Metropol

Over the past few days, I have noticed that I have considerably less space than I did and there seems to be some sort of problem in the Documents & Settings folder. Basically, I did have around 80GB left but now i've got under 10GB - when I go into the Documents & Settings Folder and click on the settings for my folder it says that the folder contains 205GB but when I open that folder and look for the space it seems I only have 120GB there so whats happened to the rest - any idea?

I've ran various virus software etc but nothings shown up...

Did you install a new app recently? It could be something in one of your AppData folders, try looking through that.

It's at: C:\Documents and Settings\YourName\Application Data

Where C: is the name of your main drive and YourName is... well, your name.

Any ideas of what i'm looking for though?

nodnirG kraM wrote:Well did you install something recently?

Was about to ask the same thing. Try hovering over folders - look for the ones of the biggest size and check if the files contained within them are needed. You could try System Restore but that deals with Programs rather than files.

It sounds like you have inadvertantly downloaded something you didn't intend to. As a first move I would delete all temporary internet files (Start > Control Panel > Internet Options)

For something to have used up so much space I'm surprised you didn't notice it being downloaded though

i recommend the diruse tool from the windows server resource kit:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

it's a command line tool, but if you type this:

diruse "c:\documents and settings\" /* /m




you can then break it down and see where all the files are on your disk and what's taking up space - if you've never dabbled with command line tools before it's very easy, just post back and we'll try and help.

also, http://www.ccleaner.com/ is a good tool - no spyware, highly recommended for cleaning out the bits of rubbish left behind by misbehaving software.

Dr Lobster* wrote:i recommend the diruse tool from the windows server resource kit:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

it's a command line tool, but if you type this:

diruse "c:\documents and settings\" /* /m




you can then break it down and see where all the files are on your disk and what's taking up space - if you've never dabbled with command line tools before it's very easy, just post back and we'll try and help.

Ok - I've downloaded this but now I need help lol...

ok, from the beginning:

open a command prompt (start -> run, type cmd)

then, type:

cd c:\program files\resource kit

then type

diruse /m /* "c:\documents and settings\YOUR USERNAME"

you will then get a breakdown of folder usage by each folder in your profile. repeat this for every user on your system, and if this draws a blank, try it on the program files and inside the windows folder and see if you see anything usually big there.

* remember to replace c:\... with the drive on your system if it's different (it probably won't be, but just in case it is)

Did you bother with CCleaner? It's a useful app, as Dr Lobster mentioned.

Don't let it delete your System Updates record from Add/Remove though, they sometimes need ammending.