System mis-reporting disk usage

  • Thread starter Thread starter rayhorn13
  • Start date Start date
R

rayhorn13

I am using Windows Vista (32-bit) on my computer. Lately, I have noticed
that the reported "used space" on my hard drive (via right-click/properties)
keeps rising dramatically while I add very little to my computer.

I then made sure that I had turned on options to show system files and
hidden OS files so that I could add up the used space. What I found is that
all of the files on my computer added together total 44.2 GB, while the usual
right-click on the C-drive (selecting Properties) reports that I have used
65.2 GB.

I re-checked the math and the folders and still come up with a 21 GB
difference - almost 1.5 times the size of what the files/folders add up to.

Does anyone have ANY idea what could be happening or why the difference is
so large? I am at a loss, but I'm also concerned that this may spell trouble
of a different type since it looks like it deals with the OS somehow.

Many thanks in advance.
 
rayhorn13 said:
I am using Windows Vista (32-bit) on my computer. Lately, I have noticed
that the reported "used space" on my hard drive (via right-click/properties)
keeps rising dramatically while I add very little to my computer.

I then made sure that I had turned on options to show system files and
hidden OS files so that I could add up the used space. What I found is that
all of the files on my computer added together total 44.2 GB, while the usual
right-click on the C-drive (selecting Properties) reports that I have used
65.2 GB.

I re-checked the math and the folders and still come up with a 21 GB
difference - almost 1.5 times the size of what the files/folders add up to.

Does anyone have ANY idea what could be happening or why the difference is
so large? I am at a loss, but I'm also concerned that this may spell trouble
of a different type since it looks like it deals with the OS somehow.

Many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

It's all in System Restore and Volume Shadow Copy, mostly the former
I'd guess.
 
rayhorn13 said:
How so? Volume shadow copy? I'm not following...
Click to expand...

You DO understand System Restore... right? It uses a TON more space
than XP's System Restore did. 15% of your drive is locked into being
saved (and eventually used) by SR. That will handle maybe 20 restore
points. On my system it only goes back a week.

Volume Shadow Copy is best explained:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Copy
 
'Shadow copy' - see win help
PS It depends on the version of Vista as to whether you actual have this
option.
Also hidden files doesnt show your paging/swap file
 
Vista Home Premium 32-Bit.
"Show Hidden Files and Folders" may not, but "Hide Protected Operating
System Files" is unchecked and I have added/included the 10 GB swap file in
my totals.

Is there a way to attach a screenshot here? I made one and it shows all of
the different totals.
 
rayhorn13 said:
Vista Home Premium 32-Bit.
"Show Hidden Files and Folders" may not, but "Hide Protected Operating
System Files" is unchecked and I have added/included the 10 GB swap file in
my totals.

Is there a way to attach a screenshot here? I made one and it shows all of
the different totals.
Click to expand...

No screen shots or graphics in Usenet. Use an independent free service
and provide a link.
 
OK - I have the screenshots uploaded to Photobucket:
<a
href="http://s315.photobucket.com/albums/ll450/rayhorn13/?action=view&current=DISKSIZE.jpg"
target="_blank"><img
src="http://i315.photobucket.com/albums/ll450/rayhorn13/DISKSIZE.jpg"
border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a
href="http://s315.photobucket.com/albums/ll450/rayhorn13/?action=view&current=DISKSIZE2.jpg"
target="_blank"><img
src="http://i315.photobucket.com/albums/ll450/rayhorn13/DISKSIZE2.jpg"
border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I hope this works.
 
rayhorn13 said:
OK - I have the screenshots uploaded to Photobucket:
<a
href="http://s315.photobucket.com/albums/ll450/rayhorn13/?action=view&current=DISKSIZE.jpg"
target="_blank"><img
src="http://i315.photobucket.com/albums/ll450/rayhorn13/DISKSIZE.jpg"
border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a
href="http://s315.photobucket.com/albums/ll450/rayhorn13/?action=view&current=DISKSIZE2.jpg"
target="_blank"><img
src="http://i315.photobucket.com/albums/ll450/rayhorn13/DISKSIZE2.jpg"
border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

I hope this works.
Click to expand...

And DO NOT USE HTML ;->
 
rayhorn13 said:
Sorry - can you tell I'm new to Usenet?
Click to expand...

I was JOKING (notice the smiley at the end of the sentence).

All you do is copy the URL and paste it into your message. Even if
you typed it longhand, it would still come through properly.
 
Select, Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, More Options tab,
System Restore and Shadow Copies, CleanUp.

--
~~~~
Hope this helps

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
So, there are no shadow copies to clean up and there is only one backup point
on my computer.

Where do I look now? Any ideas?
 
rayhorn13 said:
So, there are no shadow copies to clean up and there is only one backup point
on my computer
Click to expand...

How much space is "missing"??
Where do I look now? Any ideas?
Click to expand...

1. Click the start menu

2. Click on All Programs, and then Accessories

3. From the accessories menu, right click on Command Prompt and select
“run as administrator”

4. Type “vssadmin list shadowstorage” into the command prompt

5. The results should tell you the amount of storage used and the
maximum amount alloted

If you’re not happy with those numbers, here’s how to resize them.
Keep in mind, you will lose some older system restore points when you
do this.

1. Repeat steps 1-3 to get bring up the Command Prompt

2. Type “vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=[your hard disk]:
/On=[your hard disk]: /MaxSize=[how much space you want to allocate]”

For example: “vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C:
/MaxSize=2GB”

You should get a message saying Successfully resized the shadow copy
storage association, and you should have more free space on your hard
drive.
 
21 GB is "missing."

I'm confused again, though. Shadow copy is not in Home Premium, right?
There wasn't even a 'Shadow Copies' option when I went to System Restore.
But when I go through the administrator command prompt & type the command, I
get this:

Shadow Copy Storage association
For volume: (C:)\\?\Volume{e124ac2a-136b-11dd-a8fb-806e6f6e6963}\
Shadow Copy Storage volume:
(C:)\\?\Volume{e124ac2a-136b-11dd-a8fb-806e6f6e69
63}\
Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 13.442 GB
Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 13.945 GB
Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 16.113 GB

Is this supposed to be there at all since I'm not supposed to have shadow
copy as an option?

If it is, SHOULD I be happy with those numbers?

Finally, none of those numbers account for the 21 GB difference in filespace.



Nonny said:
rayhorn13 said:
So, there are no shadow copies to clean up and there is only one backup point
on my computer
Click to expand...

How much space is "missing"??
Where do I look now? Any ideas?
Click to expand...

1. Click the start menu

2. Click on All Programs, and then Accessories

3. From the accessories menu, right click on Command Prompt and select
“run as administratorâ€

4. Type “vssadmin list shadowstorage†into the command prompt

5. The results should tell you the amount of storage used and the
maximum amount alloted

If you’re not happy with those numbers, here’s how to resize them.
Keep in mind, you will lose some older system restore points when you
do this.

1. Repeat steps 1-3 to get bring up the Command Prompt

2. Type “vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=[your hard disk]:
/On=[your hard disk]: /MaxSize=[how much space you want to allocate]â€

For example: “vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C:
/MaxSize=2GBâ€

You should get a message saying Successfully resized the shadow copy
storage association, and you should have more free space on your hard
drive.
Click to expand...
 
rayhorn13 said:
21 GB is "missing."

I'm confused again, though. Shadow copy is not in Home Premium, right?
Click to expand...

What I gave you will show everything on your system that belongs to
System Restore.

Everything.

Set the "maxsize" to what you want (can't be less than 300mb) but
remember that each restore point needs over a gig of space.

There wasn't even a 'Shadow Copies' option when I went to System Restore.
But when I go through the administrator command prompt & type the command, I
get this:

Shadow Copy Storage association
For volume: (C:)\\?\Volume{e124ac2a-136b-11dd-a8fb-806e6f6e6963}\
Shadow Copy Storage volume:
(C:)\\?\Volume{e124ac2a-136b-11dd-a8fb-806e6f6e69
63}\
Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 13.442 GB
Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 13.945 GB
Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 16.113 GB

Is this supposed to be there at all since I'm not supposed to have shadow
copy as an option?

If it is, SHOULD I be happy with those numbers?

Finally, none of those numbers account for the 21 GB difference in filespace.



Nonny said:
rayhorn13 said:
So, there are no shadow copies to clean up and there is only one backup point
on my computer
Click to expand...

How much space is "missing"??
Where do I look now? Any ideas?
Click to expand...

1. Click the start menu

2. Click on All Programs, and then Accessories

3. From the accessories menu, right click on Command Prompt and select
“run as administrator”

4. Type “vssadmin list shadowstorage” into the command prompt

5. The results should tell you the amount of storage used and the
maximum amount alloted

If you’re not happy with those numbers, here’s how to resize them.
Keep in mind, you will lose some older system restore points when you
do this.

1. Repeat steps 1-3 to get bring up the Command Prompt

2. Type “vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=[your hard disk]:
/On=[your hard disk]: /MaxSize=[how much space you want to allocate]”

For example: “vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C:
/MaxSize=2GB”

You should get a message saying Successfully resized the shadow copy
storage association, and you should have more free space on your hard
drive.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
DL

Research confirms it is as you say. Thanks for correcting my
misunderstanding.




~~~~


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Hi, rayhorn13.

Sorry to come late to this old thread, but I just now spotted it. You
probably have found your answer by now (or given up on it), but just in
case...

In the Administrator:Command Prompt window, use the good ol' DOS command Dir
with a couple of switches. (As always in a "DOS" window, enter the command
followed by /? to see a mini-help file of the switches and parameters
available with it: dir /? )

To start at the top:
Dir C:\ /s /a

Now go get a cup of coffee while thousands (yep!) of filenames/foldernames
scroll up your screen! (Ctrl+C will interrupt the listing if you don't have
time for coffee just now.)

The C:\ makes the Directory listing start in the Root (\) of Drive C:.
Since no filename is specified, it will list all files in that folder except
those with Attributes set (such as Hidden or System). The /a shows All
files, even the ones with those Attributes. And the /s includes files in
all subfolders under the starting folder - the whole tree. If a file is in
Drive C:, this command will show it, no matter which folder it is in and no
matter whether it is hidden!

That display actually isn't much use except that when it finally does get to
the end, it will tell you - to the byte! - how much all your files add up
to. That doesn't say how much "space on disk" is used, because it will only
show 1 byte for a 1-byte file, but the file probably uses a whole 4 KB
cluster. And every file has, on average, 1/2 cluster (2 KB) of wasted
space. So 1,000 random-sized files will probably waste 2 MB of space. A
disk full of a few big files doesn't waste much, but one with millions of
small files will waste a lot!

Now, try this again, but this time:
Dir C:\ /s /a /p

This will do the same as before, but the /p will make it pause after each
page. For a long listing, this gets mighty tedious, but it comes in handy
to see subtotals by folder and to zero in on likely suspects. If you find
that the C:\Whopper folder has over 10 GB of files in it, you can try
simply:
C:\Whopper

If that doesn’t show all those files, then use one or more of the other
switches:
C:\Whopper /a
C:\Whopper /s /p

I'm sure you can figure out the rest of this. ;^}

Please post back with what you find out. That feedback should help us help
the next person with a similar question.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)
 
Back
Top