computer question low disk space

[peteeey]

I keep getting this irritating message on my daughter's computer (ME) regarding low disk space and to get rid of any programs not in use.

I've done that and she doesn't have anything on it except kazaa lite, winamp, msn messenger and the other programs necessary on a computer. She also doesn't have much in the way of pictures, MP3s, etc.

I've also run scan disk, defragmented it, etc. but the problem persists. I searched on the Internet and one problem may be the swap file, but I don't get any solutions how to resolve it.

Any suggestions?

 

[cowslinger]

Run an advanced search off the start button. Have it search for files, say 1mb or bigger. I would say that if she has Kazaa on there, then there are numerous music files downloaded. My ex had the same problem with her computer. My daughter had done that exact same thing. She had over 1800 songs on there. It was something like 30 gigs of wasted space.

Hope this helps

 

[peteeey]

I tried that and got quite a few more songs than I realized were there, but I'm not sure if it would be enough to cause the message. I'll get her to delete the songs she doesn't listen to any more, though. Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[i_am_good]

Disk Cleanup...

...might also help.

Right click on your START button and choose EXPLORE (to open Windows Explorer)
Right click on the "C" icon (Local Disk C)
Choose PROPERTIES
Click on DISK CLEANUP

This will tell you how much space is taken up by temp files, Internet cookies ...

Use it to do some cleaning up.

 

[tboy]

You could also copy the music files onto a cd rom and make it a habit of doing this every so often.

You also didn't tell us what the size of the hard drive is originally, if its only a 4 gb then that is your problem right there. Heck with XP and applications I have almost 4 gb alone.

You also may want to download mcafee quick clean. They have an orphan finder option that will remove files left there when you install then remove an application. A lot of the time numerous files get left behind in that process.

Other files that often go unnoticed are .tmp files. These are files that are created when you open a word document etc. They are supposed to be deleted when the app closes, but they don't.

Also check her email application. If she has a bunch of emails with photos attached and hasn't deleted them, the .pst file can get up there too. This is especially true if she's saved the photo somewhere and still kept the email. THis means the photo is saved on 2 places on your hard drive. Outlook uses a .pst file. Do a search for that.

AVI, MPG and other video files also take up a tremendous amount of space. Search for those as well.

Word of advice that many don't do: Keep ALL your downloaded files in one place either in "my documents" or a file called storage. Then create sub folders for different items such as "pictures, music, movies...." etc. Then you can monitor these files easily as they are all in one place.

Keep us posted.

 

[WhOiSyOdAdDy?]

talk to Winston... I bet he wil say that you would not have that problem if you had an Apple

 

[peteeey]

LOL. Actually I also have an ancient Mac. A dinosaur Performa that has never caused problems.

But I'll look into everyone's suggestions and report back. Although I'm leaning toward getting a bigger hard drive and updating to XP.

Thanks for the suggestions.

talk to Winston... I bet he wil say that you would not have that problem if you had an Apple

 

[papasmerf]

Peteey

XP has some great attributes
But unless you have the RAM amd processor, don't bother.

After pling with each generation of windows I like Pro the best but ME has some real promise for older units.

I know alot of folks witll say 98 rev 2 was best but that is the great thing about opinions. They Variey.

 

[1HandInMyPocket]

Me being a little paranoid, if anything goes wrong with my computer, I blame it on a virus. Not to alarm or scare you, but a virus could be eating up your hard disk space. Do a virus check if you haven't done so already.

But i'm no computer expert, or novice at that matter. Just saying this cause no one else has mentined the possiblity of a virus.

1Hand

 

[peteeey]

Actually I'm thinking just that. Buying a new processor for her complete with XP. I did that with my computer when I had some problems and it was worth it.

Peteey

XP has some great attributes
But unless you have the RAM amd processor, don't bother.

 

[peteeey]

This could very well be the case. A friend of mine gave me the following link that suggests my problem might be a spyware type worm from kazaa.

Here's the link but you may have to try it later because the site is down.

http://forums.techguy.org/showthread.php?threadid=82176&highlight=invalid+low+disk+space+message

I believe she has a bit of spyware on the puter and it looks like I'll have to check this out, too.

Me being a little paranoid, if anything goes wrong with my computer, I blame it on a virus. Not to alarm or scare you, but a virus could be eating up your hard disk space. Do a virus check if you haven't done so already.

 

[Morgan Ellis]

This could very well be the case. A friend of mine gave me the following link that suggests my problem might be a spyware type worm from kazaa.

That's why I only use Kazaa Lite - no spyware. I just got the new Beta version.

-- Morgan

 

[bobistheowl]

My Computer -> Tools in Menu Bar -> Folder Options -> View Tab: Show Hidden Folders. She may be wasting a lot of space in temp files. Try downloading System Mechanic, it will analyse and show any unnecessary or duplicate files. You can find a serial crack at cracks.am

In Internet Explorer -> Tools in Menu Bar -> Internet Options: Try clearing the History, and set history at a low number, say, 10 days.

 

[WhOiSyOdAdDy?]

When is the last time that you defragged your hard drive?

 

[peteeey]

I've cleared out temp files but I'll try System Mechanic. Thanks.

My Computer -> Tools in Menu Bar -> Folder Options -> View Tab: Show Hidden Folders. She may be wasting a lot of space in temp files. Try downloading System Mechanic, it will analyse and show any unnecessary or duplicate files. You can find a serial crack at cracks.am

In Internet Explorer -> Tools in Menu Bar -> Internet Options: Try clearing the History, and set history at a low number, say, 10 days.

 

[peteeey]

About a week ago. And I still receive the message.

When is the last time that you defragged your hard drive?

 

[peteeey]

I should post an update to my problem. I downloaded Ad Aware .. free at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ ... ran it .. and the problem has disappeared.

I'm not sure if this was the answer but this software is fantastic. I had no idea how much spyware was on both my computers .. and how much returns. I run the software every so often and new spyware keeps appearing.