Re-sizing my Hard Drive partitions.

[Daniel60]

I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....

C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB

(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)

Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible to
reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??

Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??

Any other suggestions??

TIA

Daniel

[Ed Cryer]

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C:    57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G:    19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H:    14.5GB free out of 22.4GB
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible to
reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??
TIA
Daniel

If C is the system disk (which it usually is) then that's the one that
needs more space.

Are those three partitions the total of your HD? 100GB?
If that's the case then I'd definitely recommend replacing it with a
larger one; at least 500GB.
They're pretty cheap these days; and the SSDs have come down a lot in
price, so I'd take the opportunity to install one.

Ed

[Daniel60]

Post by Ed Cryer

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible
to reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??
TIA
Daniel

If C is the system disk (which it usually is) then that's the one that
needs more space.

Yes, C: is the system drive, G: is the Executables (WP, Browser, Music,
etc) H: is User Data, Music, etc.

Post by Ed Cryer
Are those three partitions the total of your HD? 100GB?
If that's the case then I'd definitely recommend replacing it with a
larger one; at least 500GB.
They're pretty cheap these days; and the SSDs have come down a lot in
price, so I'd take the opportunity to install one.
Ed

No, the HD is 500GB but the rest of it is allocated to Linux. Dumping
some of the Linux is a possibility, but just re-allocating the Windows
space is my preference.

Daniel

[Paul]

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible to
reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??
TIA
Daniel

cmd.exe, Run as Administrator

powercfg /h off

That will disable hibernation, and more importantly,
delete hiberfil.sys, a file which wastes space. Of course,
you're probably on a laptop, and the function is essential
to handling low battery situations, and you can't afford
to turn that off. I turn that off on my desktops, as it
potentially takes too long to write out to disk when needed.

*******

In System control panel (sysdm.cpl ???), you can go
to System Protection, turn off System Restore on C:, then
turn it back on again. That should free up at least 3GB.

*******

cleanmgr.exe

You can run that program, and select various things
to clean out. It's highly unlikely an "old" OS is sittin
in C:\Windows.old, because the OS has automated policies
on removing such things for you. On Win10, I think Windows.old
is removed after 10 days. On other OSes, a Windows.old
might survive 30 days. Just to show what ballpark their
survival is in. Windows.old exists in the interest of
allowing an OS upgrade to be rolled back.

I don't really think cleanmgr.exe is going to help.
Note that there is one tick box in there, which causes
the tool to use NTFS compression (not very efficient),
to shrink the usage of the C: drive. That can take
two or three hours to run. I don't think that is
particularly clever, even if your C: drive is 60GB.

*******

You can use SequoiaView or WinDirStat, to review the contents
of your home directory.

*******

If you use the built-in "Shrink" and "Expand" functions in
Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc), those cannot move the
origin (left-most side of the partition. The MS provided
tools, only move the right edge.

+-----+----------------+------------+ - - +-----------+ - - +
| MBR | C: partition | Shrink G: | Shrink H: |
+-----+----------------+------------+ - - +-----------+ - - +

Doing Shrinks there, using the MS method, won't help.

However, if you delete G: , look at the nice space you get.

+-----+----------------+--- - - - - - - -+-----------+ - - +
| MBR | C: partition | Unallocated | Shrink H: |
+-----+----------------+--- - - - - - - -+-----------+ - - +

+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------+ - - +
| MBR | C: partition expanded | Shrink H: |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------+ - - +

The combination of "delete G:" plus "Expand C:"
might work.

To plan these things, you need to start by looking at
Disk Management, see which side the partitions are on,
understand what the MS limitations are, and so on.

You can get third-party partition managers for free.
I have used Paragon PM14 or so, for this purpose, and
it has been OK so far. Do a backup, before dialing in
any Partition Manager, just in case. For example,
a popular other brand of Partition Manager, managed
to break a FAT32 partition on its first try. If PM14 needs
to modify the C: partition, it will reboot into a
standalone WinPE OS to do the modification. It will
reboot into regular Windows after the modification of
C: is completed.

You generally want to run CHKDSK on partitions, before
using Partition Management tools. Tick the box to correct
problems if detected. The purpose of this, is for drives
which have not received the "robust maintenance" that some
of the later MS OSes provide, there can be latent faults
in the file system. Scanning and correcting file system
errors, before Partition Management, may aid in avoiding
problems. With no guarantees of course. It's just hat
when you complain that "product X broke my disk", the
maker of the software will respond with "were the
partitions CHKDSK clean ? your file system was probably
corrupted before we touched it". They won't take responsibility
for damage.

Both backup software and Partition Management software, can do
consistency checks while they work. And they can spot problems
before they authorize a run. But no single procedure is
entirely bulletproof, so you can improvise a bit on your own.

*******

In the good old days, Partition Managers offered "merge"
function, and you could squeeze C:, G:, H:, in two operations,
to make a bigger C: only partition. This is an operation that is
pretty difficult to do correctly, and has a relatively
high risk factor. You could not pay me to use "Merge" here.
I combine backup operations, with other kinds of moves, to
get what I want. "Merge" is way down my list.

*******

Your G: is damn close to full, and that should raise a notification
box right there. I would be instantly curious about how that happened
and do some cleanup there too. Get out the WinDirStat for a look
and so on.

HTH,
Paul

[Daniel60]

Post by Paul

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible
to reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??
TIA
Daniel

cmd.exe, Run as Administrator
powercfg /h off
That will disable hibernation, and more importantly,
delete hiberfil.sys, a file which wastes space. Of course,
you're probably on a laptop, and the function is essential
to handling low battery situations, and you can't afford
to turn that off. I turn that off on my desktops, as it
potentially takes too long to write out to disk when needed.
*******
In System control panel (sysdm.cpl ???), you can go
to System Protection, turn off System Restore on C:, then
turn it back on again. That should free up at least 3GB.
*******
cleanmgr.exe
You can run that program, and select various things
to clean out. It's highly unlikely an "old" OS is sittin
in C:\Windows.old, because the OS has automated policies
on removing such things for you. On Win10, I think Windows.old
is removed after 10 days. On other OSes, a Windows.old
might survive 30 days. Just to show what ballpark their
survival is in. Windows.old exists in the interest of
allowing an OS upgrade to be rolled back.
I don't really think cleanmgr.exe is going to help.
Note that there is one tick box in there, which causes
the tool to use NTFS compression (not very efficient),
to shrink the usage of the C: drive. That can take
two or three hours to run. I don't think that is
particularly clever, even if your C: drive is 60GB.
*******
You can use SequoiaView or WinDirStat, to review the contents
of your home directory.
*******
If you use the built-in "Shrink" and "Expand" functions in
Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc), those cannot move the
origin (left-most side of the partition. The MS provided
tools, only move the right edge.
+-----+----------------+------------+ - - +-----------+ - - +
| MBR | C: partition | Shrink G: | Shrink H: |
+-----+----------------+------------+ - - +-----------+ - - +
Doing Shrinks there, using the MS method, won't help.
However, if you delete G: , look at the nice space you get.
+-----+----------------+--- - - - - - - -+-----------+ - - +
| MBR | C: partition | Unallocated | Shrink H: |
+-----+----------------+--- - - - - - - -+-----------+ - - +
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------+ - - +
| MBR | C: partition expanded | Shrink H: |
+-----+-----------------------------------+-----------+ - - +
The combination of "delete G:" plus "Expand C:"
might work.
To plan these things, you need to start by looking at
Disk Management, see which side the partitions are on,
understand what the MS limitations are, and so on.
You can get third-party partition managers for free.
I have used Paragon PM14 or so, for this purpose, and
it has been OK so far. Do a backup, before dialing in
any Partition Manager, just in case. For example,
a popular other brand of Partition Manager, managed
to break a FAT32 partition on its first try. If PM14 needs
to modify the C: partition, it will reboot into a
standalone WinPE OS to do the modification. It will
reboot into regular Windows after the modification of
C: is completed.
You generally want to run CHKDSK on partitions, before
using Partition Management tools. Tick the box to correct
problems if detected. The purpose of this, is for drives
which have not received the "robust maintenance" that some
of the later MS OSes provide, there can be latent faults
in the file system. Scanning and correcting file system
errors, before Partition Management, may aid in avoiding
problems. With no guarantees of course. It's just hat
when you complain that "product X broke my disk", the
maker of the software will respond with "were the
partitions CHKDSK clean ? your file system was probably
corrupted before we touched it". They won't take responsibility
for damage.
Both backup software and Partition Management software, can do
consistency checks while they work. And they can spot problems
before they authorize a run. But no single procedure is
entirely bulletproof, so you can improvise a bit on your own.
*******
In the good old days, Partition Managers offered "merge"
function, and you could squeeze C:, G:, H:, in two operations,
to make a bigger C: only partition. This is an operation that is
pretty difficult to do correctly, and has a relatively
high risk factor. You could not pay me to use "Merge" here.
I combine backup operations, with other kinds of moves, to
get what I want. "Merge" is way down my list.
*******
Your G: is damn close to full, and that should raise a notification
box right there. I would be instantly curious about how that happened
and do some cleanup there too. Get out the WinDirStat for a look
and so on.
HTH,
Paul

Thanks, Paul, looks like there's a lot of stuff to re-read there before
I try anything!!

Daniel

[Mayayana]

"Daniel60" <***@eternal-september.org> wrote in message news:oq5egm$s46$***@dont-email.me...
|I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
|
| C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
| G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
| H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB
|

Paul had some good suggestions. Besides
hiberfil.sys, how is your swap file set up? You
could block any swap on C and put a specific-
sized swap file on H.

Another idea is to check where the bloat is.
Some may be data files that you could store on H.
There's really no reason for an OS partition to get
anywhere near 60 GB. Even slop like Win7 shouldn't
be that big. (The solution for a hoarder is not to
rent them a storage trailer.)

Another good method is to image new installs
and then reinstall once in awhile. One of the worst
problems with Vista/7 is the winsxs folder, which
can grow to dozens of GB. The install basically forces
you to accept storing the whole DVD on disk, to make
it look like Windows driver support is better than it
used to be. You end up storing thousands of drivers
that you'll never use. Then, every time Windows
comes across drivers or libraries in versions it hasn't
stored, those go into winsxs. Trying to clean it out
can be time consuming and potentially destabilizing.
Essentially, Windows Vista/7 has a compulsive
hoarding disorder. It starts out at a ridiculously
bloated 7-9 GB and then keeps growing. If you create
a disk image after initial install and setup then you not
only have a good backup -- you also a simple way to
throw out all the hoarded junk periodically.

[Daniel60]

Post by Mayayana
|I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
| | C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
| G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
| H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB |

Paul had some good suggestions. Besides hiberfil.sys, how is your
swap file set up? You could block any swap on C and put a specific-
sized swap file on H.

Swap File!! Hmmm!! Got one set up on the HD for the Linux systems that I
have installed. Was not aware that Windows 7 used a Swap File as well.
Where might I find it??

Another idea is to check where the bloat is. Some may be data files
that you could store on H. There's really no reason for an OS
partition to get anywhere near 60 GB. Even slop like Win7 shouldn't
be that big. (The solution for a hoarder is not to rent them a
storage trailer.)
Another good method is to image new installs and then reinstall once
in awhile. One of the worst problems with Vista/7 is the winsxs
folder, which can grow to dozens of GB. The install basically forces
you to accept storing the whole DVD on disk, to make it look like
Windows driver support is better than it used to be. You end up
storing thousands of drivers that you'll never use. Then, every time
Windows comes across drivers or libraries in versions it hasn't
stored, those go into winsxs. Trying to clean it out can be time
consuming and potentially destabilizing. Essentially, Windows Vista/7
has a compulsive hoarding disorder. It starts out at a ridiculously
bloated 7-9 GB and then keeps growing. If you create a disk image
after initial install and setup then you not only have a good backup
-- you also a simple way to throw out all the hoarded junk
periodically.

Thanks, Mayayana. I've often wondered about those Windows Updates that
I've been getting for the last decade. Are they all stored somewhere on
the C:, incorporated into the system, and then left on the HD somewhere
(maybe somewhere under C:\Windows somewhere).

Can I get rid of them without crashing my system??

Daniel

[Paul]

Post by Daniel60
Thanks, Mayayana. I've often wondered about those Windows Updates that
I've been getting for the last decade. Are they all stored somewhere on
the C:, incorporated into the system, and then left on the HD somewhere
(maybe somewhere under C:\Windows somewhere).
Can I get rid of them without crashing my system??
Daniel

There are some installers that get archived on the machine
which you could make a record of (a notes.txt for yourself),
then move the files to a storage device with more space on it.
The problem is, if you needed (for some reason) to uninstall
one of those things, it's going to ask for the file, and won't
do the uninstall until you put it back.

WinXP had some stuff like that too, and I did move some
of it off the C: and stored it elsewhere. And I don't think
I ever ran into a problem because of it.

I keep my pagefile at a ceremonial size of 1GB (350MB would
work), and my hiberfil.sys at zero. The 256MB kernel swap file,
I haven't bothered torturing that one yet.

And Microsoft does occasionally consider removing content
from WinSXS, but the change in size has never amounted to
more than 1GB or so. Their initial opinion, was to let it
grow and grow, but because IT professionals with large
collections of virtual machines complained, they did a
little work on cleanup. And the IT guys were quite happy to
get even a 1GB improvement on each VM image. So Microsoft had
satisfied one of its most important customers.

The cleanmgr.exe backport, does some compression of WinSXS
"seldom used content", but I personally am not pleased or
impressed with this. THe NTFS compressor is lightweight.
The comperssor used on an install.wim is heavyweight, and
more could be achieved by leaving some of this crap on an
overlay file system. And that approach was used (partially)
on tablets. It still caused problems, because the overlay
was growing too much, just before the OS version needed to
be upgraded. And that's all done on tablets with 32GB eMMC
storage.

Paul

[Mayayana]

"Daniel60" <***@eternal-september.org> wrote

|
| Swap File!! Hmmm!! Got one set up on the HD for the Linux systems that I
| have installed. Was not aware that Windows 7 used a Swap File as well.
| Where might I find it??

System -> Advanced -> Performance -> Advanced.
(I'm currently on XP but I don't remember it
changing in 7. I only keep 400 MB swap. Most people
have multpile GB of RAM these days.)


| Thanks, Mayayana. I've often wondered about those Windows Updates that
| I've been getting for the last decade. Are they all stored somewhere on
| the C:, incorporated into the system, and then left on the HD somewhere
| (maybe somewhere under C:\Windows somewhere).
|
| Can I get rid of them without crashing my system??
|

Updates. Update reversers. Installer files.... I once
tried moving winsxs to another partition and it worked.
I then deleted it and got weird stuff like nothing
in Explorer windows. :) If you try to delete what you
don't need it's hopeless. There are 10s of thousands
of files. You should be able to remove the driver store
folder, but that's not nearly as big. That's why I
personally like the disk image idea. I install, put in the
latest SP, then disable Windows Update.

[Daniel60]

Post by Mayayana
|
| Swap File!! Hmmm!! Got one set up on the HD for the Linux systems that I
| have installed. Was not aware that Windows 7 used a Swap File as well.
| Where might I find it??
System -> Advanced -> Performance -> Advanced.
(I'm currently on XP but I don't remember it
changing in 7. I only keep 400 MB swap. Most people
have multpile GB of RAM these days.)

0MB .... Hmm! Did I turn it off the last time I defrag'ed .. and forget
to turn it back on??

Post by Mayayana
| Thanks, Mayayana. I've often wondered about those Windows Updates that
| I've been getting for the last decade. Are they all stored somewhere on
| the C:, incorporated into the system, and then left on the HD somewhere
| (maybe somewhere under C:\Windows somewhere).
|
| Can I get rid of them without crashing my system??
|
Updates. Update reversers. Installer files.... I once
tried moving winsxs to another partition and it worked.
I then deleted it and got weird stuff like nothing
in Explorer windows. :) If you try to delete what you
don't need it's hopeless. There are 10s of thousands
of files. You should be able to remove the driver store
folder, but that's not nearly as big. That's why I
personally like the disk image idea. I install, put in the
latest SP, then disable Windows Update.

Thanks, Mayayana.

Daniel

[Stan Brown]

Post by Daniel60
Swap File!! Hmmm!! Got one set up on the HD for the Linux systems that I
have installed. Was not aware that Windows 7 used a Swap File as well.
Where might I find it??

C:\Pagefile.sys -- but DON'T delete it. (You can't, without changing
some non-obvious things.)

First, Windows needs a swap file, unless you've got plenty of
physical RAM. If it needs to swap to virtual memory (the swap file
or page file) and can't, Windows will definitely slow down and may
crash.

But second, and this is the clincher: It's on C: and if I read your
original article correctly you're concerned with G: and H:, not C:.

If you do have plenty of RAM -- to check, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to
turn on Task Mangler, and look at the Performance tab -- then you can
reduce or eliminate the swap file if you really want to. But to do
that, you have to get fairly deep into menus:
1. Right-click Computer and select Properties.
2. In left-hand menu, Advanced System Settings
3. Advanced tab (should be pre-selected).
4. In the Performance section, click the Settings button.
5. In the Performance Options dialog, select the Advanced tab.
6. Click the Change button to view or change swap file size.

[Mayayana]

"Stan Brown" <***@fastmail.fm> wrote

| C:\Pagefile.sys -- but DON'T delete it. (You can't, without changing
| some non-obvious things.)
|

Already described. See above. And it does not have
to be on C drive. It can be moved, then the C version
can be deleted.

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <oq5moq$itd$***@dont-email.me>, Mayayana
<***@invalid.nospam> writes:
[]

Post by Mayayana
Another good method is to image new installs
and then reinstall once in awhile. One of the worst
problems with Vista/7 is the winsxs folder, which
can grow to dozens of GB. The install basically forces
you to accept storing the whole DVD on disk, to make
it look like Windows driver support is better than it
used to be. You end up storing thousands of drivers
that you'll never use. Then, every time Windows
comes across drivers or libraries in versions it hasn't
stored, those go into winsxs. Trying to clean it out
can be time consuming and potentially destabilizing.
Essentially, Windows Vista/7 has a compulsive
hoarding disorder. It starts out at a ridiculously
bloated 7-9 GB and then keeps growing. If you create
a disk image after initial install and setup then you not
only have a good backup -- you also a simple way to
throw out all the hoarded junk periodically.

By "throw out all the hoarded junk", do you mean just restore the entire
system from your image, or can you just delete the winsxs folder and
restore _that_ from the image? I wasn't sure from your above
description.
3

[Mayayana]

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG-***@255soft.uk> wrote

| >Essentially, Windows Vista/7 has a compulsive
| >hoarding disorder. It starts out at a ridiculously
| >bloated 7-9 GB and then keeps growing. If you create
| >a disk image after initial install and setup then you not
| >only have a good backup -- you also a simple way to
| >throw out all the hoarded junk periodically.
| >
| By "throw out all the hoarded junk", do you mean just restore the entire
| system from your image, or can you just delete the winsxs folder and
| restore _that_ from the image? I wasn't sure from your above
| description.

I meant throw out the junk by reinstalling with a fresh
image. In my admittedly limited testing I've found Win7
to be very brittle. There's massive bloat and it's not easy
to know which thing you can touch without bringing
down the whole thing. I've found calamity if I delete
winsxs. I found it seemed to work OK if I moved it
to another partition, but that offers no benefit. Some
of the added bloat might be support files for later-
installed software, so I'd be hesitant to swap in the
original winsxs. As far as I can tell that's just a
forced copying of all the drivers on the install DVD.
So probably you'd be better off deleting all of that
and keeping newly-added stuff. But it's so vast that
any weeding seems unrealistic. I tried that at one
point. Tens of thousands of files that I had to assess
by name. I quickly gave up.

I'm not clear about exactly what Microsoft have
done on Vista+. It seems to be a combination of
backward compatibility hacks and engineered bloat
designed to make the system appear more slick,
by seamlessly installing drivers for as much hardware
as possible and not needing to ask for a disk. Of
course, a year after they stick you with 4 GB of
drivers, most of them are outdated! And why do
OEM machines need all that slop when the hardware
is known starting out? What's the sense of hundreds of
AMD drivers on a machine with an Intel CPU, for instance?

It's not clear that even the Microsofties' "left hand
knows what the right hand is doing". In researching
winsxs I came across these blatantly conflicting statements:

Microsoft President Steven Sinofsky (now former President) and his assistant
said: ...nearly every file in the WinSxS directory is a "hard link" to the
physical files elsewhere on the system-meaning that the files are not
actually in this directory. ...The actual amount of storage consumed varies,
but on a typical system it is about 400MB.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/e7/archive/2008/11/19/disk-space.aspx


The "Windows Server Core Team" said: All of the components in the operating
system are found in the WinSxS folder - in fact we call this location the
component store. ...The WinSxS folder is the only location that the
component is found on the system, all other instances of the files that you
see on the system are "projected" by hard linking from the component store.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2008/09/17/what-is-the-winsxs-directory-in-windows-2008-and-windows-vista-and-why-is-it-so-large.aspx

So one bigwig says winsxs is the whole shebang. The
other bigwig says it's merely a mirage and that you are
thus only imagining that it's eaten your hard disk. Both
are saying most of the bloat is merely a mirage. Maybe
you can't access the mirage space, but it's still there and
that's what matters....

Actually, Windows takes up almost no space at all. It
would all fit into a thimble. Your disk is full, you say? Well,
that's not a problem, but the explanation is too technical
for you to understand. You might want to buy a new
disk, just to humor the mirage, don'tcha know. :)

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Post by Mayayana
| >Essentially, Windows Vista/7 has a compulsive
| >hoarding disorder. It starts out at a ridiculously
| >bloated 7-9 GB and then keeps growing. If you create
| >a disk image after initial install and setup then you not
| >only have a good backup -- you also a simple way to
| >throw out all the hoarded junk periodically.
| >
| By "throw out all the hoarded junk", do you mean just restore the entire
| system from your image, or can you just delete the winsxs folder and
| restore _that_ from the image? I wasn't sure from your above
| description.
I meant throw out the junk by reinstalling with a fresh
image. In my admittedly limited testing I've found Win7
to be very brittle. There's massive bloat and it's not easy
to know which thing you can touch without bringing
down the whole thing. I've found calamity if I delete

Ah, so basically you're just restoring an image of the whole system - in
which case it isn't really relevant that some of it is winsxs.

I haven't used 7 much (at home - I did a lot at work, but that was more
under someone else's control). With XP, I image against catastrophe, but
so far have only had to use it once (HD failure); if I were to go back
to images, I'd be going quite a long way back, as I don't make them
often enough. How often do you image your system?

Post by Mayayana
winsxs. I found it seemed to work OK if I moved it
to another partition, but that offers no benefit. Some
of the added bloat might be support files for later-
installed software, so I'd be hesitant to swap in the
original winsxs. As far as I can tell that's just a
forced copying of all the drivers on the install DVD.
So probably you'd be better off deleting all of that
and keeping newly-added stuff. But it's so vast that
any weeding seems unrealistic. I tried that at one
point. Tens of thousands of files that I had to assess
by name. I quickly gave up.

Sounds like there's an opening for an "sxs manager" utility (-;

Post by Mayayana
I'm not clear about exactly what Microsoft have
done on Vista+. It seems to be a combination of
backward compatibility hacks and engineered bloat
designed to make the system appear more slick,
by seamlessly installing drivers for as much hardware
as possible and not needing to ask for a disk. Of

That doesn't seem "slick" to me; such drivers would only be required
once, at the installation of new hardware (which almost certainly would
come with any required drivers on a CD anyway); in comparison, the bloat
you describe is there continuously.

Post by Mayayana
course, a year after they stick you with 4 GB of
drivers, most of them are outdated! And why do

Indeed!

Post by Mayayana
OEM machines need all that slop when the hardware
is known starting out? What's the sense of hundreds of
AMD drivers on a machine with an Intel CPU, for instance?

None, other than it makes life easier for the OEM programmers who don't
have to do the cleaning. Which doesn't benefit _us_ at all.

Post by Mayayana
It's not clear that even the Microsofties' "left hand
knows what the right hand is doing". In researching

(That's been the case for a _long_ time.)

Post by Mayayana
Microsoft President Steven Sinofsky (now former President) and his assistant
said: ...nearly every file in the WinSxS directory is a "hard link" to the
physical files elsewhere on the system-meaning that the files are not
actually in this directory. ...The actual amount of storage consumed varies,
but on a typical system it is about 400MB.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/e7/archive/2008/11/19/disk-space.aspx
The "Windows Server Core Team" said: All of the components in the operating
system are found in the WinSxS folder - in fact we call this location the
component store. ...The WinSxS folder is the only location that the
component is found on the system, all other instances of the files that you
see on the system are "projected" by hard linking from the component store.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2008/09/17/what-is-the-winsxs
-directory-in-windows-2008-and-windows-vista-and-why-is-it-so-large.aspx

So the first is saying that winsxs isn't "real", just "hard links" to
the files on the system (though if it contains drivers for hardware that
isn't present, that blatantly isn't true), the other's saying that the
files on the rest of the system aren't there, they're just "hard links"
to files in winsxs.

I presume "Hard Linking" "fools" usage utilities like WinDirStat,
TreeSize, and so on, so we can't easily tell which (if either - probably
neither) are correct.

Post by Mayayana
So one bigwig says winsxs is the whole shebang. The
other bigwig says it's merely a mirage and that you are
thus only imagining that it's eaten your hard disk. Both
are saying most of the bloat is merely a mirage. Maybe
you can't access the mirage space, but it's still there and
that's what matters....
Actually, Windows takes up almost no space at all. It
would all fit into a thimble. Your disk is full, you say? Well,
that's not a problem, but the explanation is too technical
for you to understand. You might want to buy a new
disk, just to humor the mirage, don'tcha know. :)

(-:

[Mayayana]

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG-***@255soft.uk> wrote

| I haven't used 7 much (at home - I did a lot at work, but that was more
| under someone else's control). With XP, I image against catastrophe, but
| so far have only had to use it once (HD failure); if I were to go back
| to images, I'd be going quite a long way back, as I don't make them
| often enough. How often do you image your system?
|

When I build a new computer, or buy one. I keep
a barebones disk image for that. Then I install all
software, set up configuration, and image that. I
back up data separately and keep a copy of all
data on other partitions/drives/DVDs/sticks.

Once in awhile I might make an ISO of the current
setup, but mostly I just use the fresh image of the
system after software is set up and it's ready to
go. That way I can do a total refresh every once in
awhile and it only takes about an hour. (To add
later updates, set up email programs that may have
changed passwords since imaging, etc.)

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Post by Mayayana
| I haven't used 7 much (at home - I did a lot at work, but that was more
| under someone else's control). With XP, I image against catastrophe, but
| so far have only had to use it once (HD failure); if I were to go back
| to images, I'd be going quite a long way back, as I don't make them
| often enough. How often do you image your system?
|
When I build a new computer, or buy one. I keep
a barebones disk image for that. Then I install all
software, set up configuration, and image that. I
back up data separately and keep a copy of all
data on other partitions/drives/DVDs/sticks.
Once in awhile I might make an ISO of the current
setup, but mostly I just use the fresh image of the
system after software is set up and it's ready to
go. That way I can do a total refresh every once in
awhile and it only takes about an hour. (To add
later updates, set up email programs that may have
changed passwords since imaging, etc.)

So you restore your fresh image (the one you made after initial setup
and a blast of installations). My system contains years of use - I think
I'd take significantly more than an hour to get it back to how it is
now, if I did as you do. Not saying better or worse - just that we
clearly use it in very different ways.

[Mayayana]

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG-***@255soft.uk> wrote

| So you restore your fresh image (the one you made after initial setup
| and a blast of installations). My system contains years of use - I think
| I'd take significantly more than an hour to get it back to how it is
| now, if I did as you do. Not saying better or worse - just that we
| clearly use it in very different ways.

Different systems. I use two redundant disks. Both
have a graphics/media partition. Both have backup
of software installers, docs, articles, etc. Periodically
I copy a partition to DVD that has email backup, taxes,
code collection, business docs.... pretty much all
relevant data.... It also has copies of my Firefox/
Pale moon bookmarks, HOSTS, config files for various
programs, my current desktop, etc. So if I need to reinstall
I just put back my Desktop, put back the browser
backups to App Data, put back config files (like
Acrtlic's HOSTS file) to program folders, and I'm
ready to roll.

My approach is to look at it like a tractor trailer.
Mixing function and data really doesn't make sense.
So for me the OS and software are the tractor.
I image that. If it blows a gasket I'm not stuck
on the highway with a perishable cargo. I just
have to swap in a new tractor. Since I have a
copy I don't have to build a new tractor. there's
an extra all ready to go. It's even got the radio
buttons pre-configured and the shag carpet on
the ceiling, just like the old one. :)

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Post by Mayayana
| So you restore your fresh image (the one you made after initial setup
| and a blast of installations). My system contains years of use - I think
| I'd take significantly more than an hour to get it back to how it is
| now, if I did as you do. Not saying better or worse - just that we
| clearly use it in very different ways.
Different systems. I use two redundant disks. Both
have a graphics/media partition. Both have backup
of software installers, docs, articles, etc. Periodically
I copy a partition to DVD that has email backup, taxes,
code collection, business docs.... pretty much all
relevant data.... It also has copies of my Firefox/

As a private user, I don't have business-critical data - but I do keep
data separate. (Some decades' worth in genealogy, for example.)

Post by Mayayana
Pale moon bookmarks, HOSTS, config files for various
programs, my current desktop, etc. So if I need to reinstall
I just put back my Desktop, put back the browser
backups to App Data, put back config files (like
Acrtlic's HOSTS file) to program folders, and I'm
ready to roll.
My approach is to look at it like a tractor trailer.
Mixing function and data really doesn't make sense.

I definitely agree there - C: for OS and software, D: for data. I very
rarely look at anything on C: (other than the desktop).

Post by Mayayana
So for me the OS and software are the tractor.
I image that. If it blows a gasket I'm not stuck
on the highway with a perishable cargo. I just
have to swap in a new tractor. Since I have a
copy I don't have to build a new tractor. there's
an extra all ready to go. It's even got the radio
buttons pre-configured and the shag carpet on
the ceiling, just like the old one. :)

(-:. My tractor just has a lot more customisation than yours. I can't
think how to put that into the analogy - I just wouldn't want to put in
an ex-works one.
[I might think differently if I used it for my livelihood - I suspect I
might keep a separate computer for work.]

[Wolf K]

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C:    57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G:    19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H:    14.5GB free out of 22.4GB

You have a 128GB drive by the looks of it. Some of that is taken by
rescue/repair/backup partitions without drive letters.

Post by Daniel60
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible to
reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??
TIA
Daniel

You may not like my advice:

Eliminate all files you don't need on your system. As in data you don't
use right now. Programs you've not used in months. Etc. Delete or Move
to the external drive. This is a temporary fix, though, since data
accumulates.

So I would go a step further: Buy another external drives for data
storage. Use F: for a working drive. Copy everything off H: and G: onto
F: then trash them and extend C: into the free space. External G: will
be your backup drive. If necessary, buy a USB hub so that you can keep
the external drives attached as much as possible. Make sure the hub is
one that takes power from a wall transformer, unpowered USB hubs can be
unreliable.

FWIW, the Source here has advertised 2TB drives for around $80CAD. Or $60US.

[Stan Brown]

Post by Wolf K
FWIW, the Source here has advertised 2TB drives for around $80CAD. Or $60US.

Was it recently? Hard drives were cheap a year or more ago, but HD
prices have shot up here, because of a shortage of prometheum or
something in Thailand.

[Wolf K]

Post by Stan Brown

Post by Wolf K
FWIW, the Source here has advertised 2TB drives for around $80CAD. Or $60US.

Was it recently? Hard drives were cheap a year or more ago, but HD
prices have shot up here, because of a shortage of prometheum or
something in Thailand.

A couple of months ago, sale price. Current drives are little higher:

https://www.thesource.ca/en-ca/search?q=external+drives%3Arelevance%3Aprice%3A%24%7B75%7D-%24%7B99%7D&view=grid

HTH

[tesla sTinker]

he has a right idea, but, get the outside drive, then
instead of deletion, just move it all to the outside drive,
and free up your inside hard drive. This correct much of your
problem, without compression of the drive. You can always compress
your outside drive later on, so that it also frees up space and
never erases anything.

Post by Wolf K

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB

You have a 128GB drive by the looks of it. Some of that is taken by
rescue/repair/backup partitions without drive letters.

Post by Daniel60
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible
to reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??
TIA
Daniel

Eliminate all files you don't need on your system. As in data you don't
use right now. Programs you've not used in months. Etc. Delete or Move
to the external drive. This is a temporary fix, though, since data
accumulates.
So I would go a step further: Buy another external drives for data
storage. Use F: for a working drive. Copy everything off H: and G: onto
F: then trash them and extend C: into the free space. External G: will
be your backup drive. If necessary, buy a USB hub so that you can keep
the external drives attached as much as possible. Make sure the hub is
one that takes power from a wall transformer, unpowered USB hubs can be
unreliable.
FWIW, the Source here has advertised 2TB drives for around $80CAD. Or $60US.

[Daniel60]

Post by Wolf K

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB

You have a 128GB drive by the looks of it. Some of that is taken by
rescue/repair/backup partitions without drive letters.

Post by Daniel60
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible
to reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??
TIA
Daniel

Eliminate all files you don't need on your system. As in data you don't
use right now. Programs you've not used in months. Etc. Delete or Move
to the external drive. This is a temporary fix, though, since data
accumulates.
So I would go a step further: Buy another external drives for data
storage. Use F: for a working drive. Copy everything off H: and G: onto
F: then trash them and extend C: into the free space. External G: will
be your backup drive. If necessary, buy a USB hub so that you can keep
the external drives attached as much as possible. Make sure the hub is
one that takes power from a wall transformer, unpowered USB hubs can be
unreliable.
FWIW, the Source here has advertised 2TB drives for around $80CAD. Or $60US.

You're right, Wolf! (Are you the same Wolf K that hangs about on the
Mozilla NG's?? I always took him to be Scandinavian not Canadian.) I do
not like your advice! I prefer separating things as I have done for many
years (decades!!).

And only having the one port for internal HD in this Laptop (well, o.k.
two really, but the other port and physical space is used for the DVD
drive), installing another internal HD is not possible and having to lug
around an external is not something I look forward to!! I do have an
external 3TB somewhere hereabouts which I use for backups.

Daniel

[Paul]

Daniel60 wrote:

<<snip>>

Post by Daniel60
And only having the one port for internal HD in this Laptop (well, o.k.
two really, but the other port and physical space is used for the DVD
drive), installing another internal HD is not possible and having to lug
around an external is not something I look forward to!! I do have an
external 3TB somewhere hereabouts which I use for backups.
Daniel

Have you checked the machine carefully for other options ?

Like, maybe an SD slot ? My digital camera here, has a 32GB SD
in it, so SD cards do come in decent sizes.

And dumping the DVD drive and using one of those adapter
modules for a 2.5" storage device, is a worthwhile tradeoff.
Only if you regularly watch movie content direct from
DVD, would it be a non-starter. For program installation
purposes, you can get a "slim" external USB optical drive for usage
with software installer DVDs. You don't have to "go without"
if removing the DVD drive. But if you spend a lot of time
flipping media into the built-in drive, that's not going
to be quite as convenient. It's only for people who seldom use the
drive, that an external slim can take its place.

Paul

[Daniel60]

Post by Paul
<<snip>>

Post by Daniel60
And only having the one port for internal HD in this Laptop (well,
o.k. two really, but the other port and physical space is used for the
DVD drive), installing another internal HD is not possible and having
to lug around an external is not something I look forward to!! I do
have an external 3TB somewhere hereabouts which I use for backups.
Daniel

Have you checked the machine carefully for other options ?
Like, maybe an SD slot ? My digital camera here, has a 32GB SD
in it, so SD cards do come in decent sizes.

I have had an SD connected to laptop .... once, so I do have the
appropriate plug/socket, so this is a possibility!

Post by Paul
And dumping the DVD drive and using one of those adapter
modules for a 2.5" storage device, is a worthwhile tradeoff.
Only if you regularly watch movie content direct from
DVD, would it be a non-starter. For program installation
purposes, you can get a "slim" external USB optical drive for usage
with software installer DVDs. You don't have to "go without"
if removing the DVD drive. But if you spend a lot of time
flipping media into the built-in drive, that's not going
to be quite as convenient. It's only for people who seldom use the
drive, that an external slim can take its place.
Paul

Last night was the first time I had the DVD tray open in months, but
still I like knowing it's there!

And trust me, I'm really not trying to be difficult, .... ;-)

Daniel

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

[]

Post by Daniel60

Post by Paul
And dumping the DVD drive and using one of those adapter
modules for a 2.5" storage device, is a worthwhile tradeoff.
Only if you regularly watch movie content direct from

[]

Post by Daniel60
Last night was the first time I had the DVD tray open in months, but
still I like knowing it's there!
And trust me, I'm really not trying to be difficult, .... ;-)
Daniel

When I bought this netbook, I too didn't want to be without optical
drive capability (it didn't have one), so I bought an external one. I've
subsequently found that I use it extremely rarely - mainly, these days,
to boot the Macrium CD when I do an image (of C and a SyncToy of D).
(External optical drives can be booted from.) So Paul's suggestion has
merit ...

... but I too wouldn't like to do away with optical capability if I
already had it built in - and just adding more storage only postpones
the problem, anyway (though speed gains possible if you trust SSDs too).

I'd, first, examine what's taking up all the space: I'd definitely agree
with whoever recommended WinDirStat - the few minutes it takes to run
are well worth it for the format in which it presents the results, IMO.

I'm intrigued by your system - C: for system, G: for executables, and H:
for data. I have C: for system-plus-software, and D: for data: I'm
interested to know how you define G:, and keep it as just executables (I
rather suspect, from the way it has filled, that they're storing a lot
of their data with them - that's where WinDirStat will come into its
own. Run it on just one partition - I'd start with G: (make sure only
one is highlighted before clicking OK) - to get a bigger view).

[Daniel60]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
[]

Post by Daniel60

Post by Paul
And dumping the DVD drive and using one of those adapter
modules for a 2.5" storage device, is a worthwhile tradeoff.
Only if you regularly watch movie content direct from

[]

Post by Daniel60
Last night was the first time I had the DVD tray open in months, but
still I like knowing it's there!
And trust me, I'm really not trying to be difficult, .... ;-)
Daniel

When I bought this netbook, I too didn't want to be without optical
drive capability (it didn't have one), so I bought an external one. I've
subsequently found that I use it extremely rarely - mainly, these days,
to boot the Macrium CD when I do an image (of C and a SyncToy of D).
(External optical drives can be booted from.) So Paul's suggestion has
merit ...
... but I too wouldn't like to do away with optical capability if I
already had it built in - and just adding more storage only postpones
the problem, anyway (though speed gains possible if you trust SSDs too).
I'd, first, examine what's taking up all the space: I'd definitely agree
with whoever recommended WinDirStat - the few minutes it takes to run
are well worth it for the format in which it presents the results, IMO.
for data. I have C: for system-plus-software, and D: for data: I'm
interested to know how you define G:, and keep it as just executables (I
rather suspect, from the way it has filled, that they're storing a lot
of their data with them - that's where WinDirStat will come into its
own. Run it on just one partition - I'd start with G: (make sure only
one is highlighted before clicking OK) - to get a bigger view).

Thanks, John.

When I brought this HP 6730b Laptop, it had a 250GB HD as its C:\, which
had the Windows 7 stuff on it. I copied this to a 500GB HD, to allow for
expansion, then used a Linux iso installation disk to reduce this to ...

C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB, Win7, Anti-Virus, Users, Program files
(not program installations), hopefully just OS type stuff!
D: DVD RW Drive
E: my Wireless Internet Dongle
F: removable USB drive
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free) Adobe,
LibreOffice, Family Tree Program, Internet Suite, etc.
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB Internet Suite User files, mp3's & 4's,
stuff.

(The rest of the 500GB is allocated to a (4GB) Linux Swap Drive, several
Linux installations (each 10GB) and about 260GB for my Linux /home
partition.

The D:, E: and F: drives were there before I started re-shaping my HD,
so the G: and H: drives, whilst next to the C: on the HD, got named
later. I've often thought about re-naming thing ....

C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
D: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
E: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB

O: DVD RW Drive (O for optical)
U1: my USB Wireless Internet Dongle
U2: removable USB drive

but never get around to it!

On my G: drive, I currently have "My Documents" (100MB), "My Music"
(50MB), "My Pictures" (50MB), "My Podcasts" (where did that come from??)
(65KB) and "My Videos" (1.25GB) (where did they come from??).

So I can dump that 1.5GB'ish onto the H: and that should free things up
on the G: drive a bit!!

Thanks for making me look, John!

Daniel

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

[]

Post by Daniel60

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
I'd, first, examine what's taking up all the space: I'd definitely agree
with whoever recommended WinDirStat - the few minutes it takes to run
are well worth it for the format in which it presents the results, IMO.
for data. I have C: for system-plus-software, and D: for data: I'm
interested to know how you define G:, and keep it as just executables (I
rather suspect, from the way it has filled, that they're storing a lot
of their data with them - that's where WinDirStat will come into its
own. Run it on just one partition - I'd start with G: (make sure only
one is highlighted before clicking OK) - to get a bigger view).

Thanks, John.

[]

Post by Daniel60
C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB, Win7, Anti-Virus, Users, Program files
(not program installations), hopefully just OS type stuff!
D: DVD RW Drive
E: my Wireless Internet Dongle
F: removable USB drive
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
Adobe, LibreOffice, Family Tree Program, Internet Suite, etc.
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB Internet Suite User files, mp3's & 4's,
stuff.

[]

Post by Daniel60
later. I've often thought about re-naming thing ....

[]

Post by Daniel60
but never get around to it!

(I have tuit shortages too.) I wouldn't bother - if it's working, leave

Post by Daniel60
On my G: drive, I currently have "My Documents" (100MB), "My Music"
(50MB), "My Pictures" (50MB), "My Podcasts" (where did that come
from??) (65KB) and "My Videos" (1.25GB) (where did they come from??).
So I can dump that 1.5GB'ish onto the H: and that should free things up
on the G: drive a bit!!

So not just executables. (Where are your genealogy images [I'm a
genealogist too] stored - photos, scans of documents?)

Post by Daniel60
Thanks for making me look, John!
Daniel

But moving that lot (make sure you move the "My"s properly, so the
system knows they've moved) will only reduce G:'s fill by 7½%. I think
you need to look more into why it's so full. I can't imagine that's
_just_ software - I think there must be a lot of data there too. Have
you tried WinDirStat on G:? (And C: - that's nearly full too.)

Once you _have_ figured out why G: is silting up, *and have fixed it* to
stop it continuing to happen, I'd consider merging C: and G:; I can't
personally see a good reason for keeping Microsoft software (the OS)
separate from other software (OK, including some Microsoft). Though if
you _have_ managed to keep them separate, there'd probably be no great
advantage in merging them. I keep my OS-and-software on C: so I can
image it against catastrophe, so I could restore not just the OS, but
also all my softwares with all their settings - though I guess I could
just as well if they were on two partitions. (I _backup_ my D: - data -
just by copying, though I use SyncToy to make that a lot quicker.)

[Daniel60]

<Snip>

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Daniel60
On my G: drive, I currently have "My Documents" (100MB), "My Music"
(50MB), "My Pictures" (50MB), "My Podcasts" (where did that come
from??) (65KB) and "My Videos" (1.25GB) (where did they come from??).
So I can dump that 1.5GB'ish onto the H: and that should free things
up on the G: drive a bit!!

So not just executables. (Where are your genealogy images [I'm a
genealogist too] stored - photos, scans of documents?)

I'm not a genealogist, really, John, just a storage facility for my
sister's research ... and our father's before that.

The tree is online at tribalpages.com so other family member (6,000-odd
so far) can access it, and, hopefully, send me any updates/corrections
needed.

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Daniel60
Thanks for making me look, John!
Daniel

But moving that lot (make sure you move the "My"s properly, so the
system knows they've moved) will only reduce G:'s fill by 7½%. I think
you need to look more into why it's so full. I can't imagine that's
_just_ software - I think there must be a lot of data there too. Have
you tried WinDirStat on G:? (And C: - that's nearly full too.)

Windows has only been popping up a "Low Disk Space" pop-up for the last
week or so. Been fine for the preceding eight years. That's why I
figured it was just something I've done recently, maybe even the cache
of my browser (which I've since emptied!) finally filling the disk to
much or something else simple!

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
Once you _have_ figured out why G: is silting up, *and have fixed it* to
stop it continuing to happen, I'd consider merging C: and G:; I can't
personally see a good reason for keeping Microsoft software (the OS)
separate from other software (OK, including some Microsoft). Though if
you _have_ managed to keep them separate, there'd probably be no great
advantage in merging them. I keep my OS-and-software on C: so I can
image it against catastrophe, so I could restore not just the OS, but
also all my softwares with all their settings - though I guess I could
just as well if they were on two partitions. (I _backup_ my D: - data -
just by copying, though I use SyncToy to make that a lot quicker.)

"silting" ... yeah, that probably just about sums the situation up!!

As for "keeping Microsoft software (the OS) separate from other
software", it just seemed like a logical thing ... back in the MS-DOS
days. It meant that I could back-up the OS only (or not worry about it
as I had the physical, Read-Only floppies any way!), or my programs only
(which I may or may not have had the physical disks for! :-P ), or my
Documents only.

But who ever bothers to back-up their Game High Scores files?? What a
waste of space! ;-)

Thanks, again.

Daniel

[Wolf K]

Post by Daniel60

Post by Paul
<<snip>>

Post by Daniel60
And only having the one port for internal HD in this Laptop (well,
o.k. two really, but the other port and physical space is used for the
DVD drive), installing another internal HD is not possible and having
to lug around an external is not something I look forward to!! I do
have an external 3TB somewhere hereabouts which I use for backups.
Daniel

Have you checked the machine carefully for other options ?
Like, maybe an SD slot ? My digital camera here, has a 32GB SD
in it, so SD cards do come in decent sizes.

I have had an SD connected to laptop .... once, so I do have the
appropriate plug/socket, so this is a possibility!

[...]

Especially now that you can get relatively cheap 64GB SDs. But the price
per GB is very high compared to external HDDs.

You have a lot of factors to consider.

[Shadow]

On Sat, 23 Sep 2017 20:54:46 +1000, Daniel60

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible to
reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??

Freeware BleachBit (SourceForge) and Wise Disk Cleaner
(http://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-disk-cleaner.html) wipe a lot of
useless stuff. But DO carefully examine what they flag before hitting
the CLEAN button. Once it's gone, it's gone.
After the cleanup, you might not need to re-size.
[]'s

[Daniel60]

Post by Daniel60
I currently have my Hard Drive partitioned like so ....
C: 57.2GB used out of 60.1GB
G: 19.5GB used out of 19.5GB (22.1MB actually showing as free)
H: 14.5GB free out of 22.4GB
(Drive D: is the DVD RW Drive, Drive E: is my Wireless Internet Dongle
and Drive F: is a removable USB drive)
Windows 7 keeps complaining about "Low Disk Space" so is it possible to
reduce the size of H: (say 5GB) and add the extra space to G:??
Or should I just copy a whole directory from G: to H: and then delete
the original directory from G:??
Any other suggestions??
TIA
Daniel

Thank you all for your advice, but I figured, as I'm not using any of
the Linux stuff, at this time, I'll shrink my Linux Home partition
(currently using about 60Gb of its 250Gb) and then expand the Windows
partitions.

After I locate my 3GB external drive and back everything up first, of
course!!

Thanks.

Daniel