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11-12-2010, 07:05 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2008 Location: Calabash, NC | |  Swings in available hard drive space
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I've noticed this going on with my laptop for some time now. The hard drive on my laptop only has about 4~5 GB of available space left on it (I've already gone through and got rid of some programs I don't use). Anyhow, my situation is that just about every time I click on "My Computer", its says a different amount of space available on my hard drive. I'm talking about differences on the scale of gigabytes, not megabytes. I expect there to be small changes in available space, but sometimes it says there's 4.5 GB, and then it'll say there's 7 or 7.5 GB. I use my laptop mainly for internet usage. I hardly ever create files or download any files or new programs. Does anyone have any idea what could cause such big shifts in available hard drive space overnight when I haven't saved/created anything that big?
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Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar  Let's genetically build Jar Jar Binks so we can hunt him down in the Florida swamps and kill him. Repeatedly. | |
11-12-2010, 07:20 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Carol Stream, IL | | | Drinking and pr0n. |
11-12-2010, 07:30 AM
|  | My favorite songs were never heard on the radio | | Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tulsa, OK | | | How big is the drive? What operating system are you running? Let's say for example you have an 80 GB drive and are running Windows XP. Windows doesn't like it when you let the available HD space go below 10%, give or take. This is because of the page file size, which it uses for virtual memory. I imagine it's fluctuating because it's constantly filling up and dumping your page file. You need to free up another 5 GB or so, or get yourself a bigger hard drive. |
11-12-2010, 07:32 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: (M)a$$hole. | | | Exactly. Seems like a perfect reason to get either a larger drive (I just got a 250 gig drive on NewEgg for my lappy for 42 bucks) or spend 60 on a portable external USB hard drive, and migrate your non-essentials off the main drive.
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11-12-2010, 07:47 AM
|  | You don't want to do that. Trust me. Forum Administrator | | Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: atlanta ga | | | if you look at a lot of movies online, regardless of what they are, then that could explain the swings in space.
regardless of whether you are actively "downloading" a movie or not, in most cases the file is being put on your machine, at least temporarily.
there are also files that vary in size that are used by windows as swap files/virtual memory. the impact of these files can become more apparent when your drive gets more full.
__________________ Talkbass Forum Administrator Ask me, I'm here to help. Lord Only on Myspace - 4 New Lord Only Tracks from our 2nd CD Lord Only - yes. we're back. sorta versatile residue -12 minute instrumental I find it elevating and exhilarating to discover that we live in a universe which permits the evolution of molecular machines as intricate and subtle as we. - Carl Sagan Rock 'n' Roll... It's got nothing to do with journalists, and it hasn't really even got anything to do with musicians, either. - Pete Townsend |
11-12-2010, 08:29 AM
|  | Superfast 2.0 | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: San Antonio, TX | | | Empty your temp folders and run a defrag. |
11-12-2010, 09:26 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2008 Location: Calabash, NC | | | I've been looking at getting an external USB hard drive since I'm down so far on my available space. I have A LOT of music on my computer which I would put on the USB drive so that would free up a good chunk of space. I guess there's a reason why the hard drive meter in My Computer turns red after a certain point. I've been keeping pretty up to date on my defrags/virus scans/registry scans, but haven't emptied my temp folders in quite some time. I'll give that a go. Thanks for the replies guys.
Brian
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar Let's genetically build Jar Jar Binks so we can hunt him down in the Florida swamps and kill him. Repeatedly. | |
11-12-2010, 09:28 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2008 Location: Calabash, NC | | Quote:
Originally Posted by MonetBass How big is the drive? What operating system are you running? Let's say for example you have an 80 GB drive and are running Windows XP. Windows doesn't like it when you let the available HD space go below 10%, give or take. This is because of the page file size, which it uses for virtual memory. I imagine it's fluctuating because it's constantly filling up and dumping your page file. You need to free up another 5 GB or so, or get yourself a bigger hard drive. | My system is a Dell Inspiron 1420 running Vista Home Premium with a 100GB hard drive.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar Let's genetically build Jar Jar Binks so we can hunt him down in the Florida swamps and kill him. Repeatedly. | |
11-12-2010, 09:35 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Eh? | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassman316 My system is a Dell Inspiron 1420 running Vista Home Premium with a 100GB hard drive. | 100GB is enough for a working system install. What kind of program do you use that fills the hard drive like that?
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Originally Posted by tom once dead Also to prove my Australianism, I've been stung by an irukandji jellyfish before, while snorkelling at an island looking at stingrays. | |
11-12-2010, 09:55 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: (M)a$$hole. | | | yeah, if you reached your max cache size (which you set) and haven't dumped in a long time, the processor is taxed with running both your apps and compensating for more and more temp files, that'll be a strain on resources too, like RAM.
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11-12-2010, 10:07 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2008 Location: Calabash, NC | | Quote:
Originally Posted by L-A 100GB is enough for a working system install. What kind of program do you use that fills the hard drive like that? | Two things come to mind that could fill up a lot of space on my hard drive- my music library and Microsoft Flight Simulator, which I may remove, at least until I get an external hard drive, since it doesn't get much use lately. If I remember right, in the Programs list, Flight Simulator was listed at something like 13 GB.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar Let's genetically build Jar Jar Binks so we can hunt him down in the Florida swamps and kill him. Repeatedly. | |
11-12-2010, 10:10 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tampa, Florida, US | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassman316 Two things come to mind that could fill up a lot of space on my hard drive- my music library and Microsoft Flight Simulator, which I may remove, at least until I get an external hard drive, since it doesn't get much use lately. If I remember right, in the Programs list, Flight Simulator was listed at something like 13 GB. | Wow.
World of Warcraft was the biggest game on my computer before I quit and before it crashed, and that was about the same, but that was an MMO.
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Originally Posted by hover What man hasn't declared jihad on his tallywhakker every now and then? | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bloodhammer I'm so metal, my farts are pinch harmonics. | |
11-12-2010, 11:11 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2008 Location: Calabash, NC | | | Yes, Flight Simulator is a hefty program. On a bit of a side note, I have now gone into Control Panel>Uninstall a Program to remove Flight Simulator. Uninstall wizard did its thing, and claims the program and its files were successfully removed. However it's still showing up when going into Program Files>Microsoft Games under My Computer, and its footprint on my hard drive space is most definitely still there. Something tells me if I just go in and delete the Flight Simulator folder there's going to be a mess. Anybody have any pointers with this latest development in my attempt to clear up space?
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar Let's genetically build Jar Jar Binks so we can hunt him down in the Florida swamps and kill him. Repeatedly. | |
11-12-2010, 11:13 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tampa, Florida, US | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassman316 Yes, Flight Simulator is a hefty program. On a bit of a side note, I have now gone into Control Panel>Uninstall a Program to remove Flight Simulator. Uninstall wizard did its thing, and claims the program and its files were successfully removed. However it's still showing up when going into Program Files>Microsoft Games under My Computer, and its footprint on my hard drive space is most definitely still there. Something tells me if I just go in and delete the Flight Simulator folder there's going to be a mess. Anybody have any pointers with this latest development in my attempt to clear up space? | You run the uninstall through Flight Sim itself? You might want to do that.
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Originally Posted by hover What man hasn't declared jihad on his tallywhakker every now and then? | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bloodhammer I'm so metal, my farts are pinch harmonics. | | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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