Help computer using too much space!

[Iannaruto]

Hello i have recently come across too much disk space being used on my computer when i use websites, im not sure weather it is youtube or not but when im watching a video the disk space decreases

How can i fix this problem?

 

[solarmystic]

Hello and welcome to the forums Iannaruto,

Use these software to track down where your hard drive space is going to:-

WinDirStat - Permalinks to downloads and other content

TreeSize Free - Quickly Scan Directory Sizes and Find Space Hogs

Both are freeware and user friendly.

 

[Iannaruto]

Thank you for the welcome!

And i have ran the WinDirStat, Not sure what this black box thing is next to <Files>

Cant post a picture without URL?

 

[solarmystic]

Upload a screenshot from WinDirStat and TreeSizeFree showing your problem using these tutorials:-

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

How to Use the Snipping Tool in Vista - Vista Forums

 

[DustSailor]

Welcome to Sevenforums from me as well, Ian!

In Computer, do the harddrive(s) appear to be near/at max capacity? Sometimes malware can cause problems in this area. Perform a full scan with your updated antivirus software. If you would like an extra backup in this area, try out Malwarebytes free in addition to your antivirus program. It can perform a manual full scan that is quite good: Malwarebytes : Thank you!

If you are only having this trouble with internet explorer, try resetting it. Internet options>Advanced tab>Reset. You can unmark the box that deletes your personal data so that you keep all your favorites, etc.

 

[Iannaruto]

 

[Iannaruto]

Its mainly when i watch youtube videos on google chrome it starts decreasing

 

[solarmystic]

It looks like you have two Windows old folders from a previous installation of Windows that are consuming a lot of the space on your drive!

If you've already backed up/restored all the files and folders that you wanted from a previous installation of Windows, you can safely delete those two folders to gain back a massive amount of space!

 

[Iannaruto]

How can i do that?

 

[solarmystic]

Firstly, check those two folders (Windows.old) for anything you might want to keep, and back them up to a different folder on either the same drive or a different one.

Then use Disk Cleanup to delete those folders by following this tutorial:-

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/19151-windows-old-folder-delete.html

 

[Iannaruto]

Ive just deleted one of the windows folders and ive got back 47gb!
But my disk space keeps going down when i watch youtube videos or its something to do with google chrome?!

 

[Iannaruto]

Ive deleted one of those old folders and saved 47gb!
But when i still use youtube, its still decreasing space im not sure weather its youtube or google chrome?
Maybe chromes automatically downloading things but not sure

 

[DustSailor]

It shouldn't decrease by too much. Probably cookies, temporary internet files, etc. If you decrease free space by more than 1GB, let us know.

In IE, you can decrease the amount of space it uses:

 

[Iannaruto]

I have tried to delete temp files etc, and it does drop below 1gb if i leave it too long

 

[Iannaruto]

I left it for a while earlier and it dropped up to 10gb

 

[whs]

What about your shadowstorage. Open an elevated Command Prompt and run this command:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

Then look for the Allocated number on C:\

Shadowstorage is the place where your restore points are being stored and that does not show in WinDirStat.

 

[Iannaruto]

Ran cmd but says i do not have elevated administrator privileges?

 

[solarmystic]

Ran cmd but says i do not have elevated administrator privileges?

To open an elevated command prompt:-

1. Click Start Orb
2. In search box, type cmd
3. Right-click on cmd.exe, and choose 'Run as Administrator'

Then from that command prompt run the commands that whs recommended.

 

[Iannaruto]

Heres a picture of what it came up with;

 

[DustSailor]

So 5GB-6GB storage for that. You might do the harddrive check again to see where all the new storage space is going to