Tech Help...please...

thepascalblaze · 04-17-2006, 11:35 AM

My father-in-law's computer has an almost full hard drive. It's 80 gigs. It's less than two years old and he only has put a couple of gigs of stuff on it himself. I was there for Easter yesterday and I couldn't find the files that take up so much space. Are there viruses that fill a hard drive with garbage data?.. or perhaps make a cpu "think" its hard drive is nearly full? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am of limited knowledge so, please, keep answers simple, simple, simple...and type s-l-o-w-l-y.

StcChief · 04-17-2006, 11:37 AM

Geeksplanet?

Explorer, Search c: largest files too see what is eatig the drive space.

tyton75 · 04-17-2006, 11:40 AM

Remove the 78gigs of German porn.. then you'll be good

wutamess · 04-17-2006, 11:41 AM

You'd probably have to search each profile. It's there somewhere you just have to find it.

check the properties of each profiles folder that'll tell you where the bulk of the data is. Narrow your search down further once you find that 60GB profile.

Tell your FIL that he's not as slick as he thinks and that porn can fill up a HD rather quickly. Proud victim of 30GB's worth myself.

**Fire Me Boy!** · 04-17-2006, 11:47 AM

Make sure you open a folder, click "Tools" > folder options > view > then scroll down and make sure you're seeing hidden files.

**Fire Me Boy!** · 04-17-2006, 11:48 AM

Also, might go into the internet program (IE, Mozilla, Netscape, whatever), go to Tools > Internet Options > under "Temporary Internet Files" clear the cache, delete cookies, and go to settings and make sure his cache isn't set to some ungodly high number (I use 5 MB).

tyton75 · 04-17-2006, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wutamess

Tell your FIL that he's not as slick as he thinks and that porn can fill up a HD rather quickly. Proud victim of 30GB's worth myself.

30gb's??? who the hell do you think you are fooling!!?

we all know that you have multiple harddrives full of Donkey Shows and Midgit Porn!!

**penguinz** · 04-17-2006, 12:10 PM

Save yourself time from hunting around and just use WinDirStat to see what is using up the space.

Mr. Laz · 04-17-2006, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

Make sure you open a folder, click "Tools" > folder options > view > then scroll down and make sure you're seeing hidden files.

what he said ... open window explorer "show hidden files"

Start > Search > For Files and Folders

Search > advanced options > check the top 3 options (search system, search hidden, search subfolder)

select search "all local drives"

leave the search entry spot empty so that it just finds everything.

may take awhile

then click on the little tool bar at the top that organizes the items by size. (also may take awhile)

then you'll have a list in order or size of all files and folders

theres a java glitch/bug that makes this java file copy every internet and java related thing you do. When i caught it, my java doc file was 2 gigs big. It potiential could be taking up the whole thing itself.

anyway ... you can find the big files and see if they are valid.

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i don't know if something could go wrong and have your internet cache never empty and take up the whole thing or not.

open internet explorer

tools > internet options > general tab

clear history button

Delete files button > check offline content delete

**Fire Me Boy!** · 04-17-2006, 12:13 PM

Laz, I have seen a TON of people's cache set to save more than a gig of crap, so it's certainly feasible that something's wrong there.

**penguinz** · 04-17-2006, 12:34 PM

See my post above. Don't waste time clicking thru folders looking for what may be using your drive space when a small app can do it for you.

wutamess · 04-17-2006, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyton75

30gb's??? who the hell do you think you are fooling!!?

we all know that you have multiple harddrives full of Donkey Shows and Midgit Porn!!

Actually, it's one 30 gig high def flick of me donkey punching your mom.

Mr. Laz · 04-17-2006, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by penguinz

See my post above. Don't waste time clicking thru folders looking for what may be using your drive space when a small app can do it for you.

i just tried that program ... not bad

might be a little advanced for him to use though

dr00d · 04-17-2006, 02:20 PM

I use sequioa view-- http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/
It does virtually the same thing though, it has been around for years.

thepascalblaze · 04-17-2006, 02:25 PM

Thanks penguinz, he's going to download the WinDirStat now...It may be a little advanced, I don't know...We shall see. Thanks again.

04-17-2006, 11:35 AM
thepascalblaze Starter Join Date: Apr 2004 Casino cash: $10004900	Tech Help...please... My father-in-law's computer has an almost full hard drive. It's 80 gigs. It's less than two years old and he only has put a couple of gigs of stuff on it himself. I was there for Easter yesterday and I couldn't find the files that take up so much space. Are there viruses that fill a hard drive with garbage data?.. or perhaps make a cpu "think" its hard drive is nearly full? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am of limited knowledge so, please, keep answers simple, simple, simple...and type s-l-o-w-l-y.
Posts: 460

04-17-2006, 11:37 AM	#2
StcChief Playing for #1 Draft Pick Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Just West of Lambs land Casino cash: $10004900	Geeksplanet? Explorer, Search c: largest files too see what is eatig the drive space. __________________ sig test for this screwy schema Last edited by StcChief; 04-17-2006 at 11:43 AM..
Posts: 25,901

04-17-2006, 11:40 AM	#3
tyton75 Veteran Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: KC North Casino cash: $5948386	Remove the 78gigs of German porn.. then you'll be good
Posts: 3,274

04-17-2006, 11:41 AM	#4
wutamess MVP Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Lee's Summit Casino cash: $5381637	You'd probably have to search each profile. It's there somewhere you just have to find it. check the properties of each profiles folder that'll tell you where the bulk of the data is. Narrow your search down further once you find that 60GB profile. Tell your FIL that he's not as slick as he thinks and that porn can fill up a HD rather quickly. Proud victim of 30GB's worth myself.
Posts: 8,275

04-17-2006, 11:47 AM	#5
Fire Me Boy! Cast Iron Jedi Join Date: Nov 2004 Casino cash: $9999900 VARSITY	Make sure you open a folder, click "Tools" > folder options > view > then scroll down and make sure you're seeing hidden files.
Posts: 35,253

04-17-2006, 11:48 AM	#6
Fire Me Boy! Cast Iron Jedi Join Date: Nov 2004 Casino cash: $9999900 VARSITY	Also, might go into the internet program (IE, Mozilla, Netscape, whatever), go to Tools > Internet Options > under "Temporary Internet Files" clear the cache, delete cookies, and go to settings and make sure his cache isn't set to some ungodly high number (I use 5 MB).
Posts: 35,253

04-17-2006, 12:10 PM	#8
penguinz Supporter Join Date: Mar 2003 Casino cash: $3107626	Save yourself time from hunting around and just use WinDirStat to see what is using up the space. __________________
Posts: 16,314

04-17-2006, 12:13 PM	#10
Fire Me Boy! Cast Iron Jedi Join Date: Nov 2004 Casino cash: $9999900 VARSITY	Laz, I have seen a TON of people's cache set to save more than a gig of crap, so it's certainly feasible that something's wrong there.
Posts: 35,253

04-17-2006, 12:34 PM	#11
penguinz Supporter Join Date: Mar 2003 Casino cash: $3107626	See my post above. Don't waste time clicking thru folders looking for what may be using your drive space when a small app can do it for you. __________________
Posts: 16,314

04-17-2006, 02:20 PM	#14
dr00d Starter Join Date: Nov 2005 Casino cash: $10004900	I use sequioa view-- http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/ It does virtually the same thing though, it has been around for years. __________________ "It's kinda sad because we can't play basketball no more," Rush said. "Just school the rest of the year. It's bad for me because I don't like school."
Posts: 444

04-17-2006, 02:25 PM	#15
thepascalblaze Starter Join Date: Apr 2004 Casino cash: $10004900	Thanks penguinz, he's going to download the WinDirStat now...It may be a little advanced, I don't know...We shall see. Thanks again.
Posts: 460