My laptop has only 40GB space with about 11 GB in C drive. As the free space
was only 2.27 GB I tried to remove some unused programmes using add/remove
facility.
After this I was disappointed to see that the space got further reduced to
2.09 GB!
Some programmes even after removing appear to be sitting, taking me in
circles. Can some one tellme why the space decreased instaed of increasing?
What can I do?
Although modern programs are much larger than their earlier counterparts,
they are not usually "space grabbers." On the other hand, I find that
multimedia files easily and quickly gobble up space. To recover the space
these files occupy, copy files that are seldom viewed to a CD, DVD or
external drive. Once the copy has completed successfully, delete the
originals from the hard drive.
Also, I can't tell for sure from your message but if you are saying there
is only 11 GB allocated to "C:" then that is a tight fit for a mature XP
setup. Mature= one that has lasted for a long time and has many things
-hardware and software- added to it. If this is the case, here's a few more
things to consider removing:
Hotfix uninstall information: If the system appears to be working fine from
a hotfix, remove the corresponding uninstall folder. These folders hold old
copies of all of the files that the hotfix replaced. I like Doug Knox's
tool for removing that can be found here:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm
Also, if this is a desktop, consider disabling hibernate. This power state
isn't as useful as it is on a portable (tablet or laptop). As long as
hibernate is enabled, the hiberfil.sys file will be present and its size
will be equal to the amount of physical RAM. Disable hibernate and regain
that space for other uses.
Other thoughts:
While it's not really prudent to operate a swap file over two partitions on
the same physical hard drive - it could be an effective space saver for
your setup. You could leave a small swapfile on C: and place a second "let
windows manage" swapfile on the other larger partition.
If you ever end up reinstalling your system from scratch, consider making
that 40 GB hard drive one partition instead of dividing it up. Could also
gain space by installing a second hard drive or eventually replacing the 40
GB with a larger drive.
