Windows XP: What’s eating up my hard drive space?
- 1/9/09 3:15 PM
Laptop updates
by wayneepalmer - 1/10/09 12:27 PM In reply to: A 38 gig drive ? by einarb2That is not entirely true. For a laptop, as long as you have USB ports you can merely attach an external hard drive.
Also, if your feeling adventurous, you can actually replace the hard drive in a laptop.
I had an old PIII Compaq laptop with a 30GB 5200 Rpm Hd in it (which was a defective design from day one and was replaced at least 3 times by my Dad - who offered it to me out of the trash).
I installed a newer Hitachi 60 Gb 7200 Rpm drive and a clean copy of Windows XP about 3 years ago. I dumped the entire Compaq software package that came with it) and I've been using it ever since. It's been as far as the Philippines (I was doing homework for an Solidworks class via email on vacation in 2007).
It taken a beating, too. Only one optical drive works sporadically and the usb ports are broken but its still good for web-surfing and I've got 2 other pc's ...
Running out of hard drive space Compaq
by searcher14 - 1/12/09 10:53 AM In reply to: Laptop updates by wayneepalmerNow hold on, partner! You said you dumped a compaq hard drive and you got another one in there, and it worked!? How?? I've got three down. I will say again that I'll never buy another Compaq again in this life! My machines will not let me replace the hard drives (two desktops and one lap) and the company hasn't been any help. What did you do? Write and tell me step-by-step what you did to make your compaq fire up with another hard drive. I don't need any more paperweights!!! You name it, I can get it.
It's actually pretty simple.
by wayneepalmer - 1/12/09 11:32 AM In reply to: Running out of hard drive space Compaq by searcher14The drive bay is just inside the panel for the non-removable DVD drive. Open the DVD drive and you'll see the front of the Hard Drive at the top of the drive bay.
Then you install a Stand-alone version of Windows XP SPII (III might give you issues just 'cause III has issues, period). DO NOT USE THE COMPAQ OEM SOFTWARE!!!! Download any drivers you need off the net.
The physical format for the laptop drives is pretty standard. As long you get a drive with the same plug format (I bought the new one on EBAY!). Remember - Compaq/Hp is only an assembler of PC's (and they use the cheapest parts!!).
One trick ... just be sure you know exactly the plug format of the current drive and you should be fine.
I will give more details on this here this evening when I get home from work.
Running out of hard drive space: Compaq
by searcher14 - 1/13/09 10:13 AM In reply to: Running out of hard drive space Compaq by searcher14Well, the highest those computers could ever take was Windows 98. I'd love to put XP in them. Current: I've got two that I can't even get a blue screen on now. One that I can fire to the hard drive, then it fails.
I tried to put other OS' in until no blue screen on two and a DOS screen on the third. It won't take them. I then went back to Win 95 and 3.1. Still no! It says,"contact vendor." Ok, so I did that, going through all the steps. The vendor, Compaq, gave me three codes, two didn't work at all and the third worked for a few minutes, then locked the machine. Oh yes, I tried Windows 98, second edition and Windows XP Professional (both from other vendors). I'm thinking painting them in '60's hippie colors. A few peace signs, you know.. just so I don't stumble over them, unless one of you has a magic wand I could use!
Exactly which Compaq's do you have?
by wayneepalmer - 1/13/09 10:50 AM In reply to: Running out of hard drive space: Compaq by searcher14You MAY be SOL (especially on the Desktops).
Compaq's hard drives really suck for some reason. My Dad gave me 2 Compaq's (one desk, one lap) as they'd toasted the drives. I got both to work for a couple of months and then each baked out the HD completely.
The desktop (a WIN 98/ME unit) had some really odd (I think VIA or CYREX?) CPU setup with built in video and audio and it really was limited in upgrading to just 2 pc100-era memory slots, and a space for a 2nd optical drive.
The laptop I replaced the HD in was a 2700 series Presario that started out with XP Home in it so it had at least a fair hardware set. You do need one of those right angle screw drivers or to remove the DVD (3 screws I think) to get at it. There are 2 screws that point down just behind the DVD access panel. After you get them out the HD just pulls right out of the unit.
I would venture to guess that it is possible you have some serious limits on accessable size of HD's with these older units, too.
Frankly, given the low cost of new gear you would just be better to donate them to a recycler and buy something that can at least surf the web or play a minimal game without locking up or crashing due to video overload.
Anything pre-PIII 800Mhz with less than 500mb Ram, 16mb video and 30gb HD is only suitable for trashing. If it didn't start out with Win 2k or XP, it likely isn't worth a second try to fix it.
Running out of hard drive space: Compaq
by searcher14 - 1/15/09 12:32 PM In reply to: Running out of hard drive space: Compaq by searcher14Ok, just so we're on the same page. The title is just the title. HD space I've always had. A nerve was touched when one user said he got a compaq to fire up with another drive, in this forum.
I was running 3 drives in the desktops (SCSI), beside the primary. One fine day it crashed! Then another one crashed. Prisarios! The @$*$# screen said cannot find the hard drive (or something), then it continually said contact vendor. Then I had all the software and hardware fun trying to bring 'humpty-dumpty' back to life again. Then I found out Compaq puts the primary in it's software instead of on a chip and it will only recognize the code number on the original drive, otherwise it shuts down the machine. I don't like that. That is why I say I will not buy another @%#&*$@ Compaq. It's short sighted! Hard drives fail all the time. An owner should be able to swap out the old one and re-install! Now, if someone says (as they did) that they got by that problem, I want to know how!! For one reason my parallel equipment will not work in a series machine. My equipments working great, just not in a series machine. So where is that person? Tell me how you did it!? Ok! Ok, please!!
I was serious on replacing the laptop HD
by wayneepalmer - 1/15/09 12:58 PM In reply to: Running out of hard drive space: Compaq by searcher14It was a Presario 2700 Laptop that origianlly came with XP.
I removed the 2 screws from front of the original 30 Gb 5400 rpm HD (I think it was a Toshiba) and installed a 60 Gb 7200 rpm Hitachi HD pulled it out and put the new one in. Then I took a RETAIL (as in not OEM or the original software version) of Windows XP and installed it.
I did NOT reinstall ANY of the original software that came with the PC. I didn't have most of it.
My version of XP recognized just about everything I NEEDED and getting the drivers for most everything else went pretty smoothly.
However ... the 2nd backup battery has not been recognized since the fix (both batteries were already toast anyway and most of the time so is the CD burner).
The USB ports worked for another year and a half (physically broken now - spouse abused!) and I still use it for surfing on AC power all of the time. I did rely on it for a while as a primary and used flash drives for backing up Quicken and CAD homework.
Compaq & disk drive crashes / replacements:
by tilius42 - 3/15/09 6:09 AM In reply to: Running out of hard drive space: Compaq by searcher14I have replaced disk on Compaq / HP / DEC machines from laptops to those running SAN / RAID / Optical / Gigabit etc:
1. What model Compaq do you have?
2. Chipset / BIOS version / post BIOS pre OS Compaq 'utility' software version etc?
3. OS - XP Pro?
3. Disk drive config - SCSI / RAID level / RAID hardware, software or both, disk manufacturer / model / i/f etc.
4. Your preferred solution / configuration
What's eating up my Hard Drive?
by ozziecuttlefish - 1/24/09 4:39 PM In reply to: A 38 gig drive ? by einarb2Hi people,
I teach computing in the University of South Australia, and this is a common problem that many students have problems with.
One of the first things that I suggest is Pagefile, followed by a Registry Crawler Program, and then Registry Healer.
If you go to TuneUp.com (Freeware Download) and run across your system, will solve many problems.
Empty the Recycle Bin.
Internet Explorer is rife with problems and on average is the MAIN problem with Virus/Trojan download and infections. To alleviate this problem "Download FIREFOX 1.0". Then go into programs and uninstall "Internet Explorer".
Restart "Firefox" and download that latest version of Firefox (3.0.5). With Firefox, you have the ability to empty all temp folders/files, passwords, cache etc when you log off.
I try to enforce in people's minds that digital photos, videos and music use up extraordinary amounts of Hard Disk Space. If you are a buff o this type of surfing &/or storage, buy yourself an External Hard Drive. To keep your computer purring along nicely, try to maintain a minnimum of at least one quarter of your hard drive - as free space. Just because it is there, does not mean that you have to fill it up. Each program on your computer has allocated itself a certain portion of your RAM & too, your HDD to run. The more programs you have, the less available RAM and space of your HDD.
Another common problem is that people load Mega/Gigabytes of information onto their Desktops. This means that every time you want to do something the computer has to run through everything on your desktop to start with. If you want to have everything on your desktop, right click on it and "Create A Shortcut" to the program or whatever, then go and file the original in My Documents or Programs.
Another way to free up space is: if you have several users in your startup screen, delete the ones that you donot use on a regular basis, as each user is allocated the same programs that you have access to. If you have four users on your computer, you have effectively taken up 250MB space that could be used for something else.
I trust that this may answer some of the questions of the problems that some people experience
Happy computing in 2009, if anyone wants more solutions, feel free to contact me at "ozziecuttlefish@gmail.com"
ADVICE for handling mystery-file in DrWatson folder?
by Good-PC.Guy! - 1/24/09 8:16 PM In reply to: What's eating up my Hard Drive? by ozziecuttlefishGoodDay GOOD SIR!
THERE'S OFTEN TO BE A FILE (found in the 'DrWatson' folder), NAMED:_' user.dmp '_, WHICH MYSTERIOUSLY APPEARS (as about 2 or 3mb at first), AND CONTINUES TO GROW, (taking-up free-space on drive-C), SOMETIMES UNTIL UP TO OVER 100mb, WHEN IT THEN MYSTERIOUSLY EITHER DROPS GREATLY IN SIZE OR GETS REMOVED ALL-TOGETHER!! (WITHOUT NOTICE TO THE PC's OPERATOR/OWNER!)
IF OPENED, IT APPEARS TO CONTAIN VERY MUCH CRAP-DATA_* , WITH NO PURPOSE OTHER THAN TO TAKE-UP DRIVE SPACE!
*(such as ART-WORK, MAZE-DRAWINGS, PLAY-WORK with LETTERS and/or DIGITS, etc.,etc.!!!)
CAN YOU SHED SOME LIGHT ON ANY LAGITIMATE PURPOSE FOR THAT PARTICULAR FILE PLEASE?
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME & CONSIDERATION, EITHER WAY, (my fellow good-man)!
What about Windows Explorer
by mijcar - 1/24/09 9:14 PM In reply to: What's eating up my Hard Drive? by ozziecuttlefishIt's been years since I've played with Internet Explorer, but back when I did, I learned the hard way that IE and Windows Explorer are interdependent. What happens to Windows Explorer when you remove IE? Does it still work? Will opening My Computer still be possible, or useful?
Your advice has possibilities, but I am concerned that you seem to have a strong bias against IE. Running IE 7 in parallel with Firefox 3.0.5, I have learned that Firefox takes longer to boot up and may be a little quicker on the fly ... until you start loading it up with Add-Ons. I find that IE7 running with IE7Pro can pretty much match anything Firefox can do natively or with the bulk of recommended add-ons.
Internet Explorer 7 takes up almost 5 MB of programming space; Firefox takes up almost 27 MB (5 times as much, although both are negligible in terms of computer space. IE7Pro adds 8 MB, btw. Both use apparently similar headspace in terms of RAM usage (although this is hard to measure fairly).
Believe me, I am no lover of Microsoft, but you need to give the monster its due if you want your recommendations to remain believable.
Hmmm-system restore maybe
by Stareyez - 12/19/08 5:30 PM In reply to: What’s eating up my hard drive space? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Check and see if you have system restore turned on- most likely yes-That could be the guilty culpit ALTHOUGH if it is you should make plans to back up your system another way (system restore isn't that great but it has saved my butt a couple of times...)
Peace and good luck!
Windows XP
by edbrady - 12/19/08 5:37 PM In reply to: What’s eating up my hard drive space? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Have you checked the amount of space that's taken up by System Restore? That usually (but not always) "eats" about 10% of your hard drive. You can easily lower that amount.
Go to the Control Panel, then System, the the System Restore tab. Then Settings. At that point, you can control the amount of your drive that is taken up by System Restore.
I use only 5%, but, then, I have a drive that's almost twice the size of yours.
But, this might help.
Hard drive space
by gvo - 12/19/08 5:39 PM In reply to: What’s eating up my hard drive space? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It sounds like you're doing all the right steps for cleaning up the drive. Did you clean out the recyling bin? Also I tried using CCleaner recently and it found a lot more crap than Disk Cleaner or other programs have found.
Greg
RE: What’s eating up my hard drive space?
by razzamatazzer - 12/19/08 5:43 PM In reply to: What’s eating up my hard drive space? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I would venture to say that you have too many "restore" points. Delete all but the latest,known to be good one.
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