My hard drive is almost full, but I can't tell with what. I know that sounds crazy but I've got a modest 40 GB HD and when I look for files - I can't find anything that adds up anywhere close to 40 GB. I have moved most of my files to an external HD, I have cleaned my cache, emptied all trash bins, etc. I have even downloaded additional utility programs to make sure that my system is working correctly and my HD has no errors etc. I have defragged the HD as well.

I need to free up LOTS of space to get my system working back relatively efficiently and quickly again but am lost as to next steps.

Any recommendations?

Okay, I'm no computer guru ... but, I was told that a lot of the space can be taken up by those temporary internet files ... and I have found that to be true! So, be sure to empty that out.

Also, regularly do a Disk Cleanup which can be found by going to Start, Accessories, and System Tools. To my understanding, this cleans up old files that are hardly ever or never used and you can clear the temporary files out there too.

And, it's not only the files, but the programs on your computer that take up an unbelievable amount of space! You might want to try moving some non-essential programs to your external HD (I put things like my music files and programs (like Napster) and all my business programs and files (like QuickBooks and TurboTax) on my external). However, you will need to change your shortcuts on the desktop afterwards so that they correspond to the new drive.

Hope this helps!! But, hopefully, a more computer savvy member will be able to give us both more assistance!

There is a program called TREESIZE which will scan your disk and tell you the total size of every subdirectory on your drive. It works great. You can download it here:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,23075,00.asp

umbra

I'm not thinking too hard coz its late at night, but BURN everything to cd then strip back your harddrive and optimize it.

A very simple way to clear up HD space is to go to use the find/search command. (assuming you use windows)

Find/Search - files & folders - *.tmp - enter
(make sure that it is searching the c: drive)

This will find all those files that were not used other than the time that they were created. In other words, they can be safely deleted.

Also, if you have music files or photos stored on your drive, they can take up a lot of space. Try moving those as well...

Without knowing the particulars of your computer (processor speed, ram etc) it is hard to say what else you can do to speed it up, but you could add more ram. If you are really feeling ambitious, you can add another internal drive to your computer - they are usually faster that an external drive.

Also, if it is running slowly, you may have some sort of virus that is using up the processor and making everthing run more slowly. The same can be said for a lot of virus protection software.

Good Luck.

quote:

Originally posted by umbrarchist:

There is a program called TREESIZE which will scan your disk and tell you the total size of every subdirectory on your drive. It works great.

This did the trick! Believe it or not, I had about 14 GIGS of old emails (hidden .pst files) clogging everything up!

THANKS TO ALL!!!

You have some software that automatically hides files and doesn't tell you? That's sneaky.

That's what I fnid annoying about software. It is designed in a way that they think is logical then they either don't explain what it does or make it hard to find.

My basic computer philosophy is:

Programmers do it with bugs.

umbra