Computer HDD Low Disk Space Issue

[Berkey]

I see that the text file, VLC file and Font collection take up well over a gig, not too mention your email and Vmachine, application files and local disk take up quote a bit of space as well. It looks like aside from the WIM file, you may need to do some spring cleaning as a lot of little things seem to be adding up. How many external drives to you use? Perhaps RAID may be in your future if you cannot delete many of these items, but want/need space

Yeah, I've deleted 1 GB's worth of emails to make some space. I use my virtual machine (for the XP Mode) but I may get rid of it to save some space. I'll be checking into the VLC file and other stuff on my local disk...Hopefully I can clear up a stable amount of space.

I have an 700 MB external had drive which I've backed all of my music, files, and other various things onto.

I would say grab an upgrade if you go through all those files and decide which are needed for everyday use and move the rest . I just picked up a WD 1TB for 69 from BHphotovideo, not a bad brand and cheap enough for my liking so now I have a 1TB Seagate and 1 TB WD. I fill mine up, but not in RAID fashion, and try to keep my laptop pretty clean (only 55GB)

 

[Supercar Ace]

I see that the text file, VLC file and Font collection take up well over a gig, not too mention your email and Vmachine, application files and local disk take up quote a bit of space as well. It looks like aside from the WIM file, you may need to do some spring cleaning as a lot of little things seem to be adding up. How many external drives to you use? Perhaps RAID may be in your future if you cannot delete many of these items, but want/need space

Yeah, I've deleted 1 GB's worth of emails to make some space. I use my virtual machine (for the XP Mode) but I may get rid of it to save some space. I'll be checking into the VLC file and other stuff on my local disk...Hopefully I can clear up a stable amount of space.

I have an 700 MB external had drive which I've backed all of my music, files, and other various things onto.

I would say grab an upgrade if you go through all those files and decide which are needed for everyday use and move the rest . I just picked up a WD 1TB for 69 from BHphotovideo, not a bad brand and cheap enough for my liking so now I have a 1TB Seagate and 1 TB WD. I fill mine up, but not in RAID fashion, and try to keep my laptop pretty clean (only 55GB)

Yeah I'm thinking an HDD upgrade might be the best solution. Since I'm only semi-computer savy (coming on these boards makes me realize just how much I don't know haha) my concern is upgrading my HDD while being able to keep my OS and programs (I don't wanna by MS office again).

 

[whs]

This is absolutely crazy. Thos nums coincide neither with WinDirStat nor with vssadmin..

Suggest you double click on C (in Computer) and have a look what those massive files could be.

 

[Supercar Ace]

This is absolutely crazy. Thos nums coincide neither with WinDirStat nor with vssadmin..

Suggest you double click on C (in Computer) and have a look what those massive files could be.

Thank goodness...I though I was crazy. Yeah I don't know what those files are or where to find them...any thoughts?

 

[whs]

Can you see 'those files' in C and can you post them here.

 

[Supercar Ace]

I would if I could. I don't know what files could possibly be eating up so much space or where to locate them, since WinDirStat doesn't show them. Is my HDD just shot? It's almost 2 years old now.

 

[whs]

Nah, your HDD is probably alright. Double click on C in Computer and look thru all the folders whether you see any biggies. But set the view to 'Details' which will only show at the file level, not folder level.

For folders, you can right click on the folder and look in Properties. 200GB must be visible somehow.

 

[windude99]

Do you use Windows XP Mode by any chance? If so, do you have any big files inside it? Is the virtual hard disk file located on your hard drive? I saw a virtual hard disk file in one of the screenshots you posted.
Also, have you run the Malwarebytes scan yet? If not, run it in Windows 7 and in the XP Mode virtual Machine. I am pretty sure the XP Mode hard disk file automatically expands. It could be very big and that might explain the huge amount of space taken up.

 

[Supercar Ace]

Nah, your HDD is probably alright. Double click on C in Computer and look thru all the folders whether you see any biggies. But set the view to 'Details' which will only show at the file level, not folder level.

For folders, you can right click on the folder and look in Properties. 200GB must be visible somehow.

Ok, I believe I tracked down the culrpit folder:

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft

This folder shows up having over 130 GBs in it's properties. Looking in the folder though, I only see 3 folders:

Burn
Catches
Explorer

Checking the properties the trail runs cold, all 3 folders show up having a few KB's of data. Any thought here?

Do you use Windows XP Mode by any chance? If so, do you have any big files inside it? Is the virtual hard disk file located on your hard drive? I saw a virtual hard disk file in one of the screenshots you posted.
Also, have you run the Malwarebytes scan yet? If not, run it in Windows 7 and in the XP Mode virtual Machine. I am pretty sure the XP Mode hard disk file automatically expands. It could be very big and that might explain the huge amount of space taken up.

Yep I ran Malwarebytes and it found 6 malicious files. I removed them promptly and haven't seen a trace of them since. It's possible that the virtual drive is doing this, I hadn't thought of that. I loaded the XP Mode and discovered that the the HD in the virtual drive is 135 GB. I guess I'll have to remove it now...

 

[whs]

Very good. Windude was right. It seems to be your virtual system. Just delete that VM folder and start a new virtual installation.

What is still puzzling is that this did not show in WinDirStat. My virtual partitions show there.

 

[Supercar Ace]

Very good. Windude was right. It seems to be your virtual system. Just delete that VM folder and start a new virtual installation.

What is still puzzling is that this did not show in WinDirStat. My virtual partitions show there.

Yep, I tried uninstalling the virtual drive and it BSOD my system. I'll try deleting the VM folder.

 

[Berkey]

Glad to hear you found the culprit

 

[windude99]

I think it is normal for XP Mode to show that your virtual hard drive is big even if it isn't really that size on actual hard drive. The virtual hard disk file automatically expands as data is added to it.

 

[Supercar Ace]

Glad to hear you found the culprit

Thanks! I'm not out of the woods just yet...everytime I try to uninstall my VM I get a BSOD. Any thoughts on how to get around that?

I think it is normal for XP Mode to show that your virtual hard drive is big even if it isn't really that size on actual hard drive. The virtual hard disk file automatically expands as data is added to it.

Good to know...Thanks!

 

[Berkey]

Glad to hear you found the culprit

Thanks! I'm not out of the woods just yet...everytime I try to uninstall my VM I get a BSOD. Any thoughts on how to get around that?

I think it is normal for XP Mode to show that your virtual hard drive is big even if it isn't really that size on actual hard drive. The virtual hard disk file automatically expands as data is added to it.

Good to know...Thanks!

You may want to post what the BSOD states. I'm not to versed with BSOD problems, but plenty of people here are. Have you experienced the BSOD prior to uninstalling it or is it only when you try to uninstall?

 

[Faladu]

Boot into Safe mode and adjust your virtual memory settings from within there to 0 min 0 max, reboot, defragment your hard drive, then reboot again and try 2048 min 2048 max for VM, and reboot again.

Other space leaks are temp files and browser cache, you have a line on freeware to deal with those or just search for them, they are readily available as is the info on how to adjust the VM settings.

I have a techie folder on my browser bookmarks for all the things I know I will forget, and back up the bookmarks regularly to minimize loss, since all HDs fail, eventually.

 

[Supercar Ace]

Boot into Safe mode and adjust your virtual memory settings from within there to 0 min 0 max, reboot, defragment your hard drive, then reboot again and try 2048 min 2048 max for VM, and reboot again.

Other space leaks are temp files and browser cache, you have a line on freeware to deal with those or just search for them, they are readily available as is the info on how to adjust the VM settings.

I have a techie folder on my browser bookmarks for all the things I know I will forget, and back up the bookmarks regularly to minimize loss, since all HDs fail, eventually.

Seems my computer doesn't want to corporate with me. I tried booting it in Safe Mode and it froze up (it's never taken 15 minutes to load Safe Mode before). I have a minidump file from my last BSOD crash. What do you guys think?

Thanks for the tips b the way!

 

[Faladu]

What exactly happened on the safe mode load attempt?

Like, did it go through the loading motions as usual and stop on a particular file (note that)?

Or it finishes and hangs at the Windows logo?

I'd give it extra time and see if an error does eventually show up, if none did.

....looked at the .dmp and iaStor.sys is the HDD controller driver for your system and here is a MS page with info on that BSOD code....

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff559271(v=vs.85).aspx

With cause and resolution info, I hope that helps!

 

[windude99]

Try running chkdsk: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html
Note: Be sure "Automatically fix file system errors" is checked and check "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors"
If it finds errors, run it again with the same options checked. Also, what antivirus are you using?

 

[Supercar Ace]

What exactly happened on the safe mode load attempt?

Like, did it go through the loading motions as usual and stop on a particular file (note that)?

Or it finishes and hangs at the Windows logo?

I'd give it extra time and see if an error does eventually show up, if none did.

....looked at the .dmp and iaStor.sys is the HDD controller driver for your system and here is a MS page with info on that BSOD code....

Bug Check 0x8E: KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (Windows Debuggers)

With cause and resolution info, I hope that helps!

Try running chkdsk: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html
Note: Be sure "Automatically fix file system errors" is checked and check "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors"
If it finds errors, run it again with the same options checked. Also, what antivirus are you using?

I tried booting in Safe Mode but it stopped loading on the this file:

Loaded:\windows\system32\drivers\classpnp.sys

After that it stayed there for 45 minutes.

Any thoughts?