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Losing space on my hard drive//Win7//


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#1
Zippo36

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Hello!

I noticed yesterday that I was losing space on my hard drive. I had 70.5GB free and then when I checked 2 minutes later it was down to 70.4GB.
So I wrote it down and decided to check back every now and then.
Today my disk space is 65.1GB, so I have lost about 5GBs without downloading or installing anything except for windows updates (but space was being lost even before I downloaded the updates, and it keeps going down now after I've updated, lost about 2GBs today alone).
Furthermore, I should have TONS of more space on my C drive. I rarely install anything on it, I install everything on my second harddrive including windows backups etc.

My C drive has a total of 456GB, and I don't see myself having used that much space on C, I should have a good 200GB free at the very least, so it feels like this has been going on for a while now.

I googled the problem a few times, but the only answers I find are that the backups are getting bigger, but since my backups are on a seperate drive I don't think thats my problem.
I'm posting this here, because everyone else I found with this problem seem to be running Windows 7 aswell.

Hoping someone here has got any answers for me.

Edited by Zippo36, 21 October 2013 - 01:40 PM.

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#2
Ztruker

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Download and install TreeSize Free. Run it and it will show you exactly what is using drive space.
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#3
Zippo36

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Thanks alot for that program, useful indeed!
It seems that I have a second library for steam where it put copies of all my steam games, so thats a ton of space cleared up right there.

Either way its still slowly filling up for no apparant reason. I havent used steam for a little over a week so it cant be updates to games etc, can it?
Is there any way to see what files/folders have been changed or had an increase in size in the last few days or so?

EDIT: I was being stupid and found it myself! Thanks alot Ztruker for sharing this with me :)

Edited by Zippo36, 21 October 2013 - 03:17 PM.

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#4
Ztruker

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You're welcome. What was causing it? Answer might help someone later on.
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#5
Zippo36

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I have no idea yet. The only thing thats been changed that I don't know what it is, is a hidden folder called System Volume Information.
I don't know what it does, but that doesnt mean it isnt legit.

I'm going to be checking TreeSize 2-3 times a day for the next week or so, write down the sizes of folders and files and see whats getting bigger.

By the way, is it common for the windows folder to be changed daily without having updated or installed anything?

Edited by Zippo36, 22 October 2013 - 07:05 AM.

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#6
Ztruker

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System Volume Information is where System Restore points are stored. File backups (Shadow Copies) are also kept there.

Install Shadow Explorer and you can peruse the shadow copies to see what's there. It's an easy way to recover a back level or missing file but it does take up space.
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#7
kungfu

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Hi, Ztruker

Is there a way that without installing extra programs to get rid of these restore points?

System Volume Information is where System Restore points are stored. File backups (Shadow Copies) are also kept there.

Install Shadow Explorer and you can peruse the shadow copies to see what's there. It's an easy way to recover a back level or missing file but it does take up space.


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#8
Ztruker

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Turn off System Restore. That will delete the restore points: Disable System Restore in Windows 7 or Vista

To get rid of the shadow copies (not a good idea in my opinion): How do I turn off volume shadow copy?
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