Question : Problem: Hardrive space disappearing

I've got an interesting case for you. I've been searching all over the web for this but I can't find an answer.

I am constantly losing hard drive space, but this is not the regular case of growing swap files or forgotten recycling bins or Norton backups, so please read on.

First up, I am using Windows XP with NTFS 5. I have two HDs, and Western Digital 80GB 7200rpm, and a Maxtor 20GB 5400rpm, and an Asus A7M mainboard with 512MB DDR-RAM. I have never experienced this problem with Win2k so I am guessing it doesn't have much to do with NTFS alone, but more with XP or a combination of the two, or a hardware error.

Here is exactly what happens (as an example or several cases I've experienced):
My partition F: says it has 93.4 MB capacity left. I move a folder of 1,5 GB to another partition on my HD. After I've moved it, and thus completely removed it from partition F:, I check the free space. Still, 93.4 MB. Nothing has changed. Strangely, it does work sometimes. I moved a 130MB file and the space freed up.

At first I thought it was a hardware HD error. The problem, however, is that this is not only happening on one HD. I have a second HD built in to my PC (the Maxtor HD) and it's been doing the same thing. Until now all of my partitions have been experiencing this phenomenon except for C:, thank goodness, but I think it is only a matter of time until that happens. I don't want to know about the swap errors I'll be getting by then. ;x

When I run a chkdsk /r /f /v it says something about an index and fixes it. Funny things is it fixes it (almost) every time I run chkdsk. Screenshot -> http://www.parasight.de/chkdsk.gif

This problem first occurred when I was printing huge Photoshop 7 files. Printing used up so much extra HD space and then it wasn't freed. My F: partition has a lot of activity from eDonkey2000, so it fills up easily. I usually just move files to another partition and continue downloading until it's full again.

This space-eating problem has been persisting since a few weeks. After a while I think the space frees up again, but I can't keep my word on that because I have not been keeping track. I just know that after a while I will have a lot of space free on that partition again. I have no idea how it happens, it just does. I move a lot of large files around so I suppose that could be it. Either that or the lost space just comes back.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this. I hope somebody can help me. It's really frustrating, as you can imagine. Sorry I can't offer more points, but I just signed up.

Answer : Problem: Hardrive space disappearing

parasight,

If I am reading you .gif correctly, and I know little of what appears to be german(?), your problem could actually be a simple one.  From what little I can comprehend you have a live mirror utility running in the background.  Companies such as Norton, McAfee, and Executive Software offer these types of utilities.  Whenever you delete or relocate a file on a hard drive, the file is still present.  The utility simply retains the physical location information of the file, and does not allow Windows to designate it as freespace.  So you can move 100 GB of data from one partition to another, but the files have in actuality been copied not moved.  You should first check to see if you have any active backup or deletion protection services installed.  Right-click on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen.  Click on Task Manager, and view the running Processes.  You should already be familiar with this since using 2000, and access is done the same way.  Try to identify each process' corresponding program by entering the process name in the Search function.  You might have to enter the Folder Options and unhide all files, folders, and protected files.  If you are using a deletion protection utility, you need to empty the Recycle Bin after every move or delete to regain freespace.  If you are using an active recovery program such as GoBack, you might need to disable the program to restore freespace by removing saved data.  I cannot say for certain since I do not use an active recovery program such as GoBack.


I am a little confused about how Photoshop 7 is eliminating freespace when printing images.  The Scratch file can impede performance in some cases, but outside of it's annoying message prompt usually does not.  However there is always the chance that the Scratch file is growing based upon the size and value of your images.  However since I do not use PSP7 as often as I should, I suggest you check the Help or Adobe's website to see if you can reduce the Scratch file to it's original value.

I could be completely out in left field, but I would first look for a backup utility that might have been installed around the same time you noticed the loss of freespace.  You might also wish to run Disk CleanUp.  This will allow you to delete past Restore Points and saved data no longer needed.  While I have not experienced it in XP, your loss of freespace could possibly be attributed to the System Restore.  Disk CleanUp will also allow you to delete outdated temp files, Internet Content, and other outdated data.  It can help to create additional freespace by compressing files not accessed recently.  Once you have run Disk CleanUp on all your partitions, Run CheckDisk on all partitions, and this will usually require a reboot.  After rebooting, run defragmentation on all your partitions, and finally a virus scan with the most recent virus definitions.  I do not believe that your board has an on-board RAID Controller, so that active mirror should be either a utility or a virus.  However if the problem still presists, please let me know what maintenance did concerning your freespace so I can try to isolate the conflict further.

If you need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to ask.  Audiodog