Why is Windows XP taking up 35 gigs?

December 7, 2009

So, I’m trying to clean up every non-essential program from my computer to free up space. When I open my hard drive through "My Computer", my Windows file is using over 35 gigs of space. When I open the actual Windows folder and combine all the files (including Hidden), they total around 4 gigs of space, which I think isn’t too far off the normal mark. So it would seem that Windows XP is just stealing squirreling away about 30 gigs of needed disc space.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

– Removing all alloted space for Recycle Bin
– Completely turning off System Restore options
– Running CCleaner, Wise Disk/Registry Cleaner, and the regular old Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter.
– Clearing out all cookies, temp folders, and logs.

I’m not sure how to thank those who answer, so I’ll do it ahead of time. THANK YOU… if anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
Ok, thanks guys for responding. I’ll try your suggestions. Just to be clear, I’m opening My Computer, then clicking once on my hard drive. It tells me I have 45 gigs of used space, when I then open my hard drive, I right click on the Windows folder, then click Properties. The folder properties display tells me 35 gigs are being used. When I then open the Windows folder and select all the contents, they only total to about 4 gigs.

Software still installed and intact yet not usable in any way, why?

November 13, 2009

Lets start from the top:

I was using my computer as I normally would have. Same thing, different day.

My windows got corrupted and was unable to boot. I inserted my windows XP SP2 disk and attempted to repair the windows installation yet the disk recognized the drive as practially annihilated so i’d need to reformat.

Defiance is my middle name.

I decided to delete the windows folder manually (long story made short) then continue with a fresh installation.

I’ve done so but now when I boot up, I still have all my files, games, programs, and everything intact YET things like my drivers, and installed programs set to run on startup do not appear.

For instance: I have Office XP, but my computer acts as if I don’t have it on my computer. I have zonealarm firewall, yet that does not start up.

I figured that it was the USER that was the problem, yet there’s no way to log onto it via the "switch user" option.

Help?
what i i ment by t by i have zone alam firewall but it doesnt start up was that it is supposed to start up when you boot up but it doesnt
besides having to reinstall everything (which can be done easily but will be a time conusming task) is there a rememdy which i’ll be able to salvage this mess?

How do you keep from getting malware RIGHT after reinstalling Windows clean? I’ve tried these programs, …..|?

November 9, 2009

but STILL get malware that they can’t find and clear, or/and which ruin my registry after removing stuff: Prevx 3, the one from Malwarebytes, Ad-Aware, STOPzilla!, AVG, SpySweeper, SuperAntiSpyware, and Norton Antivirus. So what antimalwares are there that are better than these?

Will you come back and see if I have any follow-ups for your answers, please?

Thanks, if so,
Mike
I keep getting browser hijacking, 1A, 1B, 1C.tmp, etc., and random sound ads, and my programs cannot kill these! But besides that, why can I get them so SOON right after a clean reinstall of Windows (you know, that wipes the old windows folder with a new one, and quits using the old settings folders in Documents and Settings, which I then erase. So if I can’t yet format my hard disk (because not all my data is archived yet), then this should work as a clean enough reinstallation, should it not?

So there are those 2 things: How do I keep those things from reattacking me right after the new, clean install, and which program is best at it?
Oh, and XoftSpy is one I’ve tried already, too.

And yes, I do run the Windows Firewall as the immediate defense right after reinstall, but see, it doesn’t work that well.
JS-Computing.com, apparently you didn’t read my question very well, because I just barely said that I already tried SUPERAntiSpyware.
Yes, MB, I AM doing a clean install–but not a reformat (I don’t have the space to move my files temporarily, and I haven’t archived the stuff yet). Those are 2 different things. "Clean reinstall" doesn’t mean you have to reformat. That just means you’ve chosen to have a new copy wipe over the old folder, rather than doing what some people call an "upgrade install" (even if it’s not an upgrade) or an "in-place install" or a "repair reinstall" (which repairs hardly anything).

So no, I did not reformat my drive, but even though malware can be hooked with just about any file, they’re only active if they’re in the Windows or Documents and Settings folders, right, because while they can be attached to a lot of things, they can only run with DLLs or as .exe files, right?
Okay, MB, I still think that clean reinstallations and cleaning the drive are separate things (otherwise, what can ya call the kind of Windows installation that’s fresh even without reformatting, instead of just an "upgrade"–just a "fresh reinstall" but not a "clean reinstall"?), but your answer still sounds like a pretty good one. Thank you. I’ve been trying to finish archiving this hard disk to DVDs for some time now. I’ll try to find the funds to buy a 4th fixed hard disk (my current 2 others besides this C: are too full, too) so that I might be able to do it faster. Or maybe I’ll buy a Blu-ray burner and discs. The Blu-rays would be faster than the regular DVDs, obviously, but the 4th hard disk would be faster than the Blu-ray, even.

And thanks, France and the others, too.
JS, I’d like to apologize for giving you a thumbs-down just because you suggested SUPERAntiSpyware even though I had already said that I tried that before. You did provide some other examples that may be good, and so I’m sorry. I’ll try to find someone to give you a good thumbs-up to work against my bad one.

Have a better day tomorrow,
Mike

clean-up hard drive and deleting files from windows folder?

August 13, 2009

i only have 40Gig hard drive capacity where i make 30:10 partition. driveC has 30 where i already utilized 85% of the spaced. although i always do disk clean-up, i still think that i do not get the enough clean-up. specially when i see scan files over 260000. are there any other way to reduce the system files. can we delete some files direct from the windows folder.

How can I repair a crashed hard drive?

August 11, 2009

I’m looking at a friends laptop at the moment. It crashed, won’t boot, freezes at boot up and he lost all his files. I hooked his HDD up to my pc using an ide adapter and recovered the files no problem. My question is this though, having complete access to his windows folder, is there anyway of repairing the drive by configuring the files within it? is there any software out there that might scan for the problem maybe.

Cheers
Louise <><
It’s definitely the drive
It’s definitely the drive because I tried it out in another machine
ok so I formatted the drive, popped it back in the laptop and went to boot from cd drive which is first in boot sequence and I’m getting the error "ntldr is missing" .What now?