Computer help: C Drive used space != to sum of file sizes??
C Drive used space != to sum of file sizes??
by pigmypony - 11/4/09 12:17 PMHi there,
I have a strange problem with my computer. I've searched these forums and the web and found nothing similar. Hopefully somebody here will be familiar with these symptoms. Please bear with me as I'm not an expert in computers and the jargon. (I know this post is rather long but I want to be as clear as possible about the problem and everything I've done so far.)
first and foremost:
Lenovo Think Pad, Intel Core 2 Duo, T7300 at 2Ghz, 778Mhz 984MB RAM,
The OS: XP Pro 2002 w/ SP3
Ultimately, the problem is that my computer is performing poorly. A few symptoms, (in no particular order of severity):
1) slow boot;
2) Office apps like Word open/load slowly;
3) sometimes when I click between application windows a "ghost" of part of the former window freezes in part of the new window;
4) it sometimes hangs on shut-down;
5) I must "repair" the wireless network adapater everytime I boot, or wake up from standby or hibernate.
One very weird fact jumps out at me - My 90GB hard disc is nearly full. This is strange because, as far as I know, I'm only using about half the capacity. This assertion is supported by several tests:
1) First I added up all the sizes of the files/folders in the C:\ drive =~45GB
2) Next, at the command prompt, I did a "chkdsk f" and then listed every file in C:\. I've pasted the result below:
Total Files Listed:
66413 File(s) 49,124,473,355 bytes
21882 Dir(s) 7,302,565,888 bytes free (NOTE missing 33GB)
3) I downloaded trial TreeSize software and ran it on the C:\ directory. I've pasted the report summary below:
Drive: C:\
Size: 89,679.0 MB
Used: 82,885.2 MB
Free: 6,793.8 MB
4096 Bytes per Cluster (NTFS)
This Folder:
Size: 49,579.1 MB
Allocated: 49,399.9 MB
Percent of Drive: 55 %
Objects: 70,380
Wasted Space: 139.8 MB
So, out of 3 tests, all seem to show that I'm only using about 50GB of a 90GB hard disc, yet the computer thinks it's full and I can't run scheduled back-ups. The other day I couldn't burn a disc w/o deleting a few things to free up space. It said I was down to 30MB!
Another thing I looked at (with help of a former IT friend) was a report of Quota Entries. My friend enabled the quota function and we looked at the report. This report also shows something strange:
1) The "BUILTIN\Administrators" logon name uses 43GB
2) The logon name associated with me - i.e., same name as appears in User Accounts - uses 37GB.
3) And finally an "Adminstrator" associated with my account shows about 1.6GB
4) all other entries were trivial
So, I have no idea what this means. I can't figure out how to identify which files are associated with "BUILTIN Administrators" as opposed to files associated with my personal user account. The "Builtin Admins" user doesn't show up anywhere in control panel, or wherever.
A bit more background: My computer was exhibiting same exact symptoms about a year ago (namely, C drive was full). I stupidly tried to use the Lenovo supplied "rescue, recovery, restore" utility to reset the computer to an earlier date. It didn't seem to be doing anything so I turned off the computer and went to bed. Next morning I found that I couldn't reboot b/c BIOS had been deleted, or something to that effect. Apparently the firmware had been quietly "restoring" w/o any indication whatsoever. So, I took it to the university's computer helpdesk where they reformatted and reinstalled XP, including SP3. They also installed McAfee and AVG spy-ware. I never noticed much difference in the computer performance. Now, as things have gotten worse, I notice that I'm right back to where I was before - full disk. (btw, McAfee scans never found any threats).
thanks so much for reading my long long story. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Will
My very first thought
by MarkFlax
- 11/4/09 12:39 PM
In reply to: C Drive used space != to sum of file sizes?? by pigmypony
is what you said right near the end.
McAfee and AVG spyware. AVG isn't spyware but an anti-virus and anti-spyware scanner.
So, do you have two anti-virus scanners running full tilt together in the background? If so, this is where your slow performance is likely to be as they will conflict with each other.
I didn't see anywhere in the post where you checked for 'hidden' folders and files. In XP the System Restore utility stores its backup files in a hidden folder and sub-folders. The hidden folder is called "System Volume Information". Find that and you may find much of your hidden disk space.
You could disable System Restore, which would delete all those backup folders and files, then re-enable it to create a brand new restore point immediately, and that might free up a lot of hard disk space;
How to disable System Restore in XP.
I hope that helps.
Mark
re AVG/McAfee and System Restore
by pigmypony - 11/4/09 1:08 PM In reply to: My very first thought by MarkFlax
Thanks for your insights, Mark.
I should have mentioned that I DID include "hidden files/folders" when I was taking inventory. For future ref, Does the DOS list command NOT display hidden files?
In any case, I searched for "System Volume Information" and, not surprisingly, nothing was found. Then I changed folder view options to uncheck "Hide protected op. sys. files" (as opposed to a different option to "view hidden files/folders"). I ran the search again and this time the folder was found, located at the root, C:\, but the folder was empty.
Also, on my system restore settings dialog box, the max disc space allocated is about 10GB, whereas, I seem to be missing about 37GB of space. I guess.
Again, thanks for helping. Any further insights and ideas are greatly appreciated!
Will
For example.
by R. Proffitt - 11/4/09 1:48 PM
In reply to: re AVG/McAfee and System Restore by pigmypony
The System Volume Information directory may or may not show. There are ways to make it show.
To show the System Volume Information folder ...
by Kees Bakker - 11/4/09 1:54 PM
In reply to: For example. by R. Proffitt
study http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531
Kees
access denied
by pigmypony - 11/4/09 2:16 PM In reply to: To show the System Volume Information folder ... by Kees Bakker
thanks for the idea.
My user account is an administrator type account. Yet, I don't have access to the folder, and, in the properties dialog box there is no "security" tab. there is a "sharing" tab, but no way to "add" a user security clearance, as it were.
Hint:
by R. Proffitt - 11/4/09 4:11 PM
In reply to: access denied by pigmypony
Read it again, consider google and SAFE MODE.
I didn't have any trouble ...
by Kees Bakker - 11/5/09 1:11 AM
In reply to: access denied by pigmypony
to use the cacls-command mentioned in that article. Why not try that?
Kees
re: cacls
by pigmypony - 11/5/09 9:18 AM In reply to: I didn't have any trouble ... by Kees Bakker
Kees, thanks for your suggestion.
I tried "cacls" to no avail. Here's what happened:
The command failed when I used my username, which is "Bob Loblaw".
I typed: cacls "c:\System Volume Information" /e /g bob loblaw:f
The cmd response was: help instructions for the cacls cmd
But the command appeared to execute when I used the username "administrator".
I typed: cacls "c:\System Volume Information" /e /g administrator:f"
The cmd response was: "processed dir c:\System volume information"
However, back in windows explorer, when I clicked on the SVI folder I got the same red X msg: "Access Denied".
So, now a new questions:
1) If not "bob loblaw", then what is the proper username to enter in the cacls commmand, and why?
2) If "administrator" is proper username, then why is access still denied?
Thanks again for your input.
Will
Command lines need quotes
by R. Proffitt - 11/5/09 9:34 AM
In reply to: re: cacls by pigmypony
When an item or object has spaces then quote it.
"Bob Yourlastname" or else it's going to fail.
There are more articles about the SVI folder than you can imagine. Try researching more about this.
Bob
name in quotes worked!
by pigmypony - 11/5/09 11:24 AM In reply to: Command lines need quotes by R. Proffitt
thanks, Bob. That worked.
Interestingly, my user name "Bob Loblaw" was denied. The response was, "no mapping b/t account name and security ID was done."
But then I tried using the name "Pamela Hockert" (which is the name windows is registered to) and that worked! I could see the files. But, alas, the file sizes were trivial. So I guess he Sys Vol Info folder does not acct for the missing 33GB of storage.
Also interesting - I used cacls to try to get full permissions for the "rrbackups" directory,(also a hideen system folder). But I was denied access. The msg was "access is denied". If an administrator can't get access, who can?
Well, I'm about done with this headache. Thanks anyway for your suggestion.
will
There are a lot of articles but let me share how I get in.
by R. Proffitt - 11/5/09 12:25 PM
In reply to: name in quotes worked! by pigmypony
I boot up my UBUNTU CD. I do not install UBUNTU. I only run it "LIVE" so I can peek at things unpeekable.
Bob
Re: rrbackups
by Kees Bakker - 11/5/09 12:38 PM
In reply to: name in quotes worked! by pigmypony
That's an interesting addition to the information you provided.
My google toolbar suggest to do the following searches:
RRBACKUPS ACCESS DENIED
RRBACKUPS LENOVO
RRBACKUPS FOLDER
RRBACKUPS DELETE
It's a nice and well-known Lenovo backup feature, mostly in Vista, apparently also in XP. But yes, it uses a lot of disc space. I'm even inclined to say: it uses TOO MUCH disc space.
See if the above searches learn you how to recover that space, if there is nothing about it in the documentation that came with your laptop. But be sure to find another way to backup your valuable data.
Hope this helps.
Kees
bingo! "rrbackups" was the big hog
by pigmypony - 11/6/09 6:31 AM In reply to: Re: rrbackups by Kees Bakker
Kees,
That did it! I found about 30GB in 5 back-up files in the Lenovo R&R. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Now I just have to remember that this is what will be eating up my disc space from now on. What a pain that it's totally hidden from everything.
Anyway, thanks everybody for all your helpful advice and insights.
will
Yes that's strange
by MarkFlax - 11/5/09 2:42 AM
In reply to: re AVG/McAfee and System Restore by pigmypony
I see you found the System Volume Information folder yourself by 'un-hiding' system protected files, and it is empty.
I know with my own XP system that looking inside that System Volume Information folder didn't always find anything immediately. I had to use Explorer to highlight the SVI folder in the left hand pane of Explorer, then, any hidden sub-folders would appear as faint folders in the right hand pane, even though the highlighted folder in the left pane didn't have a "+" expand option. If I then double clicked the faint folders in the right hand pane, everything became visible.
I should explain as sometimes users don't know, when I talk about Explorer, I mean XP's file manager, called Windows Explorer, (from Start > All Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer). It is useful, but only approximates sizes, and hard disk spaces, etc.
Now that you have de-selected that "Hide system protected files", why not run that "TreeSize utility again, and start drilling down into sub-folders.
I haven't heard of "Quota Entires" before, so I may have to pass on that, but can you say more about this "BUILTIN\Administrator" account? Is that its name? If you use Explorer again, and go to C:\Documents and Settings, how many accounts are listed?
XP does have a System Administrator account set up by default, (if it didn't we would not be able to access the system), but as soon as we use that to create our own Admin capable account, this System Administrator account disappears from view. It is not deleted, the account folder and contents will still be available to view in Explorer. May be this Quota Entry thing is talking about that hidden account.
There are a lot of discussions about missing hard disk space in these forums, and the link below, (354 posts so far), may give you some more clues where to look.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?threadID=321026&tag=forum-w;forums06
About McAfee and AVG, there's a general rule;
Only one firewall needed.
Only one Anti-virus needed, (more than one running in the background can cause conflict).
More than one anti-spyware utility needed, (spyware takes many forms, and no single anti-spyware catches them all).
Good luck.
Mark
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