# Hard Drive Full. Splain me!



## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

Got a message that I need to free up space on my laptop hard drive. So I went in and looked.. Now its only a 40 gig drive which is fairly small these days. But I have only 3.2 gig of docs. 3.6 gig of programs and as near as i can find Windows 7 is good for about 10 gig..As near as I can tell doing searches. (They are not real forth coming with that stuff) So lets just say 20 gig of stuff including some small files strung around. Where is the other 17 actual gig of stuff

And while I am at it if you have the CCA for your Windows is it possible to get the disk so if I want to put a bigger drive in I can. I was thinking of a duplicator but by the time I get that I might as well buy a new used Thinkpad.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Well for one thing even though it SAYS it is a 40 gig, small for sure.
But in all reality even new it was more like 38 if that.
and so you are more like 10 gig or less left. more like 5G 
that are many many programs that are so hidden inside of windows I doubt very much you can find them much less find out how large they are.
And the closer you get to what is really only 38 at best the slower the machine will be and have less space to put things in as needed. When RAM is filled up, and I would think with that small of a HD drive you have pretty small amount of RAM, which should rally be at 2 gig alone these especially when running Windows 7.
So when RAM Memory gets filled up it "looks" for HD space, and I bet that is why you are now getting that message drive is full.
Have you done a Defrag lately? That may "free up" some space.
Doing a Disk clean up will also free up space. And all the Cache, and temp files etc. also should be cleaned up. All that takes up space. especially when getting pretty close to a full HD. 
Do you have a folder for pictures etc.? And music saved? If so get them on a "Thumb Drive" and get them off the HD.


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

arabian knight said:


> Well for one thing even though it SAYS it is a 40 gig, small for sure.
> But in all reality even new it was more like 38 if that.
> and so you are more like 10 gig or less left. more like 5G
> that are many many programs that are so hidden inside of windows I doubt very much you can find them much less find out how large they are.
> ...


Got 2.5 gig ram. Done all the disk clean up ,defrag (wont go below 15% for some reason). All that nine yards. It has to be windows taking up all that. The recycle bin is empty and I use CCleaner to get rid of what it can.
Even at 38 gig which is what it really is there is 17 gig living somewhere with something


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

How much do you have set aside for restore files?


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

mnn2501 said:


> How much do you have set aside for restore files?


Far as I know nothing. I use Sugar Sync and its online with most of the files in the "Magic Brief Case" i can get the file on any computer.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

I am seeing on a lot of Q/A pages that Windows 7 can go between 12 and 20 gig. And I bet that is where you are at. Window3s 7 is taking up more space then what you think it does. And to keep running at a good pace Windows 7 should have at the very least 20 Gig of Free Space. And there you have it, where you now are getting Hard Drive Filled up. 40 gig on todays machines especially when running anything over XP takes up a Huge Amount of HD Space. and 40 gig drive is pretty dern small when it comes to using a modern computer these days with as much as Windows have bloated their OS up so much.


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

arabian knight said:


> I am seeing on a lot of Q/A pages that Windows 7 can go between 12 and 20 gig. And I bet that is where you are at. Window3s 7 is taking up more space then what you think it does. And to keep running at a good pace Windows 7 should have at the very least 20 Gig of Free Space. And there you have it, where you now are getting Hard Drive Filled up. 40 gig on todays machines especially when running anything over XP takes up a Huge Amount of HD Space. and 40 gig drive is pretty dern small when it comes to using a modern computer these days with as much as Windows have bloated their OS up so much.


Gotta be where its at. wish I wasn't afraid to use my mac in the shop. Dusty  Now I have to figure out how to get a new hard drive in this thing. Nat that expensive but don't have the media for 7. Or just take the money and go for a t61 wit ha solid state Hd. Can pick one up for a couple hundred for both. Or go back to XP withc I like better. this cam with 7 on it. NOt all that impressed except for one or two little things. Ever buy the XP off the bay? Can you get an SP2 and upgrade for free?


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

TNHermit said:


> Far as I know nothing. I use Sugar Sync and its online with most of the files in the "Magic Brief Case" i can get the file on any computer.


It has a default set by Windows


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

I'd go back to XP, but that is just me.

BTW, I am currently using an X24 Thinkpad, w/ 100GB HD. 640MB RAM.

It does me quite well.


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

mnn2501 said:


> It has a default set by Windows


How would I find those?


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## tentance (Aug 16, 2012)

back up your documents to google drive. and consider getting an external hard drive.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

Turn off windows restore, delete downloads from download managers.

You also have a swap file which will consume 1-2gb.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

What brand computer is it...if its a Dell you can simply buy or acquire just about any OEM Dell install for the OS. As far as swapping HD, it's easy if you have an external USB drive and an imaging software like Acronis or Drive Image...network backup would even work with these two.

Though I prefer XP on older lower spec computers, I am liking win 7 on my HTPC


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

tentance said:


> back up your documents to google drive. and consider getting an external hard drive.





wannabechef said:


> What brand computer is it...if its a Dell you can simply buy or acquire just about any OEM Dell install for the OS. As far as swapping HD, it's easy if you have an external USB drive and an imaging software like Acronis or Drive Image...network backup would even work with these two.
> 
> Though I prefer XP on older lower spec computers, I am liking win 7 on my HTPC


ITs a R52 Thinkpad. Down loads are gone and have to check on restore

I have a back up to Sugar Sync. NOt worried about that. have a 32 gig USB drive, a 350 gig Hitachi, a 1T WD I can use. I didn't know there waas a software copier I have only seen the hard type that are about 80.00. Can you trust the software kind. Does it copy itself to the restore drive so you can change out the original HD

Its gotta be fool proof for me


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

TNHermit said:


> ITs a R52 Thinkpad. Down loads are gone and have to check on restore
> 
> I have a back up to Sugar Sync. NOt worried about that. have a 32 gig USB drive, a 350 gig Hitachi, a 1T WD I can use. I didn't know there waas a software copier I have only seen the hard type that are about 80.00. Can you trust the software kind. Does it copy itself to the restore drive so you can change out the original HD
> 
> Its gotta be fool proof for me


Acronis makes a bit for bit image that can be restored to a new hd...it's easy. As an ex IT guy, I used to use it for all workstations/servers at our company and it is a time and life saver. It can also be scheduled to take snapshots which can be stored on your network storage.

Very powerful software.

PM me and I'll give you more details.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

you can download a trial copy of win7 from digital river.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-digitalriver-windows-7-sp1-13-languages.html

making the disk
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=11194

you need to do a couple things to use a OEM key for retail activation
.
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/th...key-to-activate-Retail-Windows-7-Home-Premium

find the oem dump file. 
Get the OPA tool.

when you make your disk put a folder in and save the dump files as well as the opa tool and instruction if you think you may forget.

Label the disk for your laptop.

you can also get a backup utility, I forget which one I used but I've got my system backed up that way. Just the OS. takes two mins to reinstall that way.

I would get a external case for the 40 gig drive, after you have your fresh install on the new drive you can transfer your file over. then format and use it for portable storage.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

Here is the link to Acronis http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

It appears there are some free ones...never tried them http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/09/05/5-free-apps-to-clone-your-hard-drive/

I know Acronis has network support and the ability to create a bootable CD to restore a non booting computers image.

If you aint using an image program you are behind in times...I image all computers when I get new ones or build one...I hate waiting on Windows to install and having to find drivers. I also like to create an image of a drive prior to installing video cards because sometimes upgrading a video card causes problems. Once I have the computer with the software I plan to use for a while I will make another image and save it. I usually partition my drives so that I have a separate partition for backup image and one image stored on a network drive.

With an image I can go from a broken hard drive, virus infected system to a brand new install in about 5 minutes.


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