# Solved: Hard Drive space used and can't find what's taking it



## LaDon (Apr 24, 2009)

I have a 463GB hard drive in my Fujitsu Lifebook and the properties of my C: drive says 87.9GB is being used, when i open it and select all the files (Including hidden and operating system files) and click properties it shows only 35.79GB being used witch leave 52.11GB unaccounted for. i also got a program called I.Disk and it also says 35.79GB is being used and yesterday the properties of the C: drive said 80GB so it's rising.

I don't know what it could be, maybe a virus and if so i don't know what kind.

I have AVG and it hasn't found anything.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You in advance.


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## hrlow2 (Oct 6, 2008)

Welcome to TSG.
Go to Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools and select Disk Management.
What does that show (partitions).


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## LaDon (Apr 24, 2009)

That says the same as the C: drive properties


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## hrlow2 (Oct 6, 2008)

Let's try something else then.
What firewall do you use?( some can create HUGE log files)
What AV do you use?( same reason)
What amount is set aside for Restore Points and how often are they created?
What is the size of the Page File?


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## LaDon (Apr 24, 2009)

I.Disk looks inside a drive and addeds the total itself all i can guess is a virus is changing the value in the properties or it's a error.

I don't know the next step or how to fix it. 

thanks for the welcome


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## LaDon (Apr 24, 2009)

I use AVG for a firewall and AV the computers new and i haven't set up any restore points and as for page file i don't know what that is .... it's like there is space that just disappears between the my computer screen and C: screen.


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## hrlow2 (Oct 6, 2008)

You might want to download a copy of Hijack This and post the resulting list in the Malware forum for the experts to look at. They are very busy, so be patient,as it may take some time for someone to get to you.


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## LaDon (Apr 24, 2009)

Thank i'll check it out.


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## hrlow2 (Oct 6, 2008)

Good luck. Hope you get it resolved. May not be malware, but a configuration setting, but worth checking out.


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## Rich-M (May 3, 2006)

Are you aware that the System Restore you cannot see is probably set at 12% and frequently they go higher if unchecked? That would be 11Gb alone. Is the Recycle Bin empty? If not how much is in there?


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## hrlow2 (Oct 6, 2008)

On that note, I always set my System Restore to 3%. That is enough for quite a few Restores.


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## LaDon (Apr 24, 2009)

I have another drive setup for my restore points and my bin's empty and i've deleted my TIF's and all other offline content.

It's not that i don't no how the space is being used it's that it's disapearing and wont show when i open my C: Drive,if i select all the file's in it and look at the properties of all the files (hidden and OS file) it says the size of all the files together is 34GB but if i look at the properties of the C: drive it says 88.2 witch has gone up from 87.7 earlier

Thanks again, Jarod.


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## LaDon (Apr 24, 2009)

Now it's at 92.1gb ... It's going up and soon i'll be out of space

plz help


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## E-7 (Mar 7, 2009)

@LaDon
as previously suggested by *hrlow2* post a HijackThis log in the Malware Removal forum http://forums.techguy.org/54-malware-removal-hijackthis-logs/

Read the instructions for submitting a HijackThis log *Please read here first BEFORE posting for help in this forum*
http://forums.techguy.org/malware-removal-hijackthis-logs/622404-please-read-here-first-before.html


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## blitzkreig (Mar 6, 2009)

Make sure you have files which are not hidden. Though certain folders maybe hidden, like your system volume information, leave this folder alone.
Secondly we cannot rule out the possibility of excess of cookies and temporary internet files accumulated in your hard drive


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## Super-D-38 (Apr 25, 2002)

You can try a search. (Worked for me once with a windows 98 virus)
click Start, Search.. select all files/folders. expand the "what size is it" portion. 
custom size. try a size of at least 100,000kb. That will show everything 100MB or more. 
If there are allot listed you can try even higher. like 500,000kb, 1,000,000kb ect.. 
Might show a large file you can't identify. 

My $.02 anyway.


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## TheOutcaste (Aug 8, 2007)

When you right click a drive and click properties, it doesn't add up the size of all the files, it simply looks at the total size of the drive, and subtracts the space shown as allocated in the $Bitmap file; you don't have to wait for it to total up all the files. Same with Disk Management. They show allocated space and free space.

When you select files and then right click and click properties, it actually reads through the Master File Table ($MFT) to total up the size of every file _*your user account has access to*_. That's the key -- If your account doesn't have access to a folder, those files will not appear in the total size. This shows space used by files you have access to, not allocated space.

The "missing" space is in the *System Volume Information* folder. This is where System Restore points are stored. Normally, only the System has access, so nothing in this folder is counted when totaling space used by files. If you right click the System Volume Information folder, it will show that it has 0 files and 0 folders because only the System has access to that folder.

Vista allocates 15% (up from 12% in XP) for System Restore. With a 463 GB drive, 15% would be 69.45 GB. And since you are running Vista, you'll have Shadow Copies as well.
This will use another 15% of the drive, or 30% of the Remaining Free Space, which ever is smaller. You are using 35.79 out of 463, leaving 427.21 free, so 30% is 128.16 GB. So you could have 69.45+69.45=138.9 GB of space being used by files that won't appear in the total.

And that assumes the settings are at the default. On some systems, they might not have a maximum size limit set, so it will continue to grow.

To check the current allocation and usage:
Open an Elevated Command Prompt:
Click *Start*, type *cmd* in the Search box, press *CTRL+SHIFT+Enter*
Type *vssadmin List ShadowStorage*
This will list the limits on each drive, and the current usage.
You also use *vssadmin* to set the maximum size. (no more friendly slider like in XP)
*vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=30GB*

Remember this is the combined maximum for both System Restore and Shadow Copies. Shadow Copies can be a good thing, so don't be too stingy with the disk space, especially with a larger drive.

HTH

Jerry


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## LaDon (Apr 24, 2009)

Thank you that explains everything.

My hard drive stoped at 99gb witch fits perfectly with the numbers in the command prompter.

Thank you again.


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