Hidden space? Something is odd...

[moteasah]

Just bought my new machine. The only drive I have hooked up is my Intel SSD 510 Series 120gb Drive. Out of the box, I have 111gb available. After installing windows and a few SMALL programs (itunes, vlc, utorrent, google chrome) it's showing that I have 68.4gb available. When I go into C Drive and select all, properties, it's saying 15.3gbs total. I should have 95.7gb but I end up with 68.4? 30gb missing? I know there are likely hidden files here and there but 30gb's? Can anyhone shed some light? Thanks

 

[ripken204]

page file?

 

[Tidicus]

Could be hidden files like the Pagefile.sys, Hiberfil.sys (hibernation file). Also could be shadow copys (look at the drive properties and under Previous versions.. Also could be that the system restore is also using space.

 

[moteasah]

30gb worth? I'll check but that seems excessive.

 

[TeeJayHoward]

30gb worth? I'll check but that seems excessive.

Let me guess... Windows 7? Hibernate, Pagefile, and System Restore. There's your 30GB deficit.

To disable your pagefile:
1) Start->Right-Click "Computer"
2) click "Properties"
3) Select "Advanced system settings" in the top-left corner.
4) Under "Performance", click the "Settings..." button.
5) Select the Advanced tab.
6) Under "Virtual Memory", click the "Change..." button.
7) Select "No paging file", and click the "Set" button.

To disable System Restore:
1) Start->Right-Click "Computer"
2) click "Properties"
3) Select "System Protection" in the top-left corner.
4) Under "Protection Settings", select your C: drive, and click the "Configure..." button.
5) Select "Turn off system protection"

To disable Hibernate:
1) Start->click "Control Panel"
2) click "Power Options"
3) Click "Change plan settings" for your current power plan
4) Click "Change advanced power settings"
5) Under Sleep->Hibernate after, change the setting to "Never"

 

[ckryan]

The hibernate file is the size of your RAM, while the pagefile is the RAM amount x 1.5. That's a huge chunk for me -- I have 12GB of ram, so I save at least 24GB by just disabling those.

When you disable hibernate, it deletes the hiberfil.sys file.
From the command prompt type in "powercfg -h off". You must run CMD as an administrator.

Also, you may wish to disable restore points as well.

 

[TeeJayHoward]

the pagefile is the RAM amount x 1.5

I think they changed it. Here's what Windows Help says on the topic: (Start->Help and Support, search for "Change the size of virtual memory")

Windows sets the initial minimum size of the paging file equal to the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed on your computer plus 300 megabytes (MB), and the maximum size equal to three times the amount of RAM installed on your computer.

So with 16GB of RAM, you could possibly be looking at a 48GB page file!

 

[ckryan]

Actually, my Windows 7 installations usually do 1 to 1 RAM to pagefiles, but either way, it has to go. You could always just set a maximum size of 500MB or something if you don't want to remove it.

 

[Red Falcon]

Let me guess... Windows 7? Hibernate, Pagefile, and System Restore. There's your 30GB deficit.

To disable your pagefile:
1) Start->Right-Click "Computer"
2) click "Properties"
3) Select "Advanced system settings" in the top-left corner.
4) Under "Performance", click the "Settings..." button.
5) Select the Advanced tab.
6) Under "Virtual Memory", click the "Change..." button.
7) Select "No paging file", and click the "Set" button.

To disable System Restore:
1) Start->Right-Click "Computer"
2) click "Properties"
3) Select "System Protection" in the top-left corner.
4) Under "Protection Settings", select your C: drive, and click the "Configure..." button.
5) Select "Turn off system protection"

To disable Hibernate:
1) Start->click "Control Panel"
2) click "Power Options"
3) Click "Change plan settings" for your current power plan
4) Click "Change advanced power settings"
5) Under Sleep->Hibernate after, change the setting to "Never"

Couldn't have said it better myself.