Okay, wonder if this is weird but...

[KarmiDex]

Okay so hi all~ ><;
Kay how do I start...
I basically have this problem for nearly like...a year. I'm also not sure. I think it started like...last year or somewhere there.

Anyway, first off - My comp has this problem where it takes a long time to turn it on. One click takes about....5 seconds press? So I already recognize the pattern of how it looks like when it turns 'alive'. So thats my first problem - Power problem I guess. >>; Actually this problem is not the first time so I may just need to change the erm....power *hums....faint* I don't what is it called but I know gotta replace a new one (not first time problem xD; again)

Now the second problem is, my harddrive starts acting up. I don't know if is because ever since I bought the DMC4 PC game and installed it (completely failed >>; ) that it started acting weird or because of the 50GB external harddrive I had for Christmas that it became like that...
How did it act up?
Okay well its like this...

My all around Local Disk (C: ) whole err...capicity size is about 20.0GB. >>; So I don't know how it gradually...ate up space.
Like 5 minutes later from like...I think before it went drastically low - It was originally 12GB something left. But then ever since I got the external harddrive (or could be the DMC4 pc game >>; bleh okay I'll admit it, its not original), it went from....down to 9GB, then 8, then 7...it goes low according to minutes.
5 minutes - 9GB down
another 5 mins - 7GB
Until it goes down to.... 3GB = =;
Also, it also go down with how long I use the computer. When it stays at 4GB, I use the comp for 6 hours, it goes down to 2GB
So I removed some unimportant programs (;______; even sacrificing my Photoshop, Skype, Cyberlink, Flash, Dreamweaver...;___; ) and thought it'll reduce some space...and maybe there's too much programs and stuff so I remove them.
But didn't work.

Its kinda funny how I can still use the comp now and still using it. >>; Its been surviving through this problems for nearly a year...

So I'm not sure. I need advise or some information...

Could it be that it relates to my external harddrive to be the problem? Or the power problem? ....Or >>; shall I suspect is some sort of virus? (>>; although there's alot of worms here but its been everyday and...yeah)

Help me please?

And sorry to trouble anyone but ><; I do need help...

[Animeruko]

hrrmmm... Reformat. simple fix ..

[chikorita157]

System Restore usually takes alot of disk space, especially when you are installing and removing software or install new drivers, which can in turn make the space available on the hard drive lower than it's supposed to.

First, you should clean all the temporary files and old restore points. First, disable System Restore and reenable it and you will see that there are more disk space. There is also a option to limit the space that System Restore uses. If you really need the disk space, you can disable it, but be aware that you might not be able to use it if something goes wrong.

Second, run a program called CCleaner, which will remove all the temporary files and cache from your web browser and other program.

Third, defragment your hard drive. Overtime, your computer will get slower due to file fragmentation. Use Jkdefrag, which is more efficient than the built-in disk defragmenter. Do a full defragmentation.

Your last option is to do a full reinstall and make sure that this time you do the usual system maintenance so that the system won't slow down

[-KarumA-]

Also what are your specs, like your RAM, uuhm work memory (don't know what it is called in English)?

[SaintessHeart]

What are your specs for your PC? Namely the

1. Processor type
2. Power Supply Unit
3. RAM
4. HDD
5. Integrated peripherals (your sound/graphics/ethernet card)

Here are some things which you can do. Run a defrag then use CCleaner to see if it works. If not, post your specs here, along with the temperature of your HD (use HDDHealth, google it).

If you suspect it to be a hardware problem I would suggest you open up your CPU and clean it up from the inside. Grab a vacuum cleaner and suck out all the dust and clean up your fan. There is a risky thing that is worth doing, and that is pulling out the entire processor and power supply unit, take them apart and clean up the respective heat sinks and fans. It worked for me and my computer stopped randomly hanging after doing so. Whatever you do DON'T use water. Quick evaporating alcohol is fine.

Though the simplest option is still to backup your files and run a full format of your hard drive. Mine survived 5 years already and I only replaced the power supply so far.

[fict_ticious]

Heh, I used to have that capacity problem. Turns out the problem was my internet habits :v
You can try clearing your cache and other things - I find that it adds up after a week. You can also turn off drive indexing. Everything else has already been mentioned.

I would also recommend migrating to a bigger drive. An 80 GB drive shouldn't run you more than $50.

[Claies]

20GB's pretty tiny for a hard drive, and by current standards, even 80's small, considering Vista will take up a half of it.

$60-80 can give you something like 320GB, so do consider looking for the money. In fact, this is on sale, with free shipping, for $50:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136098

Although the above comes without cables. You can probably find it in the store for about $80.

Actually, is this a PC or a laptop?

[chikorita157]

20GB's pretty tiny for a hard drive, and by current standards, even 80's small, considering Vista will take up a half of it.

$60-80 can give you something like 320GB, so do consider looking for the money. In fact, this is on sale, with free shipping, for $50:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136098

Although the above comes without cables. You can probably find it in the store for about $80.

Actually, is this a PC or a laptop?

Considering that most computers now come with more than 20GB, that computer might not use SATA since most computers start to use it 2004 and beyond. Most likely the OP's computer uses IDE for hard drive connection, in that case SATA won't be a option.

[SeedFreedom]

I wouldn't rule out a virus. My old desktop had a ton of them and ran like a tortoise, especially on start-up. I keep my laptop a little more clean and it loads up much faster.

Would also explain the space eating.

[KarmiDex]

been quite a long time since I visited here x___x sorry all
Though I really appreciate the time you guys replied~

Hmm...
Eh I guess is the virus ><;
But then again, I sorta been using this comp for like....nearly a year ever since the 'space eating' issue started/noticed.
I've uninstalled Photoshop (SAAAADDDDDLYYYYY) so the capacity is...a tiny bit lighter.

I'll try to follow your advises...
If not!
My last weapon will beeeeee~
.......

Dun dun.
Technician xDDDD~

God I'm such a loser.

[Furuno]

You might want to check the C:\Documents and Settings\<anything>\Application Data. Some apps usually will keep a lot of cache in that directory, for example, my NetBeans cache is approximately ~600 MB or so. Definitely a resource hog if you don't need the cache data and/or already uninstalled the application.

Virus... hmm, I don't know, I haven't have any experience with virus that will take down several GBs in several hours...

[Renegade334]

Originally Posted by Furuno

Virus... hmm, I don't know, I haven't have any experience with virus that will take down several GBs in several hours...

Haven't either - it just sounds like the System Restore routine backing up file upon file upon file and inevitably whittling away at your available space (on such a small HDD, it's all the more obvious, too). Just go to your desktop, right-click on the PC icon, 'properties', switch to the 'System Restore/Protection' tab and either deactivate the SR option or configure it so that only a small fraction of your HDD is used (say, one or two gigas, not more - or even less if you feel like it).

Also, try to see if you don't have programs that make constant backups of certain files (for example, I noticed my previous version of Ad-Aware kept backing up its definitions, which sometimes resulted in unexplained increases in HDD image size) or, as stated above, just empty the caches. My own father - although he likes to call portray himself as a tech-savvy person - never cleans up his own XP. Last time I went on his machine to fix things up, I ended up trashcanning 400Mb worth of temporary Internet files, temp files and a flood of other useless things that should've been committed to digital oblivion a long time ago. And I don't remember how many cookies from every godforsaken corner of the Net, too (some of them were even tracking cookies - and he still dares to call himself a 'careful person'...that nerve of his...).

Compressing unused files (for that, use 'Disk Cleanup' in 'Start' > 'Programs' > 'Accessories' > 'System Tools') and defragmenting them do work wonders, too.

[Dreamtale]

It's swap obviously. Something like this happens when system is nearly dead. Reinstall OS (and buy normal HDD :P )

[Claies]

Originally Posted by Dreamtale

It's swap obviously. Something like this happens when system is nearly dead. Reinstall OS (and buy normal HDD :P )

lolwut. Swap is where the system uses hard drive space for RAM when it doesn't have enough of it. This has nothing to do with how the HDD works and its health. Obviously, a larger HDD would help the issue.

[KarmiDex]

Just thought I also add this; but its kinda weird cause...
I'm using Firefox at all times when I'm on the net o-o
Weird thing is xD sometimes in 15 mins, it'll actually reduce to 4 GB and I was like'Whoaaaaa' cause I didn't really have anything else on except firefox and Winamp player. O-o so I thought its okay to actually have it on...

But some days later, I did the same thing, had only firefox and Winamp player alone on and then it actually ate up to 5GB >>;
.....
I seem to think there's this technology mouses hidden somewhere inside the system that eats up space at random meal time. -.-;;
Okay the mouse part is a joke but yeah.

@____@; I've read several replies and I was like "T.T I'm such a noob...*doesn'tknowwhatodobutgoingtotry*
I did what Renegade told me buuuuuuuut...
It didn't work wonders -.-;


So I conclude from some of you that this is not a virus...? x__x

Sorry ><; I just get jumbled up and pretty slow in understanding all this operating system error stuff...;___; Forgive me for all the trouble~
*bowsbowsbowsbowsbowsbowsbowsbowsbows*

[Tiberium Wolf]

Can't you see where's the space been eaten is? I only use a tool called Winnc when I want to check folders size... might be bit complicated to use for new ppl. Anyway if you can see where the space is being used you can figure out what program is using it.
BTW, about the swap issue... swap can take a lot of space if you don't have limit specified to it. And it really eats a lot when a program go awire and starts making the swap become large without reason. Just check the task manager the size of it. If the swap is in your specified limits then it's something else.
No matter what you must be able to see where the space if been eaten. Some sort of file being generated somewhere.
Oh forgot. Unless your filesystem has an error in which in counts wrongly the free space. If this is case better do a scandisk.

[Furuno]

Well, from my experiences, I've never see some 4 GB or more dynamic swap file on "default" Windows installation. Usually windows will sets 1.5x the amount of your current RAM. And obviously, if you have 2 GB (even 1 GB will do, 512 MB if you're not doing 10+ tabs of Youtube) or more and only running Firefox & Winamp, windows would never need to swap that large...

Could you post some screenshot? I'm getting curious...

[Knight Hawk]

I had the same issue few years back with XP. Did not know what was eating my free space until i ran TuneUp Utilities. It turned out to be System Restore munching away. Anyways, i seriously doubt it's a virus of any kind. It's either a system program or your drive failing. Either way buy a new drive, 20gigs is soo small.

[KarmiDex]

Originally Posted by Furuno

Well, from my experiences, I've never see some 4 GB or more dynamic swap file on "default" Windows installation. Usually windows will sets 1.5x the amount of your current RAM. And obviously, if you have 2 GB (even 1 GB will do, 512 MB if you're not doing 10+ tabs of Youtube) or more and only running Firefox & Winamp, windows would never need to swap that large...

Could you post some screenshot? I'm getting curious...

Originally Posted by Knight Hawk

I had the same issue few years back with XP. Did not know what was eating my free space until i ran TuneUp Utilities. It turned out to be System Restore munching away. Anyways, i seriously doubt it's a virus of any kind. It's either a system program or your drive failing. Either way buy a new drive, 20gigs is soo small.

Oh okay xD Kinda at lost here but...screenshots of what?
Its like 1:05AM so I'm like...abit drained here.
And earlier...errr...I don't know, I did some space clean up thing
Right click - Properties - Disk Cleanup?
So I sorta done it every 10 mins and it went down from 615MB (Cause I installed Particle Illusions and then uninstalled) down to 1.65GB now.


My friend also suggested that I move some programs into my external harddrive which is 512GB so yeah, some programs I just run from my external harddrive.
But...Well...not Vegas and Photoshop (uninstalled ;__; again..saaad) since they are activation codes and all keyed in here.

And ermmm....
Question ^^;;;;
Cause I sort of...have lack of knowledge about computer stuff at this level but...
Whats compressing files?
Cause before I clicked 'Okay' to clean up all, I ticked all but 'Compress old files' have like...44,984KB
I think you get what I mean ><; but yeah. Sometimes it goes up and down >>; Sometimes it stays...

*Kicks computer....then hugs it* ;___; Its been with me since I was 12...

And erm...also o-o;
I don't know I think I remembered asking the family technician if I can add like...a new drive or upgrade space but he was like 'Nu no can do'
Thats why I keep daydreaming about Vista xD cause was like 'Whoaaa...can run faster'
*Eventhough is actually quite happy with the current desktop*

[chikorita157]

Note that it's not a very good idea to compress the whole hard drive since it uses more CPU usage (and it's never a good idea to compress the operating system files, I tried that and it made my computer run slower) since the computer needs to decompress and recompress when a file is access, but it's not that much of a impact with faster processors, but it's still a performance hit... You should only really use it on your documents and video game files... Compressing other than the following can cause the system performance to degrade.