My C Drive is full but I can't see why

[Seany]

Hi,

I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and it's installed on a 120Gb SSD along with all my software. I only install software and drivers on this drive. I also have 2x1Tb drives for storing everything else.

The combined total of all the visible folders in the main directory of my C drive is 77Gb (including the Windows folder) but my system tells me that I have only 1.6Gb of free space. This is causing a lot of problems with Photoshop, AE etc.

How can I find out what's occupying that missing 40-50Gb and how do I figure out what I can dump?

Many thanks.

S.

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi,

I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and it's installed on a 120Gb SSD along with all my software. I only install software and drivers on this drive. I also have 2x1Tb drives for storing everything else.

The combined total of all the visible folders in the main directory of my C drive is 77Gb (including the Windows folder) but my system tells me that I have only 1.6Gb of free space. This is causing a lot of problems with Photoshop, AE etc.

How can I find out what's occupying that missing 40-50Gb and how do I figure out what I can dump?

Many thanks.

S.

Third party tool like Jam software's Treesize pro (free to try) will do the trick.

 

[jumanji]

DiskAnalyser Pro - hard disk space usage analysis software - is another good one you may try. Download DiskAnalyzer Pro Software - 14 Days Free Trial

 

[kado897]

Windirstat is also a good tool. WinDirStat - Windows Directory Statistics

 

[scr]

Tree size Free> JAM Software - Windows Freeware

 

[johnhoh]

Space Sniffer is the coolest

http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/download.html

 

[Brink]

Hello Seany, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Here's one more thing to check that may be able to help.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/129976-hard-disk-space-free-up-recover.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Seany]

Hi,

Many thanks for all your help.

I used SpaceSniffer as well as downloading some of the other software recommended. SpaceSniffer identified two imense files on my drive that seem to be related to the system.

'pagefile.sys' = 23.9Gb
'hiberfil.sys' = 17.9Gb

One of these files was created about a year ago and the other about a month ago.

I have no idea what they are or whether it's safe to delete them. I'm going to google it, but does anyone know what these files do... and if I can't delete them is there a way to reduce their size?

Thanks again.

S.

 

[kado897]

Pagefile.sys is the system paging file. The size is normally managed by Windows although you can manage it yourself. The recommended size is 1.5 x installed RAM so unless you have 16GB RAM it is rather large. Hiberfil.sys is where the computer saves its state when it enters hibernation. I don't know what controls the size.

 

[Seany]

Thanks for that.

I actually have 24Gb's RAM so that explains the size of the pagefile.sys file. not sure about the other.

Do you know what the adverse affects might be if I reduce the size of the pagefile.sys file?

Thanks again.

S.

 

[kado897]

Thanks for that.

I actually have 24Gb's RAM so that explains the size of the pagefile.sys file. not sure about the other.

Do you know what the adverse affects might be if I reduce the size of the pagefile.sys file?

Thanks again.

S.

24GB. I am not worthy. I only have 4GB.

You can set it to zero but I have heard of stability problems if you do that. I would just leave it as it is.

 

[Seany]

Haha... sometimes it feels like having more memory just allows my machine to fail more powerfully, though.

Thanks once again for all your help.

S.

 

[maxseven]

If you don't use Hibernation you can delete the hiberfil. It would be re-created on shutdown if you do, and sized according to whatever you had running in your RAM at the time of shutdown. There's controversy galore regarding the pagefile.sys, but with your amount of memory, unless you are doing something very special wrt specific programs, you ought to be able to simply specify a smaller pagefile e.g. 1Gb.

 

[Seany]

Many thanks.

I'll get rid of the Hibernation file in that case.

I'll also try to reduce the size of the pagefile.

Thanks for your advice.

S.

 

[whs]

To get rid of the hiberfile, open an elevated command prompt and run this command:

powercfg -h off

Then hit Enter. That's all.

 

[Seany]

Is it better to use this method than just deleting it using SpaceSniffer?

 

[Seany]

Can the 'pagefile.sys' file be moved to another drive somehow? That file is huge.

I keep my C Drive solely for the system and applications. I have other drives for work and generated files. If that file could be moved somehow to another drive it would solve a lot of my problems.

Thanks again for everyones help and advice.

S.

 

[maxseven]

Seany you should have gained 40+Gb by eliminating the hiberfil and reducing the pagefile to just one Gig--why do you feel you need more?

I would reduce the size of the pagefile, but not move it to a spinner myself.

 

[whs]

Is it better to use this method than just deleting it using SpaceSniffer?

It is not only better, it is also easier. Takes 20 seconds.

And Maxseven is right. Your pagefile will be hardly ever used. But some programs need it for a short period. 1 or 2GBs should suffice. Eliminating it completel would get you BSODs.

Virtual Memory Paging File - Change - Vista Forums

 

[flemur13013]

You can resize the pagefile by
Computer > Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced (Tab).Performance.

It's supposedly better to set it to some fixed size (min size = max size). Try setting it to 1GB and see what happens (nothing terrible can happen - it might run slow); I've run with 100MB w/o problems (4GB mem, using Photoshop, etc); with 24GB of mem you might never use it at all. You can also put all or part of the the pagefile on another disk, such as your data disk(s).

You can get rid of the hiberfile by turning off hibernation, then reboot.