progressive loss of hd space

[giwatcher]

I recently cloned my win7 160g hd to a larger capacity 500g since I was approaching the upper limits. I have been downloading large video files to an external hd, then deleting into trash when finished. An example that puzzles me is if I download a 5g video to the external hd, it uses 5g of external hd capacity, as expected. After use I delete it and it goes into the win7 trash, and while in the trash, the win 7 primary internal hd shows a drop in available hd space of 5g, as expected. But when I empty the trash, I do not recover the 5g reduction, even after reboot. This process is what I was doing when my first 160g primary drive unexpectedly reached full capacity. I can find no duplicate file that I am overlooking, but at this rate, I will exceed the new 500g drive. Is there a built in backup that I am unaware of? How do I recover the lost space so that I can maintain my hd capacity?

 

[iceblitzed]

This built in backup is called shadow copy:

To resize this shadow copy backup: you need to run the following command in the command prompt as adminstrator:
vssadmin resize shadowstorage/On = C: / For = C: / maxsize = 3GB. Note to change C: to whatever drive you have.

Its always good to have some shadow copy just in case.

 

[giwatcher]

Thanks for the reply. Your method is the same as my computer>right click>system protection>configure. There is a slide bar to set the available space and a statement of how much is being used currently. Mine is using 1.6g and has a max of 3g, so this doesn't explain emptying the trash of a 5g video and not recovering the available space equivalent in the C drive. Also, I have only 1 restore point, so this isn't the source of the problem. The storage of the video file seems to be maintained in a hidden location, so that emptying the trash doesn't purge the data usage. Any other thoughts?

 

[giwatcher]

As a followup, I just used wondershare dvd creator to convert a 2g video file located on my ext hd to a playable dvd. Before I started, the available space on my C drive was 324g. At completion, the space dropped to 319g, even though the 2g video was never stored on the C drive. The shadow space remains limited to 2%, 9g, but the used space did go up from 1.6g to 2.2g, an increase usage of .6g, but remember my available hd space didn't drop by.6g, it dropped by 5g. I looked in the wondershare program folder with hidden file visible, and the whole folder is 50meg, so no large hidden file there. At this rate, my new hd will be full. I believe this is a universal problem that many are experiencing, but not noticing if their drive is large. A solution for me will be helpful for all.

 

[iceblitzed]

Would try using programs like CCleaner (a disk cleanup program better than windows one) and windirstat (disk usage anaylzer)
http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/windirstat_portable
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ccleaner_portable.html

 

[lmlmlm22]

As a followup, I just used wondershare dvd creator to convert a 2g video file located on my ext hd to a playable dvd. Before I started, the available space on my C drive was 324g. At completion, the space dropped to 319g, even though the 2g video was never stored on the C drive. The shadow space remains limited to 2%, 9g, but the used space did go up from 1.6g to 2.2g, an increase usage of .6g, but remember my available hd space didn't drop by.6g, it dropped by 5g. I looked in the wondershare program folder with hidden file visible, and the whole folder is 50meg, so no large hidden file there. At this rate, my new hd will be full. I believe this is a universal problem that many are experiencing, but not noticing if their drive is large. A solution for me will be helpful for all.

 

[lmlmlm22]

HELLO GIWATCHER !
You are describing a SERIOUS PROBLEM with, ALL windows computers .. I started to notice this constnat ueating up of HD Memory for NOTHING .. already on old XP computers ., ALL windows computers are getting their HD eaten up with invisible files that are probably not malware, since no Antivirus program will touch them .. they are protected by the Windows System as Un-Touchable .. But I have no solution, and myself searching all forums to see if anyone has a solution to this ..
all that I see so far is that YOu are the ONLY PERSON who has even noticed this !!!
apart from myself ..
THIS is truly MAJOR PROBLEM .. and no one is even looking at it !
maybe because they change computers before their HD gets eaten up with these invisible files ..
I am getting 500-600 MB of files secretly put into my HD without my permission ,, these are not updates and not WSINDOWS DEFENDER as I have (i believe) disabled them both .. but who knows .. with Windows and their surge to Police all users, they may just have this "user disabling function" purely as cosmetics .. they control your HD and everyonels HD and there is little we can do ... We buy their product, but the product is never ours !
I want my HD MEMORY BACK !!!

 

[mjslakeridge]

+1 for WinDirStat. I had some large files filling up the C drive. Using WinDirStat I was able to determine that there were some files related to Webcams I viewed, and then was able to delete them.