Windows 7 10 gb missing in c:/ partition ??

[Lukael]

Hello,

I have Win 7 for a year now. Yesterday I noticed that my C:/ partition where Win 7 files are is almost full so I deleted a lot of other programs.

When I check free space in C:/ partition there is only 7 gb left, but when enter and mark all folder there is 10gb less used space ?

I have OCZ vertex 3 SSD, which used 5 gb of cache, but I allready included that. Do I have some hidden files, like 10gb of It ???

 

[Jimbo22]

Can you post a screen shot of your disk management window.

 

[whs]

One possible cause could be a large shadowstorage (that is where the restore points are stored). Run this command in an elevated Command Prompt (run as admin):

vssadmin list shadowstorage

Then post the output here.

Another good tool is WinDirStat. Run that and look in the colored picture where the big chunks are. If you click on the colored boxes, it will tell you what they are. However, WinDirStat will not show the shadowstorage. For that you have to run the command.

 

[Lukael]

Thanks for reply, I posted my screen shot. Also tried vssadmin list shadowstorage, but I'm afraid that It only opens a window for short time, so I couldn't post any output here.

 

[Jimbo22]

What is the size of your SSD? Have you changed your download destination from your C drive to your D drive or to any where other than your C drive?

According to your screen shot your SSD is a little 60 GB. If that's the case, that explains why your C drive is almost full. By default, your C drive is set to hold your download destination. You have to change that in each browser you use.

 

[Lukael]

Yes, I have a 60 gb SSD. I have tried your advice and changed all browser download locations to another drive, but everything is still the same. Beside that, default folder for browser is "Download" folder in Explorer and I delete all files there manually each week, so that shouldn't be problem.

Maybe my SSD is performing something like "hidden" cache ?

 

[whs]

Thanks for reply, I posted my screen shot. Also tried vssadmin list shadowstorage, but I'm afraid that It only opens a window for short time, so I couldn't post any output here.

You apparently did not run the vssadmin command in elevated mode. You have to right click on cmd in accessories and run as admin. Else it will not work.

 

[Jimbo22]

Yes, I have a 60 gb SSD. I have tried your advice and changed all browser download locations to another drive, but everything is still the same. Beside that, default folder for browser is "Download" folder in Explorer and I delete all files there manually each week, so that shouldn't be problem.

Maybe my SSD is performing something like "hidden" cache ?

Apparently, you have other stuff downloaded and installed on the SSD...eg other software/programs. Which is why your SSD is almost full. Which is why deleting the contents from your downloads folder is not doing anything to regain storage space on the SSD.

Ideally, with an SSD of that size you should only install the OS and maybe an Office Suite. Then everything else needs to be redirected to the secondary drive via the browser settings when downloading from the web. Or follow this link to change it in windows.

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/6cde20/location-change-of-download-folder-in-windows-8/

If this were my PC I would start over with a clean install of just the OS on the SSD, then change my downloads/install location for every thing else to my secondary drive.

 

[whs]

My 3 desktops all work with 60GB SSDs. I have tons of programs installed - thousands of files in Program files x86 and Program files (see pictures from this desktop). I never run out of space. I always have over 20GB of free space.

My user data, however, is on the spinning disk and I deleted the hiberfile. My pagefile I reduced to 2GB because I have 8GB of RAM. Those 2 actions save me 14GBs.

 

[Lukael]

Thanks for responses,

I'm actually thinking of buying a new larger SSD. I have this one only for OS and MS Office, but also installed and uninstalled some other programmes in past (different MS Office-s, MySql server, VB6 etc...).

Here is my post from cmd :

 

[whs]

You have no reatore points. You may want to activate them.

To find more info of what's on the SSD, did you run WinDirStat. That gives you a graphical overview where the big chunks are. You can click on the boxes and it will tell you what it is. http://windirstat.info/

 

[Lukael]

Thanks whs,
I downloaded WinDirStat and figured out that files from former Virutal machine were still on C: disc. Now I managed to gain 14 gb of free space, but still 10gb missing. Look at the WindirStat screenshot and Explorer screenshot, you'll see that It doesn't show same space on C:.... Why ??

 

[whs]

WinDirStat shows 44.8 and Explorer shows 41.3 (55.7 minus 14.4). That is a bit odd that WinDirStat shows more than is actually on the SSD. I also wonder what those 3.5GB extra could be. But there are no 10GBs missing.

And what is that big pink box - the 14GBs.

 

[Lukael]

Ok my mistake, WinDirStat on this screenshot shows how many data on C: disc....As you see, still something wrong...

If you think big RED box - that's system files. Could It be also system files of virtual machine OS I used to had (Linux Ubuntu)? Look :

 

[whs]

You don't need a 7.7GB pagefile. Reduce it to 2GB. And get rid of the hiberfile (unless you use hibernation). The command is powercfg -h off. Those 2 actions can save you another 12GBs.

I really don't know why there is a little difference. I would not worry about it. But there are no virtual machine files in the red area.

 

[Lukael]

Ok,
I will do that, just tell me a little bit more about these two - what is pagefile & hiberfile for ?

I don't want to delete this if windows needs them.