My Os Drive Keeps Growing!

[GLO]

Hi, i run separate partitions for my OS and applications and Data.

I set aside 4Gb for XPpro sp2 but that 4Gb is full now.

What programs keep writing to that OS partition.

I install all applications on a separate partition.

I know updates go to the OS drive andNAV 2005 updates but what else???

I want to keep it as minimal as possible.

Thanks

[seapagan]

Internet Cache (have you cleaned it recently?)

Uninstall Information (every windows update file will also store some)

Temporary Files

Installed file leaving the package behind (in C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations and C:\WINDOWS\Installer for example)

lots more!

All these can mount up. Not all temp files are removed after use, and some installers copy the full install package to the system folders too. Have you moved your profiles path from the system drive to elsewhere? otherwise all files in 'my documents' etc are stored here also. 4Gb seems a little restrictive - windows really needs some free space on the system drive to function best. Certainly some defrag programs (diskeeper for example) will complain if you have too little free space on a drive). If you have the swap file here too, and set to auto manage, it will grow at times too, maybe hibernation support files (huge)?

That's just off the top of my head, there are probably more.

SP

[dman]

Is system restore turned on? That can also burn a lot of space.

[Drewdatrip]

Try seperate the My docs, my music etc

|Drew|

[GLO]

Internet Cache (have you cleaned it recently?)

Uninstall Information (every windows update file will also store some)

Temporary Files

Installed file leaving the package behind (in C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations and C:\WINDOWS\Installer for example)

lots more!

All these can mount up. Not all temp files are removed after use, and some installers copy the full install package to the system folders too. Have you moved your profiles path from the system drive to elsewhere? otherwise all files in 'my documents' etc are stored here also. 4Gb seems a little restrictive - windows really needs some free space on the system drive to function best. Certainly some defrag programs (diskeeper for example) will complain if you have too little free space on a drive). If you have the swap file here too, and set to auto manage, it will grow at times too, maybe hibernation support files (huge)?

That's just off the top of my head, there are probably more.

SP

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Seapagan,

The internet cache is cleaned out regularly.

Profiles and my documents are stored on the separate 'data' partition.

Can i move the swap file?

[GLO]

Is system restore turned on? That can also burn a lot of space.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes it is, but i dont know if i can move this to another drive (partition)

[GLO]

Try seperate the My docs, my music etc

|Drew|

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

yes, that was done after the last fresh install!

[dman]

GLO,

You don't need to save system restore. If system is working OK there is no need to save a bunch of old restore points. You can turn it off, then back on to flush all of the old restore points. Then make a fresh restore point. (or just leave it off and make sure to back up regularly)

[seapagan]

Can i move the swap file?

Yes, you can move the swap file - in the Advanced tab on system properties, performance settings then advanced, change virtual memory. Set C: to 'no paging file' then select one of your other drives and enter a custom size or system managed swap file. Remember to press 'set' on C after removing the old and again after adding the new. I have my swap generally set to a same min / max, and on a partition of it's own that no other files go on. Will stop the page file getting fragmented also.

SP.

[ripken204]

theres no point in system restore if u have the hdd partitioned, all u have to do is reinstall xp if sumthing goes wrong and nothing happens to any of ur other files

[gunsmokingman]

You Must Have Your Folder Set To Show Hidden Files And Folders

You Can Remove This Folder To Save About 400 MB Of Space

\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache

The Downside is that when Windows File Protection Needs A File To Replace

It Will Ask For The XPCD To Replace The File.

[Takeshi]

Don't forget the space taken up for Recycle Bin and space used up in Program Files.

You can reduce the space reserved for Recycle Bin and install new programs elsewhere.

I'd not turn off SR completely: just reduce the space reserved.

Moving the page file should not be a problem.

But limiting a partition to 4GB is pushing it a bit for WinXP unless you spend a lot of time pruning it to reclaim space.

[Cartoonite]

theres no point in system restore if u have the hdd partitioned, all u have to do is reinstall xp if sumthing goes wrong and nothing happens to any of ur other files

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The whole point of System Restore is so you don't have to re-install the OS if something goes wrong, not just to preserve data files. Since data files are preserved by System Restore anyway, they should still be backed up elsewhere in case they somehow get corrupted.

I suspect a far more likely culprit in this case is going to be uninstall files for Windows updates. I know my own system partition has gotten quite full because of these files. Once I do my next re-install (hopefully soon, since it will also involve some hardware updates ) I plan to install all updates manually rather than have Automatic Updates do it for me. Hopefully that will allow me to get rid of all the unneccessary back up files. I think combined they are chewing up about 500MB on my home system.

System Restore and the Recycle Bin both operate on a percentage basis, so they can easily be set to use a very small amout of space (as little as 41MB on a 4GB drive) that they will then not exceed. I'm still waiting for the time they will allow me to set them to lower than 1%. Do I really need a 2GB recycle bin just because I have a 200GB hard drive?

Anyway, hope this helps. Keep us posted, GLO.

[albator]

First, Set the paging file to be on d: It will help you control things.

second,system restore = weak. Turn it off and use a real backup program like acronis true image.

The c: drive should never be more than 1 gig in my opinion. Mine is 550 meg.

That way it keep windows clean and fast.

[seapagan]

First, Set the paging file to be on d: It will help you control things.

second,system restore = weak. Turn it off and use a real backup program like acronis true image.

The c: drive should never be more than 1 gig in my opinion. Mine is 550 meg.

That way it keep windows clean and fast.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Personally, I dont agree with keeping the windows partition so small, especially with the insane size of hard drives these days. True, you can move profiles, swap, internet cache, (some) temp files etc etc to another drive, but what benefit does it trully give you? You will still end up pruning files at times. I have done all this in the past, but got bored very quickly with the hassle. What real benefit do you get from saving a couple of Gig on your system drive when most systems these days come with 160+ gig drives? Windows still seems to run better (in my opinion and experience) if you give it a bit of slack space. As stated before also, some program installations WILL use the system drive to store their images, including uninstall stuff, and windows update just fills your windows dir with backups of the files it replaces.

And while System Restore may not be as fully featured as acronis true image, it does have the benefit of being installed by default, does what it is supposed to do with no setup, and is free.

Just my opinion

SP