Solved User Profile using 160 Gigs, is this normal

[Red Baron]

I have an old laptop which has a 320G Hard drive, which is running out of space.
Further investigation shows one user profile at 160G, Is this normal?

 

[lehnerus2000]

That seems excessive, unless that user has lots of music, pictures and/or video files.

It doesn't have to be a large number of video files either.
3 or 4 ripped Blu-rays could chew up that much space.

 

[UsernameIssues]

I doubt that you can find a "normal" amount of hard drive space for a user. The amount of space will be as different as humans are. Audio and video files could easily take up 160GB.

 

[Red Baron]

HI Guys
No Music or Pics in these folders, yet properties states 160G Music.

 

[TheDeerDude]

You can use a tool called WinDirStat that will analyze your hard drive and show you which files take up all that space. You can get it here WinDirStat - Windows Directory Statistics

 

[AddRAM]

Just format it and re install windows

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[andrew129260]

I have an old laptop which has a 320G Hard drive, which is running out of space.
Further investigation shows one user profile at 160G, Is this normal?

Is it normal for you? Only you can make that call. Does your pc have any issues? Otherwise what does it matter?

The only thing I can think of taking that much space up is virtual machines. Do you use VM's?

 

[Red Baron]

No Not using VM. Standalone PC

 

[UsernameIssues]

HI Guys
No Music or Pics in these folders, yet properties states 160G Music.

It does seem odd that an "empty" Music (My Music) folder for this user would report/occupy 160GB.

Perhaps a CHKDSK is in order:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/96938-check-disk-chkdsk-read-event-viewer-log.html

 

[TheDeerDude]

I suggest performing a disk cleanup using Window's built-in tool before doing anything that might be unnecessary, it doesn't hurt to try the simple things before doing something time-consuming.

Also, there might be some files in the music folder - they might be hidden. What did WinDirStat show you? Could you provide us with a screenshot?

You can check if there are any hidden/system files in the music folder by going into "Folder Options" in control panel, the "View" tab and temporarily unchecking "Don't show hidden files and folders" and "Hide protected operating system files". If there are any files, they should show up.

 

[Callender]

160 Gb of Music?

Does the user have a Spotify account?

How to clear, change or move the Spotify cache - gHacks Tech News

Failure to configure or clean the cache can lead to a huge amount of music being stored in the Spotify cache.

 

[sgage]

You can use a tool called WinDirStat that will analyze your hard drive and show you which files take up all that space. You can get it here WinDirStat - Windows Directory Statistics

I agree - WinDirStat can be an extremely useful tool. I strongly recommend you give it a try...