Hard drive free space fluctuation...?

Darkstrike

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Hi folks!

Not sure if this is the proper place to post this, but I've had a burning question that's stumped me for awhile now...I have two hard drives installed on my computer - one SATA and one IDE, 320gb (E:/) and 80gb (C:/) respectively. Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit is installed to the 80gb IDE drive and the 320gb is essentially my storage drive, although I do keep some stuff on C:/.

My computer has 6gb of RAM (just installed another 4gbs a few days ago). The Page file is disabled on the 80gb C:/ drive, and is enabled on the 320gb E:/ drive to be system-managed. I did this because the 320gb drive is bigger and is SATA, meaning faster access.

My question is this: the amount of hard drive space on my C:/ drive fluctuates from time to time for no reason. I would expect such on E:/ because the page file is there, but I am not uninstalling or installing anything at all on C:/....where is my space going? As an example, I deleted some files from C:/ yesterday and Windows was showing that it had 31.4gbs free. I come back this morning and Windows is now saying 28.8gbs free, yet I installed nothing, deleted nothing, touched nothing at all...is this normal? I understand that it can change somewhat in normal operation due to temp files, etc. But where did those 2.6gbs go...? (I should say it's fluctuated even more than this in the past - by 4gbs or so).

There are no programs running that I have installed that could account for this that I am aware of and I run regular defrags, malware scans, etc. to keep everything squeaky clean. (Aside from standard system processes, this is ALL the other stuff I normally have running, that's it: Avast anti-virus, Hamachi2, my Logitech MX510 mouse SetPoint software, Pidgin IM client and Google Talk) I can't think that any of those would cause the fluctuations except maybe Avast, but then why don't I see them on the E:/ drive as well?

Long story short - am I crazy or is there a good reason for the fluctuation? Thanks for any insights! :)

EDIT: Forgot to mention...I even checked C:/ with WinDirStat and I don't see any giant odd files anywhere that are out of the ordinary aside from my own large files such as movie files, etc.
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0ghz
Motherboard
Asus P5K SE/EPU
Memory
6gb DDR2 RAM - 2gb OCZ, 4gb GSkill - both in dual channel
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS Radeon HD7850 2gb
Sound Card
On-board Realtek AC'97 Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
NEC AccuSync LCD71V LCD Monitor
Screen Resolution
1280x1024
Hard Drives
Western Digital 160gb SATA (Master), Western Digital 320gb SATA (Secondary)
PSU
500w Coolmax
Case
iCute 0302-SL-BAL-B
Cooling
top 80mm Exhaust, back 80mm Exhaust, side 80mm Intake
Keyboard
22-year old Compaq RT101 w/ superbright modded blue LEDs
Mouse
Logitech MX510 (blue)
Internet Speed
Eastlink Cable @ 20 Mbps
Antivirus
Avast Antivirus Free
Browser
Mozilla Firefox
Other Info
I also have an MSI Wind U100 netbook running Linux Mint 17 MATE - 1.6ghz Intel Atom, 2gb RAM, 160gb Hard Drive, 128mb Intel Mobile On-board Video, Realtek AC'97 On-board Audio, 9-cell Battery, 1.0G BIOS
Could you post a screen shot of disk management?

Do you have system restore enabled for C: drive and if so, how much space is allocated? Also, do you have hibernate enabled?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
Laptop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Sony Vaio VPCEB47GM Laptop
OS
Win 7 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel i5 2.4 Ghz
Memory
8GB DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD 3000
Sound Card
IDT High Definition
Monitor(s) Displays
15.6 WGXA Anti-Glare LED
Screen Resolution
1280x800
Hard Drives
640Gb 7200rpm
Antivirus
MSE
Browser
Opera (primary) with IE9 backup
Hibernate is disabled on my desktop as I never use it. System restore is enabled only on C:/ and currently only has 3% of the drive allocated to it (I've rarely used System Restore before as I keep my system in good shape). I should also mention that when it fluctuates down, it will EVENTUALLY fluctuate back up to some extent.

Pic of Disk Manager is attached - I checked Disk Manager last night before I posted and also stared at the Resource Monitor for awhile....saw nothing unusual.

In Disk Manager, both drives are listed with Fault Tolerance at "No" and Overhead at "0%" and I've never seen them say anything different.
 

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Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0ghz
Motherboard
Asus P5K SE/EPU
Memory
6gb DDR2 RAM - 2gb OCZ, 4gb GSkill - both in dual channel
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS Radeon HD7850 2gb
Sound Card
On-board Realtek AC'97 Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
NEC AccuSync LCD71V LCD Monitor
Screen Resolution
1280x1024
Hard Drives
Western Digital 160gb SATA (Master), Western Digital 320gb SATA (Secondary)
PSU
500w Coolmax
Case
iCute 0302-SL-BAL-B
Cooling
top 80mm Exhaust, back 80mm Exhaust, side 80mm Intake
Keyboard
22-year old Compaq RT101 w/ superbright modded blue LEDs
Mouse
Logitech MX510 (blue)
Internet Speed
Eastlink Cable @ 20 Mbps
Antivirus
Avast Antivirus Free
Browser
Mozilla Firefox
Other Info
I also have an MSI Wind U100 netbook running Linux Mint 17 MATE - 1.6ghz Intel Atom, 2gb RAM, 160gb Hard Drive, 128mb Intel Mobile On-board Video, Realtek AC'97 On-board Audio, 9-cell Battery, 1.0G BIOS
Hate to bump my thread, but just curious if anybody else has any suggestions...?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0ghz
Motherboard
Asus P5K SE/EPU
Memory
6gb DDR2 RAM - 2gb OCZ, 4gb GSkill - both in dual channel
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS Radeon HD7850 2gb
Sound Card
On-board Realtek AC'97 Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
NEC AccuSync LCD71V LCD Monitor
Screen Resolution
1280x1024
Hard Drives
Western Digital 160gb SATA (Master), Western Digital 320gb SATA (Secondary)
PSU
500w Coolmax
Case
iCute 0302-SL-BAL-B
Cooling
top 80mm Exhaust, back 80mm Exhaust, side 80mm Intake
Keyboard
22-year old Compaq RT101 w/ superbright modded blue LEDs
Mouse
Logitech MX510 (blue)
Internet Speed
Eastlink Cable @ 20 Mbps
Antivirus
Avast Antivirus Free
Browser
Mozilla Firefox
Other Info
I also have an MSI Wind U100 netbook running Linux Mint 17 MATE - 1.6ghz Intel Atom, 2gb RAM, 160gb Hard Drive, 128mb Intel Mobile On-board Video, Realtek AC'97 On-board Audio, 9-cell Battery, 1.0G BIOS
I've noticed the same thing where C drive space used fluctuates up and down.
I've don't remember ever seeing a 4 gig change, for me it's usually 1-2 gig.

My guess is it's just normal windows background processes like VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service).
To me it seems W7 64bit fluctuates more than 32bit, but i don't use 32bit very much...

Personally i don't see it as a problem, so i just ignore it...

If you want to read about VSS, here is one place:
Shadow Copy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
home built
OS
Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
CPU
AMD Athlon II x4 620
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-MA785G-UD3H
Memory
6GB GSkill DDR2 800
Graphics Card(s)
AMD 4670 GPU + AMD 4200 IGP
Sound Card
on board Realtek ALC889A
Monitor(s) Displays
RCA 40" LCD TV, Insignia 32" LCD TV, HP 15" LCD monitor
Screen Resolution
1680 x 1050
Hard Drives
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB,
Samsung F3 1TB (3),
Several others - WD, Seagate, Hitachi, ...
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Corsair 500 W
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Rosewill mid tower
Cooling
CM 90mm rifle
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Gyration wireless, Logitech wireless, Dell USB wired
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Spectrum - 100Mbps D / 10Mbps U
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Avast, MBAM3, EMET, WinPatrol
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Pale Moon, Firefox, IE
Other Info
2 multi-boot PC's
Mainly HTPC/Office/Gen purpose (no gaming).
Trendnet USB KVM.
LG DVD burner/Blue Ray Player.
Tray system for removable SATA backup drives.

Not currently OCd, under-volted.
I use Hybrid sleep, rarely re-boot or shutdown.

Hauppauge HD-PVR, Avermedia PCIe TV Tuner, Hauppauge PCI TV Tuner.
Alright, thanks for the input guys!

It was down again by about 4gbs the last two days and jumped back up to where it was supposed to be again. I've been watching the space indicator I have and it's been slowly going down again....ah well....hasn't caused any weird problems yet, so I assume it's normal!
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0ghz
Motherboard
Asus P5K SE/EPU
Memory
6gb DDR2 RAM - 2gb OCZ, 4gb GSkill - both in dual channel
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS Radeon HD7850 2gb
Sound Card
On-board Realtek AC'97 Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
NEC AccuSync LCD71V LCD Monitor
Screen Resolution
1280x1024
Hard Drives
Western Digital 160gb SATA (Master), Western Digital 320gb SATA (Secondary)
PSU
500w Coolmax
Case
iCute 0302-SL-BAL-B
Cooling
top 80mm Exhaust, back 80mm Exhaust, side 80mm Intake
Keyboard
22-year old Compaq RT101 w/ superbright modded blue LEDs
Mouse
Logitech MX510 (blue)
Internet Speed
Eastlink Cable @ 20 Mbps
Antivirus
Avast Antivirus Free
Browser
Mozilla Firefox
Other Info
I also have an MSI Wind U100 netbook running Linux Mint 17 MATE - 1.6ghz Intel Atom, 2gb RAM, 160gb Hard Drive, 128mb Intel Mobile On-board Video, Realtek AC'97 On-board Audio, 9-cell Battery, 1.0G BIOS
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