40 GB Install?

[J3ff]

I installed Windows 7 64 bit (clean install) last night and my installation is using up 40GB of space. I have never had this happen before with a new OS install. I looked through a few folders last night trying to track down what is using all of this space and I didn't see anything jumping out at me before I decided to call it a night.

Anyone have any ideas where I should look?

 

[DocBrown]

Was there a previous version OS on the system before? windows.old folders ?

 

[sup3rsprt]

what are your system specs?

 

[zigzag3143]

I installed Windows 7 64 bit (clean install) last night and my installation is using up 40GB of space. I have never had this happen before with a new OS install. I looked through a few folders last night trying to track down what is using all of this space and I didn't see anything jumping out at me before I decided to call it a night.

Anyone have any ideas where I should look?

As Doc suggests Is there a windows.old folder?

Also the OS probably made a restore point. Large page file, hibernation, etc.

there is an app (free trial) called treesize pro. Its fast, and will show you exactly whats, what.

Ken

 

[J3ff]

I did have a Windows.old folder from a previous Vista installation. I have already removed that and dumped the recycle bin. It was using far more than 40GB before I did this.

Basic System Specs:

160 GB HD
4 GB Ram
2.7 Ghz AMD Athlon 5200+ 64 Bit

 

[J3ff]

I hadn't thought of a large restore point. I will check that out when I get home, and I will check out Treesize Pro to see where these gigs are being used up.

 

[sup3rsprt]

treesize pro

Handy program. I've used that one for a while too.

J3ff if you have a pagefile and hibernate files they could be using up 8GB of space.

 

[torrentg]

haha I installed Win7 so many times in the last year because of the version upgrades during beta testing that I have memorized all the files and locations of files to delete upon first boot. It's a rather long list. lol

 

[sup3rsprt]

sfc /purgecache anyone? (don't do it unless you know what you are doing)

My XP computers run without a dllcache. Also, system restore is disabled. I find them both pretty much useless.

 

[J3ff]

Ok. I am not sure what I can remove.

TreeSize Pro says I have a folder called 'System Volume Information' that is 41,883.3 MB. However, I can't see this folder via Windows Explorer even with it showing hidden files and folders.

It also shows 6,363.5 MB of files on the root. I also can't see those in Windows Explorer even with it showing hidden files and folders.

In my Windows folder I also have a folder called Winsxs that is 5,858.8 MB. Not sure if I need this folder?

I also have a Win7 folder that is 2,430.9 MB in size. Do I need this one and the Windows folder?

How can I remove files that I can't see? I am at a loss as to what the invisible files are and not sure if the other ones I mentioned are necessary.

 

[Airbot]

Use this from Step 8 to delete all restore points and shadow copies except the last point. That is, if you want the space back. It will take a few seconds to complete.


http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/818-disk-cleanup-open-use.html

 

[J3ff]

Thanks I got that System Volume Information down to just over 2GB now, so I got a ton of space back. Were any of the other items that I listed things I can consider removing?

It still seems that this Windows 7 installation is a bit heavier than I expected.

 

[Teerex]

WinSxS is a do not touch folder. Don't mess with it.

Windows 7 folder seems to be close to the size of a Windows 7 32-bit installation disc. What's inside it?

 

[J3ff]

The Win7 folder has the following folders:

boot
efi
sources
support
upgrade

and the following files:
autorun
bootmgr
setup.exe

 

[Teerex]

That's the content of a Windows 7 installation disc. Now, if you didn't put it there - and it's your disk, delete it. Or you can try to investigate why that ended up on your disk, and proceed based on the results..

It's su casa, your decision...

 

[pparks1]

In my Windows folder I also have a folder called Winsxs that is 5,858.8 MB. Not sure if I need this folder?

Actually you don't "really" have that much stuff in C:\windows\winsxs. The tools (Windows explorer, TreesizePro, WindirStat) simply cannot read this properly. Look at this thread for more information on this commonly misunderstood folder.

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-...folder-not-actually-consuming-lots-space.html

 

[Teerex]

In my Windows folder I also have a folder called Winsxs that is 5,858.8 MB. Not sure if I need this folder?

Actually you don't "really" have that much stuff in C:\windows\winsxs. The tools (Windows explorer, TreesizePro, WindirStat) simply cannot read this properly. Look at this thread for more information on this commonly misunderstood folder.

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-...folder-not-actually-consuming-lots-space.html

This is true, but unfortunately academic and, as 7 of 9 would put it, irrelevant, because this myopic Explorer is unfortunately the one that decides when your disk is full.

 

[pparks1]

This is true, but unfortunately academic and, as 7 of 9 would put it, irrelevant, because this myopic Explorer is unfortunately the one that decides when your disk is full.

Go back and read the post that I linked to. I created a 200MB partition, then I put a 13MB file onto that partition in a folder. I hard linked to the file 20 times...so Windows explorer showed that folder was 267MB....even though the hard drive partition was only 200MB total in size.

Windows explorer CORRECTLY showed that my drive had around 170MB of free space.

So, my point is...that even though the WinSXS folder will grow and will appear to be 10-15GB in size....that's not actually disk space used and Windows Explorer "IS" smart enough to NOT count it when reporting the actual free space on the drive. However, if you run something like TreeSizePro you will be led to believe that you could get back 10-15GB if you deleted that folder....but it simply isn't true.

 

[Teerex]

Oh I see it now.. :shock: Apologies for me being obtuse, this board is a constant learnin' experience..

This happens when you claim something without hard checking it, kids..


I admit I didn't really look into it, I just assumed.. cause I thought that the rest of the Windows folder is really that small.

So, it just reports the size of that folder wrong!

 

[pparks1]

No apologies needed. It through me for a loop at first. It throws most people for a loop. Lots of people make the same assumptions. That's the reason that I posted that thread and showed others how they could test to see the same results.