C Drive Almost Full

[cgm707]

I moved a lot of files (not program files) to my D: drive, in the hope that it would free up some space on my C: drive. But now when I check disk space, it looks as if the C: drive has even less space left. I have 6.31GB capacity on C: with only 272 MG left. The D: has 2.98GB capacity.

[Confused]

You need to run disk cleanup and defrag to recover the space. Also did you move or copy?
Chas

[cgm707]

Thanks for the reply. I did do disk cleanup and defrag...I do that frequently and did so after moving (not copying the files).

[theENiGMA]

How much RAM do you have? Windows may have claimed that extra space you freed up for its page file. The page file is where stuff is stored when you run out of physical RAM. You can manually adjust it, but I don't play with that, because I've had things go horribly wrong before. Someone else can prolly explain how.
-KEiTH

[corosus]

just an idea but, are you using Norton antivirus, if so rightclick on your recycle bin and clear protected files.

what OS are you using?

[Force Flow]

Have you emptied the recycle bin, cleared out your temp folders and internet cache?

[edit]:Originally posted by theENiGMA
How much RAM do you have? Windows may have claimed that extra space you freed up for its page file. The page file is where stuff is stored when you run out of physical RAM. You can manually adjust it, but I don't play with that, because I've had things go horribly wrong before. Someone else can prolly explain how.
-KEiTH

The page file size cannot go over what is specified by default or over a change made by the user.

[glc]

What version of Windows, please?

[cgm707]

Thanks for the replies.

I have 192 MB of RAM and use Windows XP.

I really dont think I have that many programs loaded on my PC and do not understand why moving files to D did not free up more space, but rather, C is showing less available space now.

I do use Norton Systemworks 2003....could that be the problem? When I moved files to D, I messed up Norton because I was getting an error message when I rebooted, so I uninstalled and reinstalled Norton.

[corosus]

have you tryed clearing the norton protected files, it's sort of a recycle-bin for files deleted by programs, so if you used cut-paste to move the files to D:, those files where deleted by explorer and will be in the "protected files"

[cgm707]

Yes, I did try that and the C drive looks just as full...I rebooted after clearing the protected files from the norton recylce bin.

[sdkfz]

192 megs of RAM for XP is low, yeah I know MS says it will run on less, but it really is not happy with less than 256, can you add some?

With less than it's 'happy with' amount the page file will definitly be a source of space usage as will the other suggestions made

[cgm707]

I can add RAM, but my hard drive will still be as full, right?

[Panama Red]

Another idea to free up XP space, go into Disk Cleanup for the C: partition, select the More Options tab and select Cleanup under System Restore. All the changes you have been making have most likely caused XP to set new restore points for each change. Cleanup will delete all but the most resent restore point.

[cgm707]

I do not see a MORE OPTIONS choice under Disk Cleanup...It just asks me which drive I want to do the cleanuup on.

[cgm707]

Sorry, I found it. That did free up a little space. Now I have 670 MB free, whoo whoo....Guess I will need a new hard drive? I have a Compaq PC.

[glc]

XP's system restore will eat the whole drive if you let it.

Your drives are way too small for XP in reality. I consider the minimum size for an XP OS partition to be 10 megs.

You may have major hassles trying to put bigger drives into a Compaq, just be forewarned.

[cgm707]

Eeek, that's what I was afraid of, trying to install a hard drive into a Compaq computer....Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Should I hire someone to do the installationn? Can it be done, since Compaq probably uses proprietary hardware...correct me if I am wrong.

[glc]

I'd get a new computer - or revert to an earlier version of Windows. I'm betting that computer didn't come with XP from the factory with those drives installed. Compaq doesn't want you upgrading their machines, they want you to pitch them and buy a new one.

[cgm707]

Would it be difficult to try just adding RAM, since it is a Compaq computer? What info would i need to get to purchase the correct type of RAM?

[glc]

Adding ram will not change anything in regards to hard drive usage.

Look up your exact model Compaq at www.crucial.com - they guarantee theirs to be compatible. Don't try to use generic ram.

[cgm707]

Thanks, that looks like a good resource.

I am trying to get rid of Nero on my PC...I did the uninstall but when I do Search, there are still quite a few Nero files. When I try to delete them, I get the message Cannot delete file, cannot read from the source file or disk.