[lordanubis]

I recently had an issue with a file I could not delete, and I am wondering if it has a connection to another problem I have recently witnessed; a slow memory drain. As I said, I had a file (a seemingly incomplete mpeg file) that I could not delete, and when I tried it would max out my CPU usage and freeze everything. Multiple attempts were made and nothing worked until someone here told me about Killbox. Well, the file is finally gone, but another problem remains, and I don't know if it is connected.

As I said, I am losing memory space at a very noticeable rate. It seems that every few hours I am losing a percentage of hard drive space. For example, this morning when I woke up my computer my C drive showed 61.9 GB free, this afternoon it was 61.8 GB free, and now it reads 61.5 GB free. In one day I actually lost over 3 GB of space... I am not doing any kind of downloading or anything else to justify this sort of memory consumption. I am wondering if that file I somehow got is connected, or if someone is remotely using my computer, or if there is a virus or trojan that does this (one that Norton cannot recognize). I have a Sony Vaio that is only 2 years old, I run Windows Vista, I have a current account with Norton on Norton 360 and all security features are regularly updated and active. I even did a comprehensive scan that took several hours to complete and it didn't find anything. But at this rate, it seems I will run out of memory. Does anyone have any ideas on what it could be, or how I can prevent further memory loss?

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A simple thing you can try to see what as been created on your pc to use all that space, is to do a search for the last few days (for all files incuding hidden and system files) and when the search is over sort them by date and time, this way you will see what were the files created last and this way you may be able to find out where your hard drive space is going.

[Alzeimer]

A simple thing you can try to see what as been created on your pc to use all that space, is to do a search for the last few days (for all files incuding hidden and system files) and when the search is over sort them by date and time, this way you will see what were the files created last and this way you may be able to find out where your hard drive space is going.

[phillpower2]

Download & install this (free)
http://sourceforge.n....0.msi/download
Empty your recycle bin before you run it, when you have created a graph of your
hard drive print it off for keeping & if you seem to loose any more disk space
simply scan your HD again & compare the new graph with the previously printed
copy & you should be able to see what has used up the drive space.
An explanation for disappearing drive space when running vista can be found here
http://www.microsoft...hadow-copy.aspx
You may also be interested in having a look at this; http://www.east-tec....onsumer/eraser/
but its only a 30 day trial version.

[lordanubis]

Alzeimer: How do you do such a search? I have done searches for specific files, but never for such a broad range of things. Would you mind telling me how to do that?

Phillpower2: I will give the graph a try and see what it does. For the meantime, though, I already have a drive scrubber so if indeed I am being used remotely and I can find where on my computer the space is being taken I can get rid of it for good. But I wonder how to keep it from happening again, or if indeed that is even the case here... But I am still losing a lot of space, and it is really worrisome.

Update: I downloaded the graph and ran it, and while I was able to get a graph completed I wasn't able to make a copy of the screen because my CPU usage was maxed out. Even after I closed the program, my CPU usage stayed at 100%. I wonder if restoring the laptop back to factory settings will have a positive impact on this issue?

Edited by lordanubis, 10 June 2010 - 07:24 PM.

[phillpower2]

Couple of things you can look at before a factory reset;
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to open task manager & see what is maxing the cpu out

Check out your cpu performance with cpu-z (theres no need to install it just run)
http://www.filehippo.../download_cpuz/

Run a new malware scan using this (free version)
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Go to Programs & view any updates installed since just before the problem started
uninstall them & then install them 1 at a time & see if the problem occurs after
you install each one, its time consuming but may be necessary to fix the problem.

N.B. Norton on its own puts a high demand on cpu usage & thats why a lot of people
dont seem to like it!

Hope this helps & good luck

[SpywareDr]

A simple thing you can try to see what as been created on your pc to use all that space, is to do a search for the last few days (for all files incuding hidden and system files) and when the search is over sort them by date and time, this way you will see what were the files created last and this way you may be able to find out where your hard drive space is going.

Alzeimer: How do you do such a search? I have done searches for specific files, but never for such a broad range of things. Would you mind telling me how to do that?

How-to Geek: Find Files Within a Date Range with Windows Vista Search
http://www.howtogeek...s-vista-search/

[peter99]

One of the things Norton 360 perform’s

Protects your important files from loss — Automatically backs up files either locally to disc or other storage device

Do you use other backup software or set windows to backup regular


Download free Process Explorer it will give you more info than ctrl+alt+del

http://technet.micro...s/bb896653.aspx

[Alzeimer]

A simple thing you can try to see what as been created on your pc to use all that space, is to do a search for the last few days (for all files incuding hidden and system files) and when the search is over sort them by date and time, this way you will see what were the files created last and this way you may be able to find out where your hard drive space is going.

Alzeimer: How do you do such a search? I have done searches for specific files, but never for such a broad range of things. Would you mind telling me how to do that?

How-to Geek: Find Files Within a Date Range with Windows Vista Search
http://www.howtogeek...s-vista-search/

Take note to leave the file name blank so you will see all files

[lordanubis]

Hey there, I tried your suggestion of searching for files (thank you SpywareDr for that info) but I can't find anything of substance. I was able to get rid of the offending file, finally, but I am sill losing memory at a rate of at least a few GB per week. I checked the HD Graph, and the "unknown files" is the one growing, but of course it doesn't tell me which files are the ones going because everything in that section is either unreadable to this program or access is denied. I don't think my hard drive is bad yet (though possible) but even if it was, would it be losing space this? Are there any ways to find out exactly where that memory is going>

Edited by lordanubis, 13 June 2010 - 09:18 PM.

[phillpower2]

Does the space on your HD decrease & increase at intervals, if it
does it could simply be the vista shadow copy facility (post #3)
backing up your files & creating restore points, this will use up
to 15% of your HD capacity at any one time, couple that with the
info peter99 gave in post #7 this would make it very noticeable.
Have a look at the link below for a more informative explanation
of the vista shadow copy facility & some options you may have;
http://bertk.mvps.or...diskspacev.html
Checking the above out will hopefully show where the space is going
& if it is it may be better leaving well alone.

[peter99]

free program ShadowExplorer
forgot about this little program

http://www.shadowexplorer.com/

ShadowExplorer allows you to browse the shadow copies created by the Windows® VistaTM Volume Shadow Copy Service. It's especially thought for users of the home editions, who don't have access to the shadow copies by default, but it's also useful for users of the other editions.

Shadow Copy
From time to time, Windows® VistaTM creates point-in-time copies of your files. This allows you to retrieve older versions from files you accidentally deleted or altered. This service is turned on by default on all versions of Windows® VistaTM, but Microsoft grants access to these copies only in Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise editions. This is where ShadowExplorer comes into play.

If I remember vista basic does not have a sliding bar to reduce/resize the amount of space to use, instead you can use the vssadmin.exe command line tool to resize / reset the amount of space to allocate as mentioned above.

Edited by peter99, 14 June 2010 - 08:58 AM.

[lordanubis]

phillpower2, I am sorry for the long delay in my response, but I wanted to see if I noticed any jump in my hard disc space. unfortunately, I have not seen it go up. I did notice it jump up once a few weeks ago, but since then nothing. How often does this shadow copy go before offloading a bunch of space?

[phillpower2]

Shadowcopy backs up to 15% of your HDD then empties,it will then start the whole process again,
so if my math is correct a 160gb HDD would have 24gb of backed up files, then add what disk
space Norton backs up.