Losing space constantly on Vista

mask · 10-22-2007, 01:50 AM

Hi guys,
I have been losing space constantly on my HDD. I am using Vista basic.
My OS drive says it has used up 23 GB, but when I do a property check on all the folders that I have in that drive, it adds up to ~10 GB (including the hidden stuffs). I tried a disk check on that drive, and the damn thing did not boot! Windows had to do its system repair thong before I could boot. Any ideas why I am losing space?

edit

ops, mispelt topic heading. can I edit that?

Raven322 · 10-22-2007, 02:00 AM

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=167983

AKAJohnDoe · 10-22-2007, 02:02 AM

And http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=177741

planet_vikram · 10-22-2007, 11:14 AM

I guess multiple restore points is causing the problem for u....

Go to Control Panel/System/Tasks Pane - System Protection/Uncheck the drive(s) you do not want restore points taken for/Apply.

You can also remove all but the most recent one there.

Dragonpet · 10-22-2007, 11:41 AM

Just be like me, do backsup regularly and turn the feature off completely. If used resource when not needed, and it generate harddrive noises, on top of that it uses up so much diskspace.

ScuderiaConchiglia · 10-22-2007, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragonpet

Just be like me, do backsup regularly and turn the feature off completely. If used resource when not needed, and it generate harddrive noises, on top of that it uses up so much diskspace.

Sorry, but lots of us here think that is really BAD advice. It only takes up resources WHEN a file is changed, added or deleted. It generates no more hard drive noise than any other disk operation. Is 15% of your hard drive REALLY that much to give up to save yourself from any changes made since your last backup? I am not suggesting backups are a bad thing, they are essential and system restore is no replacement for a good backup regimen. But it is a very good second line of defense.

Gary

AKAJohnDoe · 10-22-2007, 11:58 AM

I have always turned off Windows Recovery/Windows Restore points and never regretted it. However, I do have a backup strategy implemented.

Dragonpet · 10-22-2007, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScuderiaConchiglia

Sorry, but lots of us here think that is really BAD advice. It only takes up resources WHEN a file is changed, added or deleted. It generates no more hard drive noise than any other disk operation. Is 15% of your hard drive REALLY that much to give up to save yourself from any changes made since your last backup? I am not suggesting backups are a bad thing, they are essential and system restore is no replacement for a good backup regimen. But it is a very good second line of defense.

Gary

Maybe I should explain more on the do backsup regularly, I respect your advice and I can definitely see where you are coming from; it is just that this is how I approach this particular issue. By Regularly backing up I mean, having a set schedule, let's say weekly, backing up the entire drive or just the file that are important to you. Granted, if the files are so important to you that you see the need to sacrifice 15% of your disk space as a second line of defense, you should be backing it up regularly anyways. This brings me to my second point, 15% is a lot of space to waste for a "second line of defense", let's take a 100 gig hard drive as example, that's 15 gigs; a 500 gigs hard drive that is a Stunning 75 gigs of space you set aside just for Vista to use as restore points. Granted no body cares about disk space anymore now that hard drive price is very fair. But Vista constantly doing system restore point even though it doesn't have too, when I have the restore enabled, most if not all of the time the system is semi-idle to idle Vista decided it's a good time to start messing with restore points. Sometimes, I might be wanted to game and I have to wait for Vista to switch the resource. Or at times, Vista just decided when I am surfing it is a good time to set up a restore point, making drive noises. This might be acceptable if it is once a day kind of thing, and if you are in area that doesn't need silence; but as I take my laptop to class, the hard drive noise gets very very noticeable and it is almost constant. Above is my point of view, feel free the disagree with it again.

ScuderiaConchiglia · 10-22-2007, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragonpet

Granted, if the files are so important to you that you see the need to sacrifice 15% of your disk space as a second line of defense, you should be backing it up regularly anyways.

Oh, trust me I do back up regularly. Once a week I do a three way sync between my laptop, my desktop and a share on my Server (which then gets copied to tape). But I will gladly set aside 15% of my hard drive just in case anything should get lost between backups.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragonpet

But Vista constantly doing system restore point even though it doesn't have too, when I have the restore enabled, most if not all of the time the system is semi-idle to idle Vista decided it's a good time to start messing with restore points.

You have a very incorrect impression of how system restore works. It does NOT run unless there is an event that requires it to create a restore point. The ONLY time a restore point is created is when you install or uninstall something. The document shadow copy functionality that is now part of system restore, is done only when a document is added, edited or removed. If your machine is churning the disk at other times, it is not because of System Restore.

Gary

coolguy · 10-22-2007, 10:17 PM

It's weird. Sometimes I gain hard drive space in my laptop.