Data or Folders that should be backed up but missing ?

[Mike99]

I was looking at my C: drive & was curious what data should be backed up other than the "Users" folder.

The OS C: uses up 373GB according the properties in Windows 7.
All the folders under OS C: such as Users, Program Files, etc, plus the Recycle bin add up to 348GB.
That means there is 25GB of HDD space that is used but not accounted for.

Everything under C: should add up to the 373GB total but it doesn't. Any idea what I might be missing?

 

[Kari]

Did you check the hidden system folder ProgramData, too? It easily explains a few gigs. Also the shadow copies (restore points) can take some space:

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Kari

 

[Mike99]

Thanks for the information.

My ProgramData folder is 6.84GB & was included in the original figures.

The restore data accounts for about 21GB. If it’s set for 2% (18.36 GB) why would the Current usage be higher than that? Is this data saved in a hidden folder somewhere or just completely hidden on the C: drive?

Now I’m only off by 4GB which is small relative to a 1TB HDD. But I am curious what's taking up the space.

 

[Kari]

It is quite common that when there's a lot of space available on the hard disk, system protection uses a bit more than the amount assigned by the user. When the space is needed for other uses system protection releases the extra amount it is using.

Sometimes it happens that user sets the amount too small needed for one restore point in which case system protection only saves one restore point even if it exceeds the assigned amount of storage space.

Notice that pagefile takes some space, too.

Kari

 

[Mike99]

Thanks.
I'll look at the pagefile information.