Question: Clogged hard drive. Help!!!!

[Foxfyre]

But the 10 gigs or so I need to delete is apparently in the Windows Folder--that alone is taking up 55 gigs of the 74 available on the C drive--and it comes with a severe warning not to mess with the files in that folder.

In which sub-folder of Windows-Folder?
And do you have just some very big files in that folder, or many thousands?
If it is small number of files what are their filenames?
Windows folder shouldn't be 55 GB big, there's definately something wrong in there.

I know. I guess I need to check each of the several dozens of sub folders and figure out which one--hopefully just one--has the excess junk.

I was hoping some of you would have had this problem and would know exactly where to send me.

 

[bobcollum]

But the 10 gigs or so I need to delete is apparently in the Windows Folder--that alone is taking up 55 gigs of the 74 available on the C drive--and it comes with a severe warning not to mess with the files in that folder.

In which sub-folder of Windows-Folder?
And do you have just some very big files in that folder, or many thousands?
If it is small number of files what are their filenames?
Windows folder shouldn't be 55 GB big, there's definately something wrong in there.

That's what I'm saying, that ain't right.

Go into the folder and if you can sort it by size, what's the biggest file you have in there?

 

[bobcollum]

But the 10 gigs or so I need to delete is apparently in the Windows Folder--that alone is taking up 55 gigs of the 74 available on the C drive--and it comes with a severe warning not to mess with the files in that folder.

In which sub-folder of Windows-Folder?
And do you have just some very big files in that folder, or many thousands?
If it is small number of files what are their filenames?
Windows folder shouldn't be 55 GB big, there's definately something wrong in there.

I know. I guess I need to check each of the several dozens of sub folders and figure out which one--hopefully just one--has the excess junk.

I was hoping some of you would have had this problem and would know exactly where to send me.

I'm just guessing, but it seems like maybe things have been getting placed in the Windows folder, be it files, or other folders, that don't need to be there...stuff that's yours, pics, videos, etc...

If you're going to delete anything out of there run it by us so we can help you figure out if it's a vital system file or something of that nature.

 

[Foxfyre]

In which sub-folder of Windows-Folder?
And do you have just some very big files in that folder, or many thousands?
If it is small number of files what are their filenames?
Windows folder shouldn't be 55 GB big, there's definately something wrong in there.

I know. I guess I need to check each of the several dozens of sub folders and figure out which one--hopefully just one--has the excess junk.

I was hoping some of you would have had this problem and would know exactly where to send me.

I'm just guessing, but it seems like maybe things have been getting placed in the Windows folder, be it files, or other folders, that don't need to be there...stuff that's yours, pics, videos, etc...

If you're going to delete anything out of there run it by us so we can help you figure out if it's a vital system file or something of that nature.

Okay. I just checked the size of every file/folder in the Windows folder. There's a ton of them but none seemed to be of excessive size that would add up to 55 gigs. And of course I know not to delete systems files and such but there's an awful lot there I can't identify.

Currently running disc clean up and then will see what else needs checking out. (Emptying the cache didn't help--he does that regularly.)

 

[Ringel05]

The data intensive files are his pictures, along with all not currently being used saved documents, etc, you need to copy them to another media be it a back up hard drive, CD/DVD, thumb drive or online storage (the cloud).
How old is the computer? Does it have USB ports? How many and are they being used?

For your solution I'd recommend a back up external hard drive, as long as you have a USB port to connect it to. That way you can move all his files off the primary and free up tons of space. He can even set it up so that of his documents, picts, etc are saved to that drive.

You can get a 500 GB Seagate hard drive on amazon for about $70 shipped or a 1 TB drive (double the storage capacity) for around $100 shipped though I doubt you need anything that big.

The cheap way to go is get a 32 GB thumb drive (AKA flash drive) for around $25 and just copy all his docs to that. The drawback is if you run out of space on the thumb drive ya have to buy another one, then another, etc, plus they're small so they're easily misplaced. Labeling what's on them is also a bitch because of they're size, (think micro etching).

 

[Foxfyre]

The data intensive files are his pictures, along with all not currently being used saved documents, etc, you need to copy them to another media be it a back up hard drive, CD/DVD, thumb drive or online storage (the cloud).
How old is the computer? Does it have USB ports? How many and are they being used?

For your solution I'd recommend a back up external hard drive, as long as you have a USB port to connect it to. That way you can move all his files off the primary and free up tons of space. He can even set it up so that of his documents, picts, etc are saved to that drive.

You can get a 500 GB Seagate hard drive on amazon for about $70 shipped or a 1 TB drive (double the storage capacity) for around $100 shipped though I doubt you need anything that big.

The cheap way to go is get a 32 GB thumb drive (AKA flash drive) for around $25 and just copy all his docs to that. The drawback is if you run out of space on the thumb drive ya have to buy another one, then another, etc, plus they're small so they're easily misplaced. Labeling what's on them is also a bitch because of they're size, (think micro etching).

We have all our files backed up on an external hard drive, but when we aren't savvy enough to know which folders are systems folders the computer can't do without and which can be safely moved, it is a risky thing for us to take any off his computer. (Currently his documents files including photos are taking up less than 2 gigs of space. I need to know what is taking up the other 78 gigs.)

He is way less techie than I am and would have no patience trying to switch to or between external drives. He wants to sit down at the computer and do his thing without having to worry about it. (And no, he won't consider getting a newer computer.) The built to specifications computer he is using is getting on up there in age--maybe 10 years old now? But yes it has USB ports.

 

[bobcollum]

The data intensive files are his pictures, along with all not currently being used saved documents, etc, you need to copy them to another media be it a back up hard drive, CD/DVD, thumb drive or online storage (the cloud).
How old is the computer? Does it have USB ports? How many and are they being used?

For your solution I'd recommend a back up external hard drive, as long as you have a USB port to connect it to. That way you can move all his files off the primary and free up tons of space. He can even set it up so that of his documents, picts, etc are saved to that drive.

You can get a 500 GB Seagate hard drive on amazon for about $70 shipped or a 1 TB drive (double the storage capacity) for around $100 shipped though I doubt you need anything that big.

The cheap way to go is get a 32 GB thumb drive (AKA flash drive) for around $25 and just copy all his docs to that. The drawback is if you run out of space on the thumb drive ya have to buy another one, then another, etc, plus they're small so they're easily misplaced. Labeling what's on them is also a bitch because of they're size, (think micro etching).

We have all our files backed up on an external hard drive, but when we aren't savvy enough to know which folders are systems folders the computer can't do without and which can be safely moved, it is a risky thing for us to take any off his computer. (Currently his documents files including photos are taking up less than 2 gigs of space. I need to know what is taking up the other 78 gigs.)

I still don't know how any windows os would require 70+ gb worth of system files...

 

[Foxfyre]

The data intensive files are his pictures, along with all not currently being used saved documents, etc, you need to copy them to another media be it a back up hard drive, CD/DVD, thumb drive or online storage (the cloud).
How old is the computer? Does it have USB ports? How many and are they being used?

For your solution I'd recommend a back up external hard drive, as long as you have a USB port to connect it to. That way you can move all his files off the primary and free up tons of space. He can even set it up so that of his documents, picts, etc are saved to that drive.

You can get a 500 GB Seagate hard drive on amazon for about $70 shipped or a 1 TB drive (double the storage capacity) for around $100 shipped though I doubt you need anything that big.

The cheap way to go is get a 32 GB thumb drive (AKA flash drive) for around $25 and just copy all his docs to that. The drawback is if you run out of space on the thumb drive ya have to buy another one, then another, etc, plus they're small so they're easily misplaced. Labeling what's on them is also a bitch because of they're size, (think micro etching).

We have all our files backed up on an external hard drive, but when we aren't savvy enough to know which folders are systems folders the computer can't do without and which can be safely moved, it is a risky thing for us to take any off his computer. (Currently his documents files including photos are taking up less than 2 gigs of space. I need to know what is taking up the other 78 gigs.)

I still don't know how any windows os would require 70+ gb worth of system files...

Well neither do I. On my laptop that I am currently using, I have just under 600 gigs of hard drive space and the Windows folder takes up right at 17 gigs of space.

So something is very wrong with 55 gigs being crammed into his Windows folder. The disc cleanup is still running but when it is done, I'll check for the files that I consider suspect and will be back.

 

[Ringel05]

The data intensive files are his pictures, along with all not currently being used saved documents, etc, you need to copy them to another media be it a back up hard drive, CD/DVD, thumb drive or online storage (the cloud).
How old is the computer? Does it have USB ports? How many and are they being used?

For your solution I'd recommend a back up external hard drive, as long as you have a USB port to connect it to. That way you can move all his files off the primary and free up tons of space. He can even set it up so that of his documents, picts, etc are saved to that drive.

You can get a 500 GB Seagate hard drive on amazon for about $70 shipped or a 1 TB drive (double the storage capacity) for around $100 shipped though I doubt you need anything that big.

The cheap way to go is get a 32 GB thumb drive (AKA flash drive) for around $25 and just copy all his docs to that. The drawback is if you run out of space on the thumb drive ya have to buy another one, then another, etc, plus they're small so they're easily misplaced. Labeling what's on them is also a bitch because of they're size, (think micro etching).

We have all our files backed up on an external hard drive, but when we aren't savvy enough to know which folders are systems folders the computer can't do without and which can be safely moved, it is a risky thing for us to take any off his computer. (Currently his documents files including photos are taking up less than 2 gigs of space. I need to know what is taking up the other 78 gigs.)

He is way less techie than I am and would have no patience trying to switch to or between external drives. He wants to sit down at the computer and do his thing without having to worry about it. (And no, he won't consider getting a newer computer.) The built to specifications computer he is using is getting on up there in age--maybe 10 years old now? But yes it has USB ports.

Does he simply "back up" on the external or does he "copy" files to the external?
In both instances the saved files/other unused programs are still on the main drive and need to be purged.
A couple of questions, what version of Windows are you using and when he built the computer did he use ATA to connect the hard drive to the motherboard (wide, flat ribbon cable) or SATA (flat or round narrow cable)?
Oh, and do you have the Windows installation disc?

 

[edthecynic]

The data intensive files are his pictures, along with all not currently being used saved documents, etc, you need to copy them to another media be it a back up hard drive, CD/DVD, thumb drive or online storage (the cloud).
How old is the computer? Does it have USB ports? How many and are they being used?

For your solution I'd recommend a back up external hard drive, as long as you have a USB port to connect it to. That way you can move all his files off the primary and free up tons of space. He can even set it up so that of his documents, picts, etc are saved to that drive.

You can get a 500 GB Seagate hard drive on amazon for about $70 shipped or a 1 TB drive (double the storage capacity) for around $100 shipped though I doubt you need anything that big.

The cheap way to go is get a 32 GB thumb drive (AKA flash drive) for around $25 and just copy all his docs to that. The drawback is if you run out of space on the thumb drive ya have to buy another one, then another, etc, plus they're small so they're easily misplaced. Labeling what's on them is also a bitch because of they're size, (think micro etching).

While you can still get 500GB PATA HDs, a 1 TB drive will surely be SATA and I'm sure the PC is too old to have SATA. They can probably find another 80GB PATA HD on eBay for 10 bucks to add as a slave or get a 160 GB or larger HD on eBay and clone their 80GB drive to the new one. They would have all their old files plus a ton of additional space.

 

[Ringel05]

Try this, it sounds like your installation files are still sitting on your hard drive.

Download Windows Installer CleanUp Utility 2.5.0.1 Free - Remove Windows Installer configuration information on failed installs - Softpedia

 

[Foxfyre]

The data intensive files are his pictures, along with all not currently being used saved documents, etc, you need to copy them to another media be it a back up hard drive, CD/DVD, thumb drive or online storage (the cloud).
How old is the computer? Does it have USB ports? How many and are they being used?

For your solution I'd recommend a back up external hard drive, as long as you have a USB port to connect it to. That way you can move all his files off the primary and free up tons of space. He can even set it up so that of his documents, picts, etc are saved to that drive.

You can get a 500 GB Seagate hard drive on amazon for about $70 shipped or a 1 TB drive (double the storage capacity) for around $100 shipped though I doubt you need anything that big.

The cheap way to go is get a 32 GB thumb drive (AKA flash drive) for around $25 and just copy all his docs to that. The drawback is if you run out of space on the thumb drive ya have to buy another one, then another, etc, plus they're small so they're easily misplaced. Labeling what's on them is also a bitch because of they're size, (think micro etching).

We have all our files backed up on an external hard drive, but when we aren't savvy enough to know which folders are systems folders the computer can't do without and which can be safely moved, it is a risky thing for us to take any off his computer. (Currently his documents files including photos are taking up less than 2 gigs of space. I need to know what is taking up the other 78 gigs.)

He is way less techie than I am and would have no patience trying to switch to or between external drives. He wants to sit down at the computer and do his thing without having to worry about it. (And no, he won't consider getting a newer computer.) The built to specifications computer he is using is getting on up there in age--maybe 10 years old now? But yes it has USB ports.

Does he simply "back up" on the external or does he "copy" files to the external?
In both instances the saved files/other unused programs are still on the main drive and need to be purged.
A couple of questions, what version of Windows are you using and when he built the computer did he use ATA to connect the hard drive to the motherboard (wide, flat ribbon cable) or SATA (flat or round narrow cable)?
Oh, and do you have the Windows installation disc?

Um. . . .
Windows XP
He didn't build the computer - a local computer service did
Don't know what connects the hard drive to the motherboard
And I imagine we might have the Windows installation disc somewhere but no clue where

Re the back up, we just 'send' the files we don't want to lose to the external hard drive. Is that 'back up' or 'copy'?

 

[Ringel05]

The data intensive files are his pictures, along with all not currently being used saved documents, etc, you need to copy them to another media be it a back up hard drive, CD/DVD, thumb drive or online storage (the cloud).
How old is the computer? Does it have USB ports? How many and are they being used?

For your solution I'd recommend a back up external hard drive, as long as you have a USB port to connect it to. That way you can move all his files off the primary and free up tons of space. He can even set it up so that of his documents, picts, etc are saved to that drive.

You can get a 500 GB Seagate hard drive on amazon for about $70 shipped or a 1 TB drive (double the storage capacity) for around $100 shipped though I doubt you need anything that big.

The cheap way to go is get a 32 GB thumb drive (AKA flash drive) for around $25 and just copy all his docs to that. The drawback is if you run out of space on the thumb drive ya have to buy another one, then another, etc, plus they're small so they're easily misplaced. Labeling what's on them is also a bitch because of they're size, (think micro etching).

While you can still get 500GB PATA HDs, a 1 TB drive will surely be SATA and I'm sure the PC is too old to have SATA. They can probably find another 80GB PATA HD on eBay for 10 bucks to add as a slave or get a 160 GB or larger HD on eBay and clone their 80GB drive to the new one. They would have all their old files plus a ton of additional space.

You'll notice on a reread that I was referencing external drives with USB interface, not internal.

 

[Foxfyre]

And you guys are speaking in unknown tongues so far as I know.

I am sending Ringel's link over to his computer though and will try that.

Thanks.

 

[Ringel05]

We have all our files backed up on an external hard drive, but when we aren't savvy enough to know which folders are systems folders the computer can't do without and which can be safely moved, it is a risky thing for us to take any off his computer. (Currently his documents files including photos are taking up less than 2 gigs of space. I need to know what is taking up the other 78 gigs.)

He is way less techie than I am and would have no patience trying to switch to or between external drives. He wants to sit down at the computer and do his thing without having to worry about it. (And no, he won't consider getting a newer computer.) The built to specifications computer he is using is getting on up there in age--maybe 10 years old now? But yes it has USB ports.

Does he simply "back up" on the external or does he "copy" files to the external?
In both instances the saved files/other unused programs are still on the main drive and need to be purged.
A couple of questions, what version of Windows are you using and when he built the computer did he use ATA to connect the hard drive to the motherboard (wide, flat ribbon cable) or SATA (flat or round narrow cable)?
Oh, and do you have the Windows installation disc?

Um. . . .
Windows XP
He didn't build the computer - a local computer service did
Don't know what connects the hard drive to the motherboard
And I imagine we might have the Windows installation disc somewhere but no clue where

Re the back up, we just 'send' the files we don't want to lose to the external hard drive. Is that 'back up' or 'copy'?

Either way it's probably a copy which means all those docs, jpgs, pdfs, etc are all still on the main drive.
Go to documents, check to see what's there, if it's the same as what's on the external drive
then: edit, select all, delete and you'll clear up that space.
The reason I asked about the installation disc is I'm a firm believer in doing a clean install at least once a year. Back up all files and downloaded programs then wipe the hard drive and start new, there's nothing like a fresh install to give a computer new life.

 

[edthecynic]

We have all our files backed up on an external hard drive, but when we aren't savvy enough to know which folders are systems folders the computer can't do without and which can be safely moved, it is a risky thing for us to take any off his computer. (Currently his documents files including photos are taking up less than 2 gigs of space. I need to know what is taking up the other 78 gigs.)

He is way less techie than I am and would have no patience trying to switch to or between external drives. He wants to sit down at the computer and do his thing without having to worry about it. (And no, he won't consider getting a newer computer.) The built to specifications computer he is using is getting on up there in age--maybe 10 years old now? But yes it has USB ports.

Does he simply "back up" on the external or does he "copy" files to the external?
In both instances the saved files/other unused programs are still on the main drive and need to be purged.
A couple of questions, what version of Windows are you using and when he built the computer did he use ATA to connect the hard drive to the motherboard (wide, flat ribbon cable) or SATA (flat or round narrow cable)?
Oh, and do you have the Windows installation disc?

Um. . . .
Windows XP
He didn't build the computer - a local computer service did
Don't know what connects the hard drive to the motherboard
And I imagine we might have the Windows installation disc somewhere but no clue where

Re the back up, we just 'send' the files we don't want to lose to the external hard drive. Is that 'back up' or 'copy'?

The wiring for a slave drive that connects the HD to the motherboard and the power cord are already there connected to the HD you have. They always include a plug for a slave drive on the ribbon. You would just have to set one tab on the added drive to the slave position and then simply plug in the data cable and power cable (they can only be plugged in in the correct position by design) and mount it right next to the drive that is already there.

 

[Foxfyre]

Does he simply "back up" on the external or does he "copy" files to the external?
In both instances the saved files/other unused programs are still on the main drive and need to be purged.
A couple of questions, what version of Windows are you using and when he built the computer did he use ATA to connect the hard drive to the motherboard (wide, flat ribbon cable) or SATA (flat or round narrow cable)?
Oh, and do you have the Windows installation disc?

Um. . . .
Windows XP
He didn't build the computer - a local computer service did
Don't know what connects the hard drive to the motherboard
And I imagine we might have the Windows installation disc somewhere but no clue where

Re the back up, we just 'send' the files we don't want to lose to the external hard drive. Is that 'back up' or 'copy'?

The wiring for a slave drive that connects the HD to the motherboard and the power cord are already there connected to the HD you have. They always include a plug for a slave drive on the ribbon. You would just have to set one tab on the added drive to the slave position and then simply plug in the data cable and power cable (they can only be plugged in in the correct position by design) and mount it right next to the drive that is already there.

But wouldn't you have to switch back and forth between the two drives? Trust me, for Mr. Foxfyre, that is not a viable option.

 

[Foxfyre]

To Ringel, I downloaded the clearner you recommended -- no help. All it did was tell me we had an insufficient hard drive and insufficient space and I already knew that.

I can't even do a defrag--which it desperately needs--on his computer due to so limited free space.

 

[edthecynic]

Um. . . .
Windows XP
He didn't build the computer - a local computer service did
Don't know what connects the hard drive to the motherboard
And I imagine we might have the Windows installation disc somewhere but no clue where

Re the back up, we just 'send' the files we don't want to lose to the external hard drive. Is that 'back up' or 'copy'?

The wiring for a slave drive that connects the HD to the motherboard and the power cord are already there connected to the HD you have. They always include a plug for a slave drive on the ribbon. You would just have to set one tab on the added drive to the slave position and then simply plug in the data cable and power cable (they can only be plugged in in the correct position by design) and mount it right next to the drive that is already there.

But wouldn't you have to switch back and forth between the two drives? Trust me, for Mr. Foxfyre, that is not a viable option.

I'm not sure what you mean, but both drives would be available and usable at the same time. You would just save your new photos and documents to the slave drive.

 

[Ringel05]

To Ringel, I downloaded the clearner you recommended -- no help. All it did was tell me we had an insufficient hard drive and insufficient space and I already knew that.

I can't even do a defrag--which it desperately needs--on his computer due to so limited free space.

I was hoping. Okay, if you look under My Computer it will show all your drives. C: is the primary (the full one) the external should be labeled D:. You can right click on D: then select properties and see how full that drive is. You can also left click on D: and see whats on it. If there's lots of room close out My Computer, go to My Documents (& My Pictures), select all, send to: select D: drive and hit enter.
After all those files are moved to the D: drive go back and delete ALL the files in MY Documents and Pictures. That should give you enough room to download and run the utility i linked for you.
Also go to Downloads, see what's in there, you can delete everything in there that he doesn't need to keep.