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  • #2174856

    Low Disk Space

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    by omar9981 ·

    I keep getting a low disk space warning on a 116 GB partition. When examining the drive it says 116 GB are used but the total sum of all files and folders on the drive isn’t even 10 GB. I have checked for viruses and spyware but to no avail. If anyone has had this problem before and knows how to fix it please let me know. Thanks.

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    • #3337857

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by bfilmfan ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      Check to see that the disk is properly seen by your BIOS.

      Also make sure that you don’t have one of the old and rather nasty versions of the Minkey virus that liked to create partitions on the drive until it was full.

      • #3349038

        Reply To: Low Disk Space

        by omar9981 ·

        In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

        I did have issues with the BIOS when I tried to install this drive with an older motherboard but now those problems are resolved. the total disk space looks fine. the free disk space is what the problem is. it’s a fresh copy of XP (not more than 1.5 months old) and I have not installed enough programs nor put enough files on this new partition to fill up 116 GB. however I did notice that it doesn’t keep filling up. after removing a few files I got it back to 775mb free and it is staying there. as for the virus. I have yet to find one with 2 different checkers

    • #3336465

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by dmiles ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      Turning off the alert
      Turning off the alerts requires you to make changes in the system registry. Start the Registry Editor by selecting Run from the Start menu, typing regedit in the Open text box, and clicking OK. When the Registry Editor opens, navigate through the left pane until you get to:

      HKEY CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

      In the right pane, look for the value named NoLowDiskSpaceChecks. If the value exists, it’s probably set to 0, which is the default value for the key. To change the value, double-click it. You’ll then see the Edit String screen. Enter a value of 1 in the Value Data field and click OK.

      If the value doesn’t exist, you’ll need to add it. Select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu. The new value will appear in the right pane, prompting you for a value name. Type NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and press [Enter]. Make sure you don’t separate each word with a space?it’s one long variable name.

      • #3349039

        Reply To: Low Disk Space

        by omar9981 ·

        In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

        It’s not really an issue of it notifying me when it shouldn’t be.. there actually is low disk space. there just shouldn’t be low disk space.

    • #3349190

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by softcorp.us ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      Presuming you’re running Windows XP…

      Your drive may actually be full.

      When you say “the total sum of all files and folders on the drive isn’t even 10 GB”, how did you determine that? If you manually selected multiple files and folders and chose “Properties” to compute that, and hidden and system files were hidden, you would not have counted them. For example, the “Recycle Bin” folder would be hidden and not counted via this method.

      To show all files and folders, in Windows Explorer, choose Tools->Folder Options. On the View tab, in the “Advanced Settings” box, scroll down and check “Show hidden files and folders” and uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”.

      Did this help?

      —–Steve Jackson

      CEO
      Software Corporation (Softcorp)
      http://www.softcorp.us/softclock
      Live time of day in cities around the world

      • #3349036

        Reply To: Low Disk Space

        by omar9981 ·

        In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

        I always have hidden files and folders showing. Not the issue.

    • #3348800

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by softcorp.us ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      You need to provide some more information about your problem so I can provide more than a “guess”. Please reply to the following questions:

      1. When you say “the total sum of all files and folders on the drive isn’t even 10 GB”, how did you determine that?

      2. What were the BIOS issues you had with the older motherboard?

      3. How did you resolve the BIOS issues you had with the older motherboard?

      4. What does Properties report for the DRIVE? Right click on the drive icon and choose Properties:
      4.1 “File System”?
      4.2 “Used Space”?
      4.3 “Free Space”?
      4.4 “Capacity”?

      5. In Windows Explorer, if you left-click on the drive in the tree on the left side, and then shift-click-drag-select all of the files and folders in the drive on the right side, and then choose “Properties” for them, what does it say?
      5.1 “n files, m folders”: What are “n” and “m”?
      5.2 “Location”?
      5.3 “Size”?
      5.4 “Size on Disk”?

      —–Steve Jackson

      CEO
      Software Corporation (Softcorp)
      http://www.softcorp.us/softclock
      Live time of day in cities around the world

      • #3349512

        Reply To: Low Disk Space

        by omar9981 ·

        In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

        1. I determined the total sum of all files and folders by selecting all files (non are hidden) on the partition (using shift+drag) right-clicked and hit properties.
        2. The BIOS issues with my old BIOS were that my old BIOS didn’t support drives that were 250GB as this one is. I didn’t use the drive with that motherboard. Instead I waited till I had purchased my new motherboard and now the BIOS reads the drive correctly.
        3. I did not resolve the issues with the old motherboard I simply waited till I had a BIOS that could support the drive.
        4. The properties of the drive are as follows: NTFS, Used 115 GB, Free 886 MB, Capacity 116 GB (I have the drive in 2 equal partitions as you can see)
        5. The report is: 25,437 files, 1,415 folders, size 9.77 GB, size on disk 9.53 GB.
        Obviously something hidden is taking the rest of my space. I just can’t seem to find it. And so you don’t have to ask.. no the box for ‘hide protected operating system files’ is not checked. I can see all files and folders.Besides as you well know, windows xp doesn’t need 115 GB for it’s files 🙂 Thank you for your help.

    • #3348261

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by wlbowers ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      Some older machines have a problem with larger drives. See if the board has a bios update.

      Make sure you have turned on view hidden files. Some replicators like to make copies of themself as hidden files and fill up your drive.

      Try running defrag and see if it agrees the disk is full.

      Good Luck Lee

      • #3348074

        Reply To: Low Disk Space

        by omar9981 ·

        In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

        Already tried defrag. I have the newest update to a BIOS that I know supports the drive. The motherboard is only 1 yr old at most. Hidden files and folders including operating system files are showing. thanks for the thoughts but that’s not the issue.

    • #3333103

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by irctrix ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      What operating system are u using? What type of connection are u on on the internet and how often are you online? If you are on a fast connection and online all the time your macine might have been rooted (hacked with a program setup on it giving someone access to your system through ftp) This also will not be picked up by any virus protection nor any malware scanners. Also the program is hidden and run as soon as you boot up or log onto the internet. There are ways of removing this if this is what it is knowing what operating system you are running.

    • #3334784

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by softcorp.us ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      Round 3… 🙂

      This is darn peculiar. Some other thoughts and suggested actions:

      1. NTFS CORRUPTION
      ==================
      The problem could be caused by NTFS volume corruption. This might be correctable by running CHKDSK.
      1.1 Have you run CHKDSK C: /F on the volume yet?
      1.2 Suggested Action: Backup your data. Then, run CHKDSK C: /F to fix any problems on the volume. Because C: is your boot volume, CHKDSK will ask/require you to reboot so it can run during Windows XP startup.
      1.3 Suggested Action: Run CHKDSK /L to see how large the log file is. It should be 64MB.

      2. NTFS ALTERNATE DATA STREAMS
      ==============================
      Windows Explorer says the 116GB volume is at or nearly full but only reports 10 GB of files. This could be explained by an extreme number of NTFS Alternate Data Streams. This kind of data is not counted by Windows Explorer or the DIR command. You should never have that much space taken up by this kind of data. But, you currently have a paradox and I’m offering this up as one possible explanation.

      I have written a program (scSTREAMS) that enumerates and accumulates the space occupied by NTFS Alternate Data Streams. It is available for free download at the following URL:

      http://www.softcorp.us/scstreams

      2.1 Suggested Action: Download scSTREAMS and run it on your C: drive. Report back the statistics is computes. This program operates read-only and cannot damage anything. Command examples:

      To see command options:

      scSTREAMS /?

      Search c:\ and accumulate alternate stream space for all files:

      scSTREAMS c:\ /s /so

      Please let me know if this helps.

      Best Regards,

      —–Steve Jackson

      CEO
      Software Corporation (Softcorp)
      http://www.softcorp.us/softclock
      Live time of day in cities around the world

      • #3335475

        Reply To: Low Disk Space

        by omar9981 ·

        In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

        ok.. first of all I had a problem with chkdisk. wouldn’t let me run it for some reason. obviously I couldn’t run it with window running so I used a boot disk only to keep getting ‘invalid drive selection’ (or something along that line) every time I tried.. tried several differenet switches on several different drives with no luck.. I have run scandisk of course but I didn’t come up with any errors and nothing changed. I’ve also tried defragging although it said it didn’t need it. (think I already mentioned that)
        however running scSTREAMS I got this information for my h: drive (the drive that is having the issue) 1,420 directories searched, 23,702 files found <10,457,944,691 bytes>, 1419 directories found, 6 alt data streams <104 bytes>, 56 open errors. This doesn’t seem to far off from the data I’m getting from most of my other partitions other than the open errors count is slightly higher.
        I’m still lost and still nothing has changed on the drive usage report.
        Thank you for sticking with me on this though. I really appreciate it.
        Jonathan

    • #3334593

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by irctrix ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      Yea XP machines are the most rooted i have seen. And for what i see in your question thats what i think might have happened.

      Check your system folders for a folder that looks out of place if there is one there maybe say a folder called dap you have been hacked and your machine is being used by someone else for something on the net.

      • #3335476

        Reply To: Low Disk Space

        by omar9981 ·

        In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

        I don’t usually keep a close eye on my system folders so I really wouldn’t know if anything has changed. Looks the same as I’m used to and there is no dap folders or files on my entire computer. Any other folders or files to look for that might be evidence of a hacker?

    • #3335427

      Reply To: Low Disk Space

      by irctrix ·

      In reply to Low Disk Space

      Best i can offer to find out if it is truly a hacked problem is do a search on your system for tar.exe and see if u get a match in any of your system folders. If you do get a match in a system folder most likely a sub folder of system32 you have been rooted and they are using your computer

      • #3334950

        Reply To: Low Disk Space

        by omar9981 ·

        In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

        Thank you for the suggestion but I have no such file on my computer. I kind of wish I had found it so I knew what the problem was. Thanks again.

        • #3334923

          Reply To: Low Disk Space

          by softcorp.us ·

          In reply to Reply To: Low Disk Space

          Hello Jonathan,

          CHKDSK
          ======
          Not being able to run CHKDSK is a big red flag and a solid piece of information. I think you should focus on getting CHKDSK to run. If it were my HDD and I had your problem and was unable to run CHKDSK, I would reformat, reinstall Windows XP and all my apps. This is a strong indication that something is wrong with your NTFS file system.

          Question 1: When you said you had a problem running CHKDSK, what was the problem? Please be as specific and include as much detail as you can.

          It is normal that you cannot run CHKDSK on your boot volume. You should not need to try to boot from a separate system to run CHKDSK. CHKDSK handles this by asking if you want to run it during the next Windows startup. You reply “Y” when asked by CHKDSK, and then restart Windows.

          Question 2: Did you get this question from CHKDSK?

          Question 3: Why is your Windows XP boot volume letter “h”? Odd problem. Odd boot volume. Just a correlation.

          —–Steve Jackson

          CEO/CSA
          Software Corporation (Softcorp)
          http://www.softcorp.us/softclock
          Live time of day in cities around the world

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