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Windows XP install query

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by mattfjohnsonuk

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I recently installed WInXP on my machine. In total it came to about 1.8gig. Then I installed SP2 over the internet (a patch of about 110meg I believe) and it bumped it up to 4+Gig on my c: drive. This isnt much of a problem cos I have 10gig available but it is just confusing me as to where this space has gone. If you check the properties on C: it says 4gig but if you high light all on C: and check that it only comes to about 2gig. Where is this hidden data? Any one else encountered this problem?

5 replies

by thechas

Yes, Installing SP2 actually doubled the size of your Windows XP installation.

What has happened is that when SP 2 started to install, the first thing it did was create a "restore point".

This allows you to go back to the previous configuration.

Windows XP also sets aside a portion of your hard drive to use for storing deleted and updated files.
Again, this is to facilitate dropping back to a previous configuration.

Chas

by mattfjohnsonuk

Right so now we've established why it happened is there any way to solve it? I still want this 2 gig back but can't find the files its hidden in. I deleted some files that were hidden in the Windows directory like $984kWINBACKUP$$ or something but that only came to about 500 meg. Any ideas?

by hal 9000

But if you mess with Windows it might very soon become one. The restore points are a necessary thing for recovering from problems that can and do arise with Windows XP.

I know M$ claim XP is the most stable and secure OS that they have ever made but that is no help when something goes wrong and SP2 in my humble opinion is more of a rewrite of Windows than a simple parch. From experience SP2 also increases the size of the Swap File to improve system performance as well and that could be where a lot of your Hard Drive space has gone. Particularly if you are running on a lower amount of RAM that what M$ considers as "Recommended!"

The easiest way around this is to fit a second HDD and install all of your programs onto it as well as transferring "My Documents and e-mail" to the other drive. That way you will retain your data when Windows falls over or the HDD fails. With the current crop of HDD's they are as cheap as chips I'm currently paying about $1.00 AU per GIG.

Col

by thechas

Yes, you can reclaim some of the disk space the Windows uses for System Restore.

I recommend against doing this as you reduce your ability to recover from a crash or virus infection.

Right click on My Computer.

Select Properties.

Click on the System Restore tab.

Select your hard drive and click on Settings.

Move the slider to reduce the amount of disk space that is available to system restore.

Chas

by hal 9000

Do you think it possible that he may have chosen to save a copy of the original OS when installing SP2?

If he did that he could free up quite a bit of Hard Drive space. But even then only 10 GIG is not a good size for a drive unless it is only a "Boot" drive.

Col

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