File taking up 124GB!!

J

JSgamer

New Member
I noticed over the last day or so my HD has been writing frequently. I only have 48GB of files that include items such as games, videos, and pictures.

When I check the properties on my C Drive it says I'm using 171GB.

I downloaded a program called WinDirStat and it shows an "unknown" folder that is taking up 124GB of my HD and I have no clue what or where it is.

Anyone know how I can get rid of this? I looked under the C drive but did not find anything.
 
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Did that program list the entire directory path?

You may have a virus or something else misbehaving on your system. Please download and run Malwarebytes to be sure. You may also want to download and run CCleaner to rid your system of unnecessary files.
 
When you found out that you were using 48GB, what folders did you include? Was it just your user folder and the program files folder?
 
[-0MEGA-];1227150 said:
When you found out that you were using 48GB, what folders did you include? Was it just your user folder and the program files folder?
Click to expand...


The 48GB is what the WinDirStat program showed. It breaks down what percentage of storage each file is using on the pc.

It shows 48GB of my actual files and an "unknown" that is showing 124GB.
 
It sounds like WinDirStat isn't sure of what most of your files are on your drive. This may not be a problem. For instance, what do you get if you check the properties on some individual directories - like your Documents and Settings directory, your desktop folder, your My Documents folder, etc?
 
Zatharus said:
It sounds like WinDirStat isn't sure of what most of your files are on your drive. This may not be a problem. For instance, what do you get if you check the properties on some individual directories - like your Documents and Settings directory, your desktop folder, your My Documents folder, etc?
Click to expand...

When I check the properties of these folders it adds up to 48GB. The problem is this folder keep growing in size. Its now up to 127GB.

I also have a raid 1 setup. Maybe this is constantly mirroring files that I can't see?
 
A type 1 Raid array should be transparent. Can you be more specific of the time period over which your directories are growing in size? Are you downloading anything on a regular basis?

Also, have you tried running Malwarebytes and CCleaner yet?
 
i used a similar program that shows me how much videos are taking up space how much pic are and so on... Some of the "unknown" files that were counted were less known files like a .ts file(video) and system files but my program showed me where each file was located and how much % of the drive it was taking up and tons of other unneeded info
 
I assume that u must be using vista, coz only vista occupies such huge spaces in form of restore points, shadow copy etc. Even the hibernation takes 3 GB of space. this doesnt shows up in windows explorer.

I had a similiar problem, in which i was unable to find around 40 GB of space.
I dont know whether u have same problem, but u can give it a try.

I used TuneUp Utilities 2009 to clean up that extra free space.
under the free disk space tab, there is an option of deleting previous restore points(except the last one), and disabling the hibernation mode(if u dont need it).
I clean up my restore points every month which amouts as around 3-4 GB.
If left for long, it could occupy large space.

Try and reply..
 
OK I have lurked this thread long enough, and no this is not a specific problem to Vista, every OS under the sun of our planet does this.

A lot of times it is a temp file gone crazy and keeps writing to itself over and over again, thus expanding it's size.

Before I can help you though I need to know what OS you are running, I am going to assume you are running XP since it is the most commonly used OS out there. You will need to download the resource kit for XP first of all from here and install it:

Which I think is this link...

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...69-57FF-4AE7-96EE-B18C4790CFFD&displaylang=en

Then you want to open up the command line by going to Start > Run > then type in CMD. At the command prompt do this command:

Code: 
DIRUSE /M /q:999 /* C:\

It will display any folder over 999 megabytes, then start viewing your folders. Anything that is larger than that in /System32 or in your Home Directory is most likely a log file gone loopy.
 
My OS is Vista Ultimate 64bit. I've ran the virus/cc cleaner tools, it doesn't appear to be malicious. I have been installing a few programs and games since I just built this pc. It may just be the OS doing its thing.
 
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sshaggy said:
I assume that u must be using vista, coz only vista occupies such huge spaces in form of restore points, shadow copy etc. Even the hibernation takes 3 GB of space. this doesnt shows up in windows explorer.

I had a similiar problem, in which i was unable to find around 40 GB of space.
I dont know whether u have same problem, but u can give it a try.

I used TuneUp Utilities 2009 to clean up that extra free space.
under the free disk space tab, there is an option of deleting previous restore points(except the last one), and disabling the hibernation mode(if u dont need it).
I clean up my restore points every month which amouts as around 3-4 GB.
If left for long, it could occupy large space.

Try and reply..
Click to expand...


Thank you very much. I used this tool and freed up over 120GB of HD space!
 
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