# C drive almost full but folder sizes don't add up to capacit



## Woffiedog_1 (Nov 29, 2004)

Greetings,

Have a SSD for my C drive. 256 Gb. Noticed recently that it is almost full ~25 Gb free space. Ran disk clean up which recovered some space. Added up the size of all the folders on the drive and they only add up to ~86 Gb. Looked at the size of the old OS partition before installing the SSD last year- it is only 126 Gb. I purchased the 256 Gb with the expectation it would only be half full. It was when I first installed about 1 year ago?

Any suggestions what could be taking up the extra room? Anyway to free up the space.

Thanks for your help in advanced!

Cheers,
Marc


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

There's many hidden and system files.

Run WinDirStat to see which folders are the biggest: http://windirstat.info/


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## Woffiedog_1 (Nov 29, 2004)

Thanks, downloaded and ran WinDirStat and the total comes up to 93.9 Gb for the C: drive which makes sense looking at the size of the folders. Not sure why it is still looking like ~200 Gb in Windows under my computer and C: drive? I still have the old C:drive as another partition on a normal HD but that has been reassigned to a different drive letter and is not used at startup. Was going to delete the files on the old once I was sure the new was working properly but never got to it . Wondering if that could be the issue?


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## Woffiedog_1 (Nov 29, 2004)

Should I be concerned about a rootkit or similar? Have Symantec on the computer and run MalwareBytes.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Some people have had better luck with Tree Size Free when WinDirStat has not shown all the space used.


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## Woffiedog_1 (Nov 29, 2004)

Thanks! That shows where the discrepancy lies. There is a 118Gb System Volume Information folder. What is that, is it necessary? Can I get rid of it?

Thanks for your help!

Cheers,
Marc


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## Woffiedog_1 (Nov 29, 2004)

Ok, looked it up. Had the Advanced Setting System Protection at 100% for the C Disk!! Lowered it to 20%. It was turned off for the data partitions. Should I turn this on for my Data drives also? I back up my computer frequently with a disk image program.

Thanks for your help!


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Woffiedog_1 said:


> Lowered it to 20%.


 Good.

Your choice on the Data partitions. I make a backup image monthly of system and data partitions (and my new or modified data gets backed up online almost immediately), and turn System Protection completely off. I don't necessarily recommend that, as my way may mean reverting to nearly a month ago while a Restore Point may set you back only a day or two.

You're welcome.


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

There are TWO figures given by WinDirStat
The total file size
The space taken on the disk.

That second one is the important one.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Also, you may need to right click and run WinDirStat as Administrator.


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

Now I think about it I am thinking more of the FAT and FAT32 file systems.
With NTFS the two should be fairly close.


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## AtlBo (Jun 2, 2010)

System Restore is great to have available, but I am finding more and more that 3-5 restore points should be enough for me. I do use the PC alot, and I catch things fairly quickly usually. Also, I do keep image backups handy.

I have SR set at 5%, which is just 2 restore points at the present time and about 5 GB of space. The drive is only 160 GB, so that's why the small amount. I am comfortable with that. At 5% on a 250 GB disk, you should get 10-12 restore points at least...


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