Vista drive using an excessive amount of disk space...
Apr 9, 2009 at 3:23 AM Post #16 of 46
I fix computers for Telefunken ECC802S tubes. One computer in good working order = one ECC802S.
wink.gif
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 3:30 AM Post #17 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif
something else is taking up your drive space and those are not the restore points and shadow copies, since they are restricted to 3.859GB in your system.

anything particularly wrong with your PC you haven't told us yet?


Nope. Theres nothing wrong with the computer.
I'll work it out and post solution
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 4:04 AM Post #19 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by CDBacklash /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Nope. Theres nothing wrong with the computer.
I'll work it out and post solution


nothing alarming in your event report?
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 4:12 AM Post #20 of 46
Nope. I'm thinking of upgrading internal storage in the future. Will wipe the drive since that one has a dodgy connection (well, it feels dodgy but works perfectly fine). Im sure someone knows what i mean.
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 4:01 PM Post #21 of 46
I would NOT use a registry cleaner. I bet for every computer a registry cleaner fixes it destroys another.

There is a freeware solution called "CCleaner." It will go through your drive and clear up temp files, junk, etc. I've used it for a long time and it works well. One warning though. When you install it you will get a page where it gives you the option to install a yahoo toolbar. Make sure you deselect the option for installing the toolbar. The software does not have any other adware/spyware so you can install it without worry.
CCleaner - Home

It also has a registry cleaner but I would not bother with it.

Somebody has already stated that you've probably got memory dumps, logs, or something else hogging up space. I've had storage space mysteriously vanish before (usually on servers) and the easiest way to find out where is by going to your C drive and checking out how much space each folder is taking. When you find the folder that is hogging space, go into it and check which folder (or file) is taking up the space in that folder. Keep going into folders until you find where the problem is.

That will help you to find out what software is causing the problem in the first place.

Remember to make sure you show hidden folders/files so you can see everything.
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 4:26 PM Post #22 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif
hmm..ok. couple things we know 1) you are not that familiar with PC hardware diagnostic procedures and 2) it's probably better if you can take your computer to a professional to get it fixed. What brand is your PC?

Regarding memtest, you have to download memtest86, burn it on a bootable CD, and boot your pc with the CD inserted; have memtest run multiple times (may take 2-4hrs). Report back, whether or not you have errors, when you have done that.

If I were you I find a geek friend and get them to fix my computer.


Your response is a bit condescending. Just because I've not heard of memtest86, which you called mem86, I'm not qualified to attempt to fix a computer? BTW I found it before your reply. I had to assumed you had the name wrong. Ran the test overnight and the memory is fine.

When I boot up into safe mode and it tells me why it blue screened. It's always the video driver. I've tried what Vista thinks is the latest driver, and the latest drivers from both NVida and HP (the brand of computer). In the list of drivers in device manager, I've tried every driver in the list except the VGA driver, which I'm assuming is what safe mode uses.
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM Post #23 of 46
do you have a PCI video card? if not get one, but be sure you have an available PCI slot. note: PCI != PCI-E
did you install your chipset driver properly?
do you have any other OS on your disk?
anything notable in your event log?
if you have dual channel memory can you take out one of the 2 modules that's furthest away from your CPU?

Do all that and report back.
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 5:03 PM Post #24 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Vista has been driving me crazy. Two nights ago, I installed a Windows update and went to bed. When I got home the next evening, the computer had been blue screening on boot up over and over all day. The blue screen cleared too fast for me to see what was causing it but I could boot into safe mode.

I did a restore to before the update and that didn't fix it.

I did a restore to a week ago and that didn't fix it, but after that restore, some program ran when I booted to safe mode that told me it was the video driver.

Device manager said I had the latest driver so it would automatically fix it.

I downloaded the latest driver from NVida and installed it and it didn't fix it.

I downgraded to an old version of the driver and that didn't fix it.

I gave up, powered off and went to bed. This morning, I powered it on and it booted fine.

I've had the computer for 2 months and it's the second time it's blue screened. The other time, restore fixed it. I haven't had stuff like this happen since I was doing Windows development on NT 4. It's very frustrating


I had a similar problem. Occasionally, when I'd shut down my computer, it would get into a rut of failing to boot. The STOP message code, during the boot sequence, would usually be 0x0000007E. Once these BSODs began, my system wouldn't boot via any of the normal software solutions, except in safe mode, where I could run chkdsk and get it working again. However, the chkdsk would corrupt my registry, so many of my programs wouldn't work.

Eventually, after fiddling with enough stuff, I'd get it booting reliably again, only for it to start happening a day, a week, or a month later. I eventually traced the problem to a loose SATA cable, which was leaning against the frame of a case fan. Every so often, it would work itself just loose enough that the computer couldn't read the drive properly.

My advice: if safe mode (hold F8 as the computer goes from the BIOS to the little windows-is-loading meter to get the startup menu) + chkdsk, or booting from the last known good configuration (it's another option on that F8 menu) doesn't fix your problem, it's likely to be hardware-related. Failing hard drive is another (somewhat scary) possibly. But I'd power down and make sure the SATA cables are connected properly, first.
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 5:07 PM Post #25 of 46
Apr 9, 2009 at 5:37 PM Post #26 of 46
in response to the PC spec, you will have to remove 3 of the 4 memory sticks (potential timing issue).
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 6:17 PM Post #27 of 46
scompton - My spouse's laptop had a similar problem. I ran no end of tests on it. Tests would fail then they would not fail on the second the third runs. Memtest86 in particular was just irritating. It would freeze, it would report errors, it would work properly, etc. Vista would not even write the memory dump to disc.

Memtest86 is far from perfect. I've seen plenty of complaints about false positives (RAM fails test when RAM is fine) so I don't know what use such software is.

I could not figure out the problem. I finally just purchased a new hard drive, cloned the old one to the new one, and viola, not a crash ever since then. The laptop is solid.

This mirrors exactly what null_pointer_us (that's a funny username by the way) said.
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 7:29 PM Post #28 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif
On board NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE video

I haven't installed any hardware

Vista is the only OS

I'll check the event log and remove the memory this evening.

BTW, this is what I have and where I bought it
HP Pavilion a6547c Refurbished AMD Desktop PC - AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6GHz, 4GB DDR2, 500GB SATA 3G, DVDRW DL Lightscribe, 15-in-1 Media Reader, Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP1 RB-HPKZ720AAR at TigerDirect.com


Watch out for the 5000+ to my knowledge there are a bunch that like to blow up ram due to incorrect voltage settings(?). Had one at my parents house... killed 4 gig of DDR3
frown.gif

*HDD space on C: is down a gig since last post. Might format earlier than expected...
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 7:36 PM Post #29 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by CDBacklash /img/forum/go_quote.gif
*HDD space on C: is down a gig since last post. Might format earlier than expected...


You've probably got some software that switched on error logging and it is eating up all your free space. Before you reformat (and end up with the same problem after a reinstall) I suggest you try to figure out where the space is going. Check how big folders are. Start looking for the problem using your file/folder explorer.
 
Apr 9, 2009 at 7:43 PM Post #30 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by odigg /img/forum/go_quote.gif
You've probably got some software that switched on error logging and it is eating up all your free space. Before you reformat (and end up with the same problem after a reinstall) I suggest you try to figure out where the space is going. Check how big folders are. Start looking for the problem using your file/folder explorer.



Yeah. Go through folder to folder and see what is biggest space hog. Then browse the subfolders till you find what program eats up your disk space.
 
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