HELP! Computer Nerd Question

[Iceaxe]

OK.... I have a 500 GB hard drive. It has 250 GB of data on it..... and suddenly I start getting disk full messages so I look and it says I have 490 GB of data stored.....

So I do a defrag and notice my 250 GB is sitting nice and neat but I have almost 240 GB of files that it keeps telling me I need to defrag (and it will not let me). Anyone have a clue what's up?

I know my actual data should be around 250 GB.... but I have either phantom/useless/dump files showing up or something. I ran a scandisk fix and that was no help....

And I've run malwarebytes so I don't think it's a virus..

HELP!!!!!

[Sombeech]

It's the format of the hard drive. I forget the details without googling it off hand but... one type of format, such as NTFS will only store half as much as FAT32 - or the other way around.

Or something like that....

I'm too lazy to google it. But it's the format. You'll have to dump that stuff back off, format it in the right way, and then put the stuff back on.

[DiscGo]

Justin is probably right, but as far as Defragging goes, try MyDefrag.

http://www.mydefrag.com/Manual-DownloadAndInstall.html

[BruteForce]

OK.... I have a 500 GB hard drive. It has 250 GB of data on it..... and suddenly I start getting disk full messages so I look and it says I have 490 GB of data stored.....

So I do a defrag and notice my 250 GB is sitting nice and neat but I have almost 240 GB of files that it keeps telling me I need to defrag (and it will not let me). Anyone have a clue what's up?

I know my actual data should be around 250 GB.... but I have either phantom/useless/dump files showing up or something. I ran a scandisk fix and that was no help....

And I've run malwarebytes so I don't think it's a virus..

HELP!!!!!

NTFS will not half your available storage. Selecting a format that is at 2048+ per sector (when you have small files) will gobble disk space, though. Is it possible you've inadvertently drag-dropped and duplicated a large folder? I would also empty your recycle bin. Sometimes, having a very full bin of previously deleted files will still show as a full disk (until you empty the bin).

http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm

[Alex]

Windows Explorer - Tools - Folder Options - View (tab) - Click on Show Hidden Files

After you do that see if there are any large files. Also check what HD formatted in Fat or NTFS just what the guys said above. By default external drives come formatted as FAT32 for those useless Macs to use it.

[Iceaxe]

The hard drive is NTFS
No large hidden files
I've already dumped my recycle bin

When I run the MS defrag it tells me the hard drive needs to be defragged, so I do that and if I run defrag again it again tells me my HD needs to be defragged.... basically my HD appears to have about 250 GB of phantom fragged and unmovable files.

I'll try DiscGo's defrag....

I really don't want to format my HD, it takes me two days to getting everything back on and running.

I have a few other ideas and I'm looking for more...

.

[DiscGo]

If you can't get it worked out, bring it to me and I'll fix it for you.

[cilantro13]

+1 on the block size (how you formatted NTFS) unlikely to be the problem.

Some easy tips:
1. Right click on your Recycle Bin, select properties, and reduce the size of the recycle bin from 10% (default) of your hard drive space to 1%.
2. Then, google turning off system restore (and deleting restore points), which can also gobble up unreported space on your drive, especially if your computer has been used for two or three years without a reinstall.
3. Also, if you use IE, open up the Internet option and delete temporary internet files.

There is also a utility you can use that will show you the size of each folder (including subfolders), which will help you manage your drive better in the future.

http://www.labnol.org/software/display-size-of-every-folder-in-windows-explorer/7643/

[Iceaxe]

OK... I just reduced the size of my recycle bin. That should at least give me more space to work with for now.

Cleaning all temp files and deleting previous restore points was the first thing I did to clear up some space.

And I still can't believe no one has mentioned deleting all the porn..... I figured that would be the first piece of advise I recieved. :haha:

And DiscoGo, thanks for the offer, I'm going to keep working on it for a while before I give up. I hate to lose, even to a computer....

.

[denaliguide]

And I still can't believe no one has mentioned deleting all the porn..... I figured that would be the first piece of advise I recieved. :haha:
.

that's just crazy talk. that would be the last thing i would suggest you delete. dlete all your system files first.

[Sombeech]

And I still can't believe no one has mentioned deleting all the porn.....

The internet does a fine job of storing this for you.

[asdf]

If you open windows disk management how much space does it say you have? I had a similar problem a few weeks ago and ended up finding 30gigs of log files from some cracked out program.


Also....d id you try to Triforce it?
http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=129409

[Iceaxe]

Woohoo.... problem solved....

unfortunately I did a couple things at once so I'm not sure what the actual problem, correction, or fix was......

The problem/fix was either the defrag Disgo suggested.... or.... a corruption in my outlook express program that I repaired by backing up my email and restoring it.

The defrag program was the 4th different defrag utility I tried..... so unless that one does something special I can't say it was the fix. I'm guessing the problem was in the outlook express. I store every email I send or receive, this includes hundreds of large CAD files each week..... so I'm thinking that is where the problem was....

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. :2thumbs:

Here are some hot stormtroopers for your troubles.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2129/2098523563_e9f288cec9_o.jpg

http://img2.visualizeus.com/thumbs/09/04/03/star,wars,cosplay,costume,female,funny,girl-8f522a2aa49987c2b1c56c1105d306a7_h.jpg

http://images.cryhavok.org/d/1479-2/Female+Stormtrooper+2.jpg

http://scifigeek.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/femtroopers001.jpg

[jman]

glad you fixed it before you called it quits and lose to a computer. haha

BTW - To choose between the storm troopers gals, I would choose pic#2 girl and #3 looks like she can't believe she dressed up as a storm trooper.haha

[accadacca]

Also....d id you try to Triforce it?
http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=129409
:haha: