hard disk shows incorrect amount of free space

hi there

I have deleted upto 5 gb of unwanted files and videos and my hard drive is virtually the same, i have emptied the recycle bin, [tried a defrag, although it tells me i havent enough space to do it properly,?] anyway, i have run ccleaner, used disc clean up, etc

I should have around minimum of 10 gig free but MY Computer says i only have under 5.0gb ?

Please help i have been trying to burn a disc all day and this is stopping me ...because of lack of space

Many thanks for any advice


nb; edited to correct grammer mistake

 

Try defragging your HDD with a decent tool such as O&O Defrag tool.

 

Ok, thanks Ripper, have downloaded the trial version of O&O DEFRAG PRO edition, looks cool.

Right, presently i am currently going through a defrag for the whole computer in the SPACE METHOD, not sure if this was right, but after over 2 hours, it still says i have another 2 days and 22 hours remaining ''says in shock'' ... is this right ?

Before today i used to defrag at least twice a month for the last 3 months or so, but prior to that maybe only 3/4 times a year, if that helps.

I am on windows XP SP2 120gb of which it was only showing about 5gig being free when their should have been 10gig ?

I have read on the O&O notes, that the first defrag does take a 'very long time', but 3 days is this some kind of record ?




ddp (Moderator) 19. June 2007 @ 16:51

Thanks for the advice how do i try in safe mode, sorry i am not that pc literate

 

If you have a 120GB hard drive with only 5GB free, I am not sure that there is even enough room to defrag it.

Get rid of all the crap on it, or get another 120GB hard drive, and copy your data files to the new hard drive.

 

3 days must be a record, yes. I'm with the other two on this one.

 

Microsoft recommends 15% free hard drive space for Defragging - thats 18Gb free space to defrag a 120Gb drive.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, but this doesnt solve my problem.

Every time i delete or remove something to free space nothing effective happens to my system.



It doesnt increase my HD space so i can do a proper and full defrag, i am trying to do that but my HD doesnt recognise anything i have removed or deleted. I reckon i must be close to about 20% free space but still my HD says i only have about 5.5GB free. I read somewhere that everything i delete is also being stored in hidden files in my system thus not recognising my true HD space.

So my questions are how do i permanently remove these unwanted files ?

Will system restore be any good?



Do i stop my marathon defrag session ? ...or stick with it ....?

What simple steps can i take, bearing in mind i am not experienced so i appreciate your replies with easy steps so a ten year old can understand.

I would like to delete these hidden files if this will help me but am worried i might delete something important

 

You may have a bunch of temp files on your computer, which are in hidden folders.

Try this. To to My Computer, click on the C: drive, click on Documents and Settings, click on the user name currently in use on the computer, click on Local Settings, click on the Temp file folder, and delete everything in it. Do the same thing for the Internet folder.

 

Thanks, just done that in my Temp folder except for the Defrag files which wont delete presumably because its still in use ? I dont want to lose my defrag (its been on for 30 hours and ive nearly reached 30 % ... dont want to go through all this again) unless you suggest i should and it will make a difference. There werent many big files (only approx 40 kb) in the Temp folder to be honest that would make much of a difference but i've deleted them anyway.


Ohh and i dont have a 'internet folder/file' in my c;drive, local settings or temp folder ?

 

....CCleaner/ATF Cleaner will do the job, and clean other files too, not just temp ones.

 

What OS are you running?

Edit: I see you are running XP. You are looking in the wrong place for the folders I am talking about.

If you haven't allowed hidden folders to show, you need to. XP hides them by default.

Go to My Computer/Tools/Folder Options, click on View, scroll down to Hidden Files and folders, and click in the circle to the left of Show hidden files and folders. While you are there, uncheck the circle to the left of Hide extensions for known file types. Click on Apply, then Ok.

Now look for those folders. They are not under All Users. They are under whatever name you have for you.

 

Under your name, there should be a folder called Local Settings. If you don't see that, there is something wrong. Local settings is where the other two folders I mentioned, are.

 

Thanks again.

Apologies already seen it and done it first time round, and deleted most of the unimportant stuff, i have 33kb left in the temp folder which i cant or it wont let me delete, the only other folder under my name in Local Settings is Application Data, which has my Nero, Windows, Microsoft files/folders and some others but what they contain is negligible.

There is no folder or file titled Internet in local settings!

 

I will repeat my earlier posting - unless you have approx 15% of your hard drive space free - defrag is not going to work.

If you have Nortons on your system make sure that you delete Norton protected files.

Your best option is to go into your control panel - add/remove programs and delete programs until you have the necessary 15% free hard drive space.

 

Therein lies the problem, then. In my Local Settings folder, I have Application Data, Apps, History, Temp, and Temporary Internet Files folders.

The Temp and Temporary Internet Files folders can get quite huge, if not emptied periodically. It looks like you found that the Temp folder doesn't have much junk in it.

Scan for viruses, and also use a program to get rid of malware/adware on your computer.

One addtional thing. In the Windows folder, on the C: drive, there is a Temp folder. This too can get rather large, so delete those files.

 

Thanks colw, was aware of the minimum 15% proper defrag limit, i am desperate to get therewith all your help.

Yes i have Norton, but it came as a package with my Broadband ISP; BT [British Telecom] ... how do i source these files and start deleting ?

Control Panel : Yes already removed some programmes, will remove more, but why doesnt my drive show correctly after i have deleted approx over 25 gig in the last 3/4 days, i just cant understand it ?

This looks like being my best ....but am not hopeful ?