Harddrive full with no apparent cause

Hi, I just got back to this computer, my younger siblings had run of it for the last year, without me. Somehow, they have managed to nearly fill the 78GB system drive. To solve this, I moved all pictures, movies etc to the larger partition, however even after doing this, the drive is reading at 25.1 GB free of 78.1 GB. I turned the hidden folders to visible, and tried to determine which folder was the culprit… but the numbers don't add up. Any ideas? * Quick Edit: Little brother just told me he was 'uninstalling' programs by deleting the folder from the 'Program Files' directory. I've taught him how to correctly add/remove programs now, but I am wondering if this could be a contributing factor to the issue. Technical Specifications: (I used Belarc Advisor to pull all the technical specifications) Local Drive Volumes new – volume encryption c: (NTFS on drive 0) * 83.89 GB 27.18 GB free d: (NTFS on drive 0) 236.08 GB 188.52 GB free f: (FAT32 on drive 1) 499.98 GB 326.52 GB free * Operating System is installed on c: * f: is an external hard drive Operating System Windows 7 Professional (build 7600) Install Language: English (United States) System Locale: English (United States) Installed: 4/24/2010 3:18:36 PM System Model Dell Inc Dimension E521 System Service Tag: CFLS3D1 (support for this PC) Chassis Serial Number: CFLS3D1 Enclosure Type: Desktop Processor 2.10 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 128 kilobyte primary memory cache 1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache 64-bit ready Multi-core (2 total) Not hyper-threaded Main Circuit Board Board: Dell Inc 0UW457 A04 Serial Number: ..CN6986174O0FB3. Bus Clock: 1000 megahertz BIOS: Dell Inc 1.1.6 04/07/2007 Memory Modules 2048 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory Slot 'DIMM_4' is Empty Slot 'DIMM_3' is Empty Slot 'DIMM_2' has 1024 MB (serial number 09058610) Slot 'DIMM_1' has 1024 MB (serial number 09058312)

Fortunately, your numbers don't look bad - that is, your boot disk is not so full that it will impact performance.

Numbers will never add up because some space is lost (used) by the file system and file/partition tables. So the system will never report the disk size (free + used space) as equal to the advertised "raw" size.

Before worrying too much about space, make sure your system is free of malware. Update your anti-malware solution and scan. Perform supplemental scans with Malwarebytes's Anti-Malware (MBAM) to be sure.

Run Windows Disk Cleanup to rid the system of clutter.

* Quick Edit: Little brother just told me he was 'uninstalling' programs by deleting the folder from the 'Program Files' directory. I've taught him how to correctly add/remove programs now, but I am wondering if this could be a contributing factor to the issue.

Well, certainly that is not the right way to uninstall programs because it does not remove the associated entries in the registry. But also, it does not remove files and folder that were created in other places besides somewhere under Program Files. However, those other places don't normally contain the bulk of the program, so I don't think any orphaned files from that deleting process are left behind would be consuming/wasting too much space.

If me, I would browse through the disk and look for folders that don't seem they belong. Plug them (or their content) into Google and learn if needed BEFORE deleting. If unsure, leave it. If you think it might be okay to delete, don't - instead, rename the folder (or file) by appending the date to the name. In this way, the file or folder name will become invalid. If you discover in a week or two you needed the file or folder, simply rename it back by deleting the date. In this way, you don't have to remember the original names - just remove the date. If you stumble on a renamed file or folder later on down the road, you can tell by the date how long it has been invalid, and whether or not it is safe to delete.

Hi, I have tried disk clean up, and it freed up a bit of space. And I understand a bit of a discrepancy, however the computer says that 58 GB are in use… when I tabulate everything, by right clicking on the folders, all the folders combined equal to at most 40 GB… I can't see how partioning and random system files can take up 18GB!

Hi Matt,
Just before Digerati gets back to you…. the figures you quote are not uncommon….
Don't forget:
1 that you will have (I hope) a reasonable size swop file…
2 The "System Restore" facility will take up a lot of disc space…..the default on Win 7 is set to 15%
3 You could easily lose 5% to 7% of apparent capacity due to the difference in counting a GB…(binary etc.)
4 Depending on your machine you may have a "Recovery" partition designed to restore your machine to "Factory" this may or may not be hidden.
5 there are additional (usually small additional overheads… that all add up.

If you feel something is still drastically wrong and despite using disc clean up etc.and bearing in mind the machine is only a year old and has been used very incorrectly during this time, it might be worth while checking that your siblings have backed up correctly everything that is important to them (and you) on the machine, and its kept safe on removable media and with an extra copy kept offsite, and then restore it to Factory…..NOTE this is a destructive process that will clear all data files, (photos, music, Windows itself) that is to say "everything!" hence the importance of checking the completeness integrity and reproducibility of your back up procedures and files.

Once you have done this and the machine is up to date, free from virus or malicious code all settiings adjusted to taste and with all required applications installed and everything hunky dory…then take an disc image..and do it quickly before anyone has the opportunity to mess it up! Keep the disc image safe on removable media (an external USB hard drive is ideal for this) and make sure you have a way of accessing it in the event of trouble arising in the future when Windows may not boot (Bootable CD)

In the event that trouble should ever strike again in the future, that cannot be resolved in a timely or cost effective way by the normal means then you will be able to reimage it back to its perfect working state in less time than it takes to walk the dog!
Regards
paws

I don't have a lot to add. I note that many folders and files are hidden by default. Unless you went in and set your folder options to view all hidden and system files, your figures will be off from that as well.

You might try something like TreeSize or WinDirStat to map out your drive and see where the space is being used. But I caution, do not delete anything unless sure it is not needed by your system - Google it first.

If you go back into Disk Cleanup, and look under More Options, you can delete all but the last restore point to free up more space. But of course, you must ensure you don't need to go back further than the most recent. Note this is not normally a concern because System Restore ALWAYS will yield space if needed.

I am not a fan of restoring back to Factory settings - not until all other options have been exhausted - primarily because it can set you months or even years behind in critical updates and patches, driver updates too, and you have to rebuild your security defenses, and network access, etc. But it appears you have not yet patched Windows 7 as your Belarc is reporting build 7600 - not Windows 7 Professional Service Pack 1 (build 7601). So, it would seem your system is out of date anyway, and just 1 year, not "years".