Where has the 10gb in my C drive gone? Phantom files

I need to upgrade my pci video card and need to know which one(s) has drivers for windows 7

derekimo said:

right here,

richc46 said:

click on computer incon>right click on c drive>properties>disk clean up. You will see clean system files. Click on that. If never done, before you will regain a lot of space.

Thanks for the screenshot. I am at work right now so of the top of my head I cannot recall if that button was there last time I opened up the cleaning function. However, from what I recall it was NOT there as I hunted around for it.

In any case I used CCleaner which, from what I have been told, ought to clean up the system files.

This is probably an increase of your allocated shadowstorage. With each install and uninstall, Vista writes a shadow (restore point) of about 1GB - plus one is written each day in Vista and each week in Windows7. For that purpose Vista reserves 15% of your OS disk partition and allocates/uses it as needed. The allocation in Windows7 is variable from 3 to 15% depending on the size of your C-disk.
Find Command Prompt (in All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt), right click on it and Open as Administrator. Into the little black window type VSSADMIN LIST SHADOWSTORAGE and hit ENTER. It will show 3 numbers:
Allocated - that is the amount that it has grabbed from your OS partition at this time
Used - this is the amount currently used
Maximum - this is the ultimate amount it will allocate and use
Once you reach "maximum", it will reuse the space deleting the oldest shadows for the storage of the newest shadows. With e.g. a 200GB OS partition you should expect a maximum of 30GBs that are reserved for the system and that you cannot use. If your OS partition is larger or smaller, the shadowstorage will be accordingly (always 15% max.in Vista but variable in Windows7) But the restore points (shadows) are required the day you need to do a system restore.
The easiest way to change the shadowstorage is with this cmd command: (for the case where you want to set it to the minimum which is 300GB)
Vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=300MB
If you want to set it to e.g. 20GB, the command would look like this:
Vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=20GB
Never forget GB or MB behind the MaxSize number because then the system will assume bytes and you will get an error.
Note: In Windows7 you can also set it in System Protection, but you have to be a good scout to find it. The cmd way is faster – just paste the command into cmd and adjust the last number to your liking. You have to, of course, also adjust the drive letter if you apply it to other than C.

Source: My own blog

whs said:

This is probably an increase of your allocated shadowstorage. With each install and uninstall, Vista writes a shadow (restore point) of about 1GB - plus one is written each day in Vista and each week in Windows7. For that purpose Vista reserves 15% of your OS disk partition and allocates/uses it as needed. The allocation in Windows7 is variable from 3 to 15% depending on the size of your C-disk.
Find Command Prompt (in All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt), right click on it and Open as Administrator. Into the little black window type VSSADMIN LIST SHADOWSTORAGE and hit ENTER. It will show 3 numbers:
Allocated - that is the amount that it has grabbed from your OS partition at this time
Used - this is the amount currently used
Maximum - this is the ultimate amount it will allocate and use
Once you reach "maximum", it will reuse the space deleting the oldest shadows for the storage of the newest shadows. With e.g. a 200GB OS partition you should expect a maximum of 30GBs that are reserved for the system and that you cannot use. If your OS partition is larger or smaller, the shadowstorage will be accordingly (always 15% max.in Vista but variable in Windows7) But the restore points (shadows) are required the day you need to do a system restore.
The easiest way to change the shadowstorage is with this cmd command: (for the case where you want to set it to the minimum which is 300GB)
Vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=300MB
If you want to set it to e.g. 20GB, the command would look like this:
Vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=20GB
Never forget GB or MB behind the MaxSize number because then the system will assume bytes and you will get an error.
Note: In Windows7 you can also set it in System Protection, but you have to be a good scout to find it. The cmd way is faster – just paste the command into cmd and adjust the last number to your liking. You have to, of course, also adjust the drive letter if you apply it to other than C.

Source: My own blog

I assume what you mean is basically the “system restore” function that comes with Windows 7?

As I mentioned I have mine set to 3.5GB, it was already set to 3.5GB and I did nothing to change it (I originally went through the System Protection root). I did delete all the restore points which freed up some space. The thing is, it isn’t as though I have a lack of space and I have to free up space, it is just that I want to know what my space is being utilised for.

Is there anything else that could be the problem?

richc46 said:

Did you do a clean disk of the system files as suggested?

As I said I did not find an option for it, i.e. that button was not there. I am using Windows 7 Home Premium and was unsure as to why it was missing!

Having said that I regularly use CCleaner which is quite aggressive in it's cleaning of system files.

Run WinDirStat - that will tell you what is really on your disk.

whs said:

Run WinDirStat - that will tell you what is really on your disk.

Thanks but as I mentioned I already know that 41GB is being taken up by my Windows, Program Files and other related folders in C:\.

There are no more folders/files in C:\ drive and that is why I am wondering where the extra 6GB is going. I don't really need to see how the 41GB is being used (i.e. which folder/file is using how much space).