Missing nearly a GB of storage and have no idea what happened

I downloaded a program that lets me get some games (wont give name for site reasons but I verfied it as safe,no malware, scanned with MB several times), as well as backing some files up from here after they dissapeared (I got 7 gigs, backed them up to cloud and then deleted them) but not I'm down from 5.63 gigs to 5.01 gigs (im on a surface laptop with a 29 gig limit), thats all after deleting files and folders, running chkdsk, clearing cache and disk space, clearing cookies, checking system restores, and so on, and I'm somehow missing this many bytes.

I have several bookmarks but Idk if that takes up alot of space, and I had my computer on awhile from downloading, but I'm going crazy trying to figure it out, I see temp folders under app data but I don't know whats safe to clear.

I don't know what program you're using but torrent clients can store torrent files and incomplete data (downloads you didn't finished but space was reserved). Sometimes inexperienced users can "lose" space because they mess things up a bit and don't clear all that junk properly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by deadlegion

I don't know what program you're using but torrent clients can store torrent files and incomplete data (downloads you didn't finished but space was reserved). Sometimes inexperienced users can "lose" space because they mess things up a bit and don't clear all that junk properly.

---

Oh its not a torrent client, the other program was a normal DDL, alongside some large games, but I deleted both, even showing hidden files and clearing the app data and I'm still missing loads of storage.

Yes, I'd use CCleaner to clear the junk out............but be very careful when installing CCleaner as since AVAST bought and attempted to ruin it there have been reports it will try to install Avast free if you don't tick or untick the right boxes.

I'd actually look for an older CCleaner version (v5.35.0.6210) from FileHorse or somewhere similar.

The ever reliable Revo Uninstaller has built in clean up tools which can find stuff (like thumbnail caches) that even CCleaner doesn't remove. There are, of course, plenty of alternatives like PrivaZer, Decrapifier etc.

My other thought about this is: how are you managing your restore points? I used a laptop with a a small by today's standards, 40GB, HDD for years and maximising the free space is something I know a lot about. One of the biggest space eaters are restore points and the loss of half a GB is typical of a new restore point having been created by modern Windows OS.

CCleaner again will show you and allow you to delete restore points easily. That can free up a lot of space but of course you should be careful what you delete as they are an important safety net.

This is for Win7 so the route to find it may well be different but you should also look in Control Panel > System & Security > System > System Protection(menu) > Configure button and see how much space has been dedicated to restore points. Reduce it if necessary.

If you've used Hibernation recently that can be a space eater too:-

https://www.zdnet.com/article/window...nd-disk-space/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheAbysmalDark

Yes, I'd use CCleaner to clear the junk out............but be very careful when installing CCleaner as since AVAST bought and attempted to ruin it there have been reports it will try to install Avast free if you don't tick or untick the right boxes.

I'd actually look for an older CCleaner version (v5.35.0.6210) from FileHorse or somewhere similar.

The ever reliable Revo Uninstaller has built in clean up tools which can find stuff (like thumbnail caches) that even CCleaner doesn't remove. There are, of course, plenty of alternatives like PrivaZer, Decrapifier etc.

My other thought about this is: how are you managing your restore points? I used a laptop with a a small by today's standards, 40GB, HDD for years and maximising the free space is something I know a lot about. One of the biggest space eaters are restore points and the loss of half a GB is typical of a new restore point having been created by modern Windows OS.

CCleaner again will show you and allow you to delete restore points easily. That can free up a lot of space but of course you should be careful what you delete as they are an important safety net.

This is for Win7 so the route to find it may well be different but you should also look in Control Panel > System & Security > System > System Protection(menu) > Configure button and see how much space has been dedicated to restore points. Reduce it if necessary.

If you've used Hibernation recently that can be a space eater too:-

https://www.zdnet.com/article/window...nd-disk-space/

---

Aw F, I didn't know it could install Avast til *after* I downloaded CCleaner from the normal site :(

I didn't see it anywhere so far, though IDK if it hides it or something, but that seems ridiculous.

Anyway I used CCleaner and after a clean (didn't do registry cleaning to avoid system damage) I'm up to 5.55 gigabytes now, which sounds fairly accurate to what it was before.

As for restores, I don't know much about them, I did to the clean all but the most recent restore point option but that doesn't seem to change much

As said about CCleaner/AVAST it was 'reports' on some forums, including their own about it apparently installing Avast by default. Maybe AVAST have finally got the message that using what is only one rung up the ladder of bad installer practice from foistware is disliked intensely by most users.

Usually deleting a restore point on a modern Windows OS will free up at least 400MB and sometimes almost 2GB.

The Hibernation and Pagefile files both usually only visible if you change the view settings to show hidden system files, can be huge. My current Hibernation file is 5.5+GB and the Pagefile is what I've set it to use: slightly <8GB ie. matching the RAM. The actual amount used varies with demand but the space is reserved.

Reducing the Pagefile size is OK but it will affect performance. Whether that is noticeable in practice I have no idea so you should research that yourself if you need to free up more space.

i can vouch for revo installer since i had to use it after installing command & conquer: red alert (a pirated copy, obviously, since where the heck would someone find a legit copy of such an old game these days?) only to later discover the darn game didn't come with an uninstaller!

that "hunter mode" worked exactly as advertised when i drag & dropped it onto the desktop shortcuts (had the expansion too) for the game to scan and uninstall the game and any registry changes it made during installation. :)

I think you'll find that all the older C&C games including the original Red Alert were released by EA in 2010 as freeware. You can't get them direct from EA but plenty of places still have them available to download, AFAIK legitimately.

"Electronic Arts no longer offer Command & Conquer Red Alert or any other C&C game for free on the promotional download site created in 2008, but they have allowed it to remain as freeware. It is currently offered for free download from a number of third-party fan sites..........."

I don't wanna make a new thread for the same issue, but now I'm having these issues again.

After doing some stuff, uploading stuff to cloud (downloading files but backing them up and deleting them, so I can get them on a proper computer), now I'm suddenly missing nearly 300 megabytes of storage, and after a bluescreen now I can't get it any higher than 5.45 gigabytes (It keeps getting smaller too)

I have tried *everything* in the book, Disk cleanup, Delete Restore, CCleaner (except registry cause apparently it can break it), Optimize drive, even chkdsk and sfc scannow don't work, they didn't even show anything corrupted, I just suddenly am back 300+ megabytes forever. (out of a tiny storage capacity), even after clearing some files (like 400 mb) I'm suddenly back to 5.45 Gb.

I check Windows Updates and it shows three that apparently failed to update. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but thats the only lead I have :(

It could just be Windows updates which are eating your storage space. MS release their "Monthly Rollout" of what they call important updates and optional ones too, generally on the first Tuesday of the month. There can also be additional updates, released later in the same month, particularly if there as been some unforeseen problem with the monthly ones.

If you're using Windows 10 there are only a few work arounds to avoid it automatically updating in general and so when any of those additional ones become available they'll be installed as well.

The fact you're complaining about this loss of space again suggests it could be something like that and unfortunately there really is not a lot you can do about this.

Windows monthly updates are regularly in the 200MB - 300MB range even without the optional ones. That sort of space is now considered peanuts when most PCs have 1TB of storage as standard. MS don't care if you're using an old machine with a small HDD or new machine with a limited capacity primary drive. The updates will install (or apparently not in your case). What they're replacing will be cached so that you can revert back to the older installation if necessary.

Windows Disk Cleanup can remove temporary system files which CCleaner or other similar tools may not delete by default.

As I said before restore points are a big user of space but I'm not sure how a Surface deals with restore points. I would assume it is in space allocated for that purpose on the primary partition. The creation of a new restore point, which Windows will do automatically before installing any update, would explain why you're seeing the return of the space loss 'problem'.

It usually *is* windows updates downloading that takes up that space it seems, it does it slow and if I delete the contents of the "Downloads" folder, I get that space back with little worry

I recently disabled hibernation and that brought back 2 gigabytes worth of space, I'm also in the process of zipping stuff so that should save even more space, so now I'm no longer in the red at least :)

Glad to read you've identified and sorted the problem.