MANY .log, but typcially small size) As far as checking Windows subfolders file size is there a way to check without checking each one indivdually? There must be approx 450 folders that are as a result of Windows updates. (typical folder name is $NtUninstallKB828028$)I see how to search for file size but havent found how to search for folder size. Also, there is a 'PCHEALTH' folder in there that i dont think is part of Windows, and abt 160MB contents. I'm going to delete.i assume that your suggestions for moving Outlook express files applies to Outlook as well. I'll try this, since i have archived many messages (some of which i probably can delete, but need time to sort).and for now, here is a cut & paste of the defrag report. thanks again for this help. I know about the basic cleanup stuff, but I think these suggestions will help even more. Regards, Frank VPS, i know i need to defrag my HDD, but need 15% free space to do so........................Volume (C:) Volume size = 16.00 GB Cluster size = 4 KB Used space = 15.53 GB Free space = 481 MB Percent free space = 2 %Volume fragmentation Total fragmentation = 51 % File fragmentation = 75 % Free space fragmentation = 27 %File fragmentation Total files = 121,057 Average file size = 218 KB Total fragmented files = 15,458 Total excess fragments = 404,408 Average fragments per file = 4.34Pagefile fragmentation Pagefile size = 1.00 GB Total fragments = 63,221Folder fragmentation Total folders = 16,067 Fragmented folders = 118 Excess folder fragments = 5,022Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation Total MFT size = 154 MB MFT record count = 139,253 Percent MFT in use = 88 % Total MFT fragments = 51--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fragments File Size Most fragmented files51,412 1.07 GB \Documents and Settings\FV\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst17,560 487 MB \Documents and Settings\FV\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\archive.pst17,493 255 MB \Documents and Settings\FV\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Gen Archive-3.pst12,312 248 MB \Documents and Settings\FV\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Gen Archive-4-Individuals.pst2,793 155 MB \Documents and Settings\LV\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst2,297 9 MB \WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\Local Settings\Temp\Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0-KB958481_20100309_163824937-Msi0.txt1,966 9 MB \WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\Local Settings\Temp\Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0-KB974417_20100309_170940406-Msi0.txt1,756 91 MB \WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\DataStore.edb1,662 104 MB \Documents and Settings\FV\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Gen Archive-2.pst1,587 135 MB \Documents and Settings\FV\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook\outlook.pst1,576 98 MB \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson\drwtsn32.log1,357 29 MB \Program Files\adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Setup Files\RdrBig707\ENU_\Data1.cab1,227 105 MB \Program Files\adobe\Reader 9.0\Setup Files\{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A93000000001}\Data1.cab1,207 17 MB \WINDOWS\assembly\NativeImages_v2.0.50727_32\System.ServiceModel\06d6eab93282d2b136a377bd50b7c5a9\System.ServiceModel.ni.dll1,197 25 MB \Program Files\TurboTax\Home & Business 2009\Forms\1040_09\fdi09in.1pe1,071 38 MB \Program Files\Common Files\Intuit\TurboTax\TY09\PER\MSI\WinPerFedFormset.msi1,013 43 MB \Documents and Settings\MV\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ad860htt.default\urlclassifier3.sqlite980 15 MB \Documents and Settings\FV\PrivacIE\index.dat957 11 MB \WINDOWS\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\DataColl\CollectedData_44624.xml934 16 MB \WINDOWS\Installer\MSN Messenger 8.1.0178\MsnMsgs.Msi905 8 MB \WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB967715$\shell32.dll898 13 MB \WINDOWS\system32\dllcache\hwxjpn.dll846 54 MB \Documents and Settings\MV\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst835 29 MB \Program Files\adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Setup Files\RdrBig709\ENU\Data1.cab831 10 MB \WINDOWS\$NtServicePackUninstall$\simsun.ttc826 23 MB \WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\sp3.cab817 4 MB \WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\wmm2res.dll806 11 MB \WINDOWS\$hf_mig$\KB980182-IE8\SP3QFE\ieframe.dll797 32 MB \WINDOWS\system32\config\software........................ END.................

Frank Your Most Fragmented Files list only partially reveals the extent of your problem. Note the list does not show any very large files which have less than 797 fragments. There will also be many fragmented small and medium sized files with less than 797 fragments. A notable omission from your list is the System Volume Information folder. I cannot believe it is not fragmented so it must be on that part of the list not displayed. To defragment using the Disk Defragmenter coming with Windows XP you need slightly under 15%. Defraggler is my preferred defragmenter but I doubt that it would succeed on your C partition. With Defraggler you can defragment single files, except certain files notably those associated with security programmes. You need to try to achieve 20% free disk space. Your pagefile is badly fragmented and is a perfect illustration why the option to use the "Let Windows manage" is not the best solution if you want better system performance. Setting a minimum = maximum fixed pagefile avoids what you see on your system. Unfortunately with a heavily populated partition it is very difficult if not impossible to totally resolve without reinstalling the operating system. However, trying to mitigate the impact of what you see is something to look at much later in the restore your computer operation. My references earlier to Outlook Express were specifically directed at that programme. Outlook is a totally different programme and solutions applicable for Outlook Express do not apply to Outlook.You cannot compact Outlook pst files and archives, except those created versions of Outlook before Outlook 2003. You can empty the Deleted Item folder and you should first check that it is empty. I would next back up your Outlook Archives to an external or flash drive before attempting to move archive locations. Once you have successfully moved the archive folders I would then move messages from your current folders to the archive folders. If you archive current material first you have more to lose if the process of changing the default folder location goes awry. You can then archive your current messages and change the default location of current files. You can move some current messages back from the archives as a final step if you feel the need to do so. I have copied some instructions from an external source covering how to change default locations. I hope you find these helpful. To change the Microsoft Outlook database location, the file OUTLOOK.PST has to be moved. In Windows XP you can find this file in the folder C:\Documents and Settings\loginname\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\ and in Windows Vista you can find it in the folder C:\Users\loginname\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\. After Outlook is closed, the file OUTLOOK.PST can be moved easily using the Windows Explorer by cutting (CTRL-X) and pasting (CTRL-V) it in the personal folder on the data partition (e.g. D:\loginname\Outlook). Now the file is removed from the original location, Outlook will present an error message because the database can't by found anymore. Accept the error message, navigate to the new location of the OUTLOOK.PST file and restart Outlook. ATTENTION: If the automatic archiving is activated, the file ARCHIVE.PST must be moved as well! This file can be moved to the same location as OUTLOOK.PST, following the same procedure. Source:http://www.optimizingpc.com/miscellaneous/changing_storage_location_personal_folders.html Hope this helps, Gerry Cornell