Update to 'My hard drive is eating itself'

[highup]

After cleaning out the old files, doing a defrag an finally deleting my system restore cache and setting a new restore point......... I gained back a lot of space.
Here was my issue quoted from the original topic:

Long story short, the "free space" on the C drive was over 8+ GB months ago.

The free space went from about 8.5gb ..........6 months ago, down to 7.21gb a week or two ago and has been getting smaller every day by just a little bit.
It started out today at 6.0 and I just checked it again and it's 5.99 free space

Well, ever since I got my space back, it's been doing it again.

I ended up doing a cleanup this morning, same as last time I had this issue, including deleting the system restore cache.

I figure system restore is the culprit. (reason)
I figure this, because over the past 8 days, I went from 9.56GB of free space to just 8.15 of free space and it's been a downward spiral on a daily
basis.

I had:
9.56gb on the 17th after removing the restore cache and setting a new restore point.

9.38 on the 18th
9.25 on the 19th
9.07 on the 20th
8.82
8.71
8.56
8.15 today
Then after another total system cleanup including removing the restore point cache, I was back at 9.55gb free space again.
....OK, that was this morning ....I'm at 9.52 right now, so the free space is disappearing once again.

OK, what I am getting at is this.
System restore is set at the factory setting which limits the restore cache to 12% of the disk........... in my case, 2,293mb, which translates to 2.293gb

Long story short............. do I need to keep my restore cache at 12% ?

Seems the more hard drive space that's used up, the slower the computer runs.

I have an additional stick of RAM coming in a few days, and that will help, but that's not the issue I am asking.

Should I keep the cache at 12% or is that overkill? If 12% is what I need, I can live with that since now I realize what's going on.

.......... looks to me as if the the hard drive will continue losing free space until the restore cache gets to it's limit............ then the self consumption issue I am asking about will cease.

 

[Nick]

I suspect some kind of infection . Run Malwarebytes and see if it comes up with anything .
Make sure to update it first . Post the log .

Extra stick of ram will just make it run faster .

 

[highup]

I'll wait till the new RAM arrives in a couple days. With the single stick of RAM, I'm running at turtle speed.
Marwarebytes takes forever and a day to update and always has. It starts the update, gets a few % complete, then stalls for a while........ starts over, then loads up a few % again, then starts over................and over and over. Don't have time to babysit it right now.

 

[Ernesto]

Highup, what kinda protection program were you running? Just curious.

 

[highup]

Avast and Zone Alarm. Only warnings I get are when Zone Alarm pops up a red flag and want's me to pay for the upgraded version.
I have run the Malwarebytes and Superantispyware and others and they always come up clean.
I'm wondering if it a failing hard drive or CPU instead of the restore cache issue.

For what it's worth, my hard drive is partitioned to a C and D drive. The D side is not losing any space at all........ only the C.

 

[Nick]

Lets eliminate any kind of infection first High ..
You are on dial up , that is what's taking all the time .
You should update MB once a week . you shouldn't be getting more then one sys restore point a week .

 

[highup]

Here's a few visuals showing my original condition a week ago when I was trying to find out what was going on.

The first is the worst that the condition got to.

The second screen shot is after getting the free space back. I thought all was well.

The last one is from yesterday, before I cleaned out the restore cache.

I don't know if this helps any, but it shows a little bit about what was using up the memory.

 

[highup]

OK Nick, but I'll wait till I get that RAM.
I gotta get movin, so I'll come back on tonight.

 

[Nick]

Have fun.
Will wait for MB report .

 

[Nick]

Please download MiniToolBox (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/farbar/MiniToolBox.exe) and run it.

Checkmark following boxes:

List Installed Programs
List Users, Partitions and Memory size

Click Go and post the result.

 

[highup]

Please download MiniToolBox (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/farbar/MiniToolBox.exe) and run it.

Checkmark following boxes:

List Installed Programs
List Users, Partitions and Memory size

Click Go and post the result.

MiniToolBox by Farbar
Ran by Randy (administrator) on 27-07-2011 at 21:05:07
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (X86)

***************************************************************************

========================= Memory info: ===================================

Percentage of memory in use: 82%
Total physical RAM: 479.53 MB
Available physical RAM: 82.14 MB
Total Pagefile: 1125.79 MB
Available Pagefile: 807.42 MB
Total Virtual: 2047.88 MB
Available Virtual: 2002.37 MB

========================= Partitions: =====================================

2 Drive c: () (Fixed) (Total:18.67 GB) (Free:9.15 GB) NTFS
3 Drive d: () (Fixed) (Total:55.86 GB) (Free:48.62 GB) NTFS

========================= Users: ========================================

User accounts for \\RANDYW

Administrator Guest HelpAssistant
Randy SUPPORT_388945a0


== End of log ==

MiniToolBox by Farbar
Ran by Randy (administrator) on 27-07-2011 at 21:08:57
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (X86)

***************************************************************************

=========================== Installed Programs ============================

Acrobat.com (Version: 1.6.65)
Adobe Flash Player 10 Plugin (Version: 10.2.152.26)
Adobe Photoshop 5.5 (Version: 5.5)
Adobe Reader 9.4.5 (Version: 9.4.5)
Adobe Shockwave Player 11.5 (Version: 11.5.6.606)
Apple Application Support (Version: 1.2.1)
Apple Software Update (Version: 2.1.1.116)
Belarc Advisor 8.2 (Version: 8.2.1.0)
CCleaner (Version: 2.27)
Chasys Draw IES 3.61.01 (Version: 3.61.01)
CPUID CPU-Z 1.56
Dup Detector
DVgate
Easy Internet Sign-up
EasyLog USB (Version: 4.5.0)
EVEREST Ultimate Edition v4.60 (Version: 4.60)
Experience Vaio
Eye Candy 4000
FastStone Image Viewer 4.0 (Version: 4.0)
GIMP 2.6.11 (Version: 2.6.11)
HijackThis 2.0.2 (Version: 2.0.2)
hp deskjet 5550 series (Remove only)
hp instant support (Version: 4.03.03)
hp print screen utility
ImageStation Demo
ImageStation Tour
InterActual Player
IrfanView (remove only) (Version: 4.28)
Java Auto Updater (Version: 2.0.3.1)
Java(TM) 6 Update 24 (Version: 6.0.240)
Lucent Technologies Soft Modem AMR
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2 (Version: 2.2.30729)
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2 (Version: 3.2.30729)
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (Version: 3.5.30729)
Microsoft Compression Client Pack 1.0 for Windows XP (Version: 1)
Microsoft IntelliPoint 5.3 (Version: 5.30.606.0)
Microsoft IntelliType Pro 5.3 (Version: 5.30.606.0)
Microsoft Internationalized Domain Names Mitigation APIs
Microsoft National Language Support Downlevel APIs
Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 (Version: 11.0.5614.0)
Microsoft Silverlight (Version: 4.0.50917.0)
Microsoft User-Mode Driver Framework Feature Pack 1.0
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (Version: 8.0.50727.363)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.4148 (Version: 9.0.30729.4148)
Motion JPEG Software Decoder
MovieShaker 3.3
Mozilla Firefox 5.0 (x86 en-US) (Version: 5.0)
MSN
Music Visualizer Library 1.4.00
MWSnap 3 (Version: 3.0.0.74)
MyDefrag v4.2.7 (Version: 4.0.0.0)
Neat Image v6.1 Home+
Network Smart Capture
NirSoft BlueScreenView
NVIDIA Windows 2000/XP Display Drivers
OpenMG Secure Module 3.1
PC Pitstop Driver Alert2 2.0.0.0 (Version: 2.0.0.0)
PicoPlayer Demo
PicoPlayerSplashScreen
PictureGear Studio 1.0
PowerDVD
Quicken 2002 New User Edition
QuickTime (Version: 7.66.71.0)
RealPlayer
RealProducer Basic 8.5
Screenblast ACID 2.0a (Version: 2.0.47)
Screenblast Sound Forge 1.0b (Version: 1.0.127)
SiS Compatible VGA V2.09a
SonicStage 1.5.00
Sony Certificate PCH
Sony DV Shared Library
Sony on Yahoo! Essentials
Spell Checker For OE 2.1
StuffIt Expander 2010 (Version: 14.0.0)
SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition (Version: 4.25.0.1014)
Support Actions WinXP
upapp (Version: 0.20.0000)
VAIO Action Setup
VAIO Brezza Wallpaper
VAIO Grid Wallpaper
VAIO Help & Support
VAIO Media 2.0
VAIO Media Installer 2.0
VAIO Media Music Server 2.0
VAIO Media Photo Server 2.0
VAIO Media Platform 2.0
VAIO Registration (Version: 4.0.8)
VAIO Serenus Wallpaper
VAIO Support
VERITAS RecordNow DX (Version: 4.11)
VERITAS RecordNow DX Update Manager (Version: 2.71)
Watermark Image software version 1.9.9.4
WebFldrs XP (Version: 9.50.5318)
Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool (KB892130)
Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool (KB892130) (Version: 1.7.0069.2)
Windows Internet Explorer 7 (Version: 20070813.185237)
Windows Media Format 11 runtime
Windows Media Player 11
Windows XP Service Pack 3 (Version: 20080414.031525)
ZoneAlarm (Version: 9.2.057.000)
ZoneAlarm Toolbar

== End of log ==
MiniToolBox by Farbar
Ran by Randy (administrator) on 27-07-2011 at 21:08:57
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (X86)

***************************************************************************

 

[Nick]

First of all C drive is rather small, so it'll be constantly fighting for a free space.

Then:

Quote
I was back at 9.55gb free space again.
....OK, that was this morning ....I'm at 9.52 right now, so the free space is disappearing once again.

300MB fluctuation is nothing extraordinary.
Temporary files, virtual memory (if it's set to be handled by Windows, hard drive space will go up and down as page file will be getting adjusted; that computer has only 512MB of RAM, so virtual memory will be seriously used.

 

[highup]

First of all C drive is rather small, so it'll be constantly fighting for a free space.

Then:

Quote
I was back at 9.55gb free space again.
....OK, that was this morning ....I'm at 9.52 right now, so the free space is disappearing once again.

300MB fluctuation is nothing extraordinary.
Temporary files, virtual memory (if it's set to be handled by Windows, hard drive space will go up and down as page file will be getting adjusted; that computer has only 512MB of RAM, so virtual memory will be seriously used.

True, but I'm thinkin 9.5 down to 5.99 when this first came to be, was quite a bit.
I recall that my memory had been close to 9 for quite a while and honestly I never noticed it change much.

I hadn't noticed this loss of space issue until that stick of RAM went bad.
I guess when the new RAM arrives, we'll see if the problem goes away. They said 3 to 9 days and I ordered it on Saturday
...so I'm bettin it will arrive tomorrow.

 

[Nick]

You're fine High . You're ok sober to .

 

[highup]

You're fine High . You're ok sober to .

It's good to be accepted on all levels.

 

[highup]

RAM arrived today just like I predicted................ I gotta go check my lottery numbers.

 

[highup]

...ok ok, lottery wasn't as predictable. I think the odds are different

Here's how my new memory compares with what I already had running.

Old/existing memory is in slot 1, and the new memory is in slot two. I have space for another and may add that soon.
Got the new memory at 4 All Memory and this is what they recommended.
The specs are different and wondering if that's an issue.
SONY says RAM can be mixed and that size differences is not an issue.
Size here is 512's, but the details are different.
Are the differences in the specs anything to be concerned about?

 

[Nick]

The 200 is faster , but it will max out at the 133 on both .

 

[highup]

Thanks, I'll keep track of my hard drive space to see if it stops shrinking so fast. So far, it's not looking like it's changed.
I'll update MWB tomorrow and see what comes up.

 

[Nick]

I'll be here .
If you would of had any conflicts with the new ram , you would have got a lot of BSOD'S [Black Screen Of Death]. at boot , and never booted into windows.

You could have two sticks of even faster ram , but there are so many variables [ cpu, motherboard. etc.]. you still might not be any faster .
Hope this explains it a little better for you .
Nick