Main hard drive (C) appears to be (almost) full...but isn't

Milton · 31 Aug 2018

Hi good afternoon.

I have a problem. My main 1 tb drive (C) is showing only 27 gigabytes free, but I know for a fact there should be around 850 gigabytes free.....at least that what was displayed yesterday.

There is absolutely no way that I have used 830 gigabytes since yesterday.

Help!

milton

ps. Just added a screenshot from last week when I had a problem with an external hard drive.
It was then showing 841 gb's free. Also the (normally) blue bar that indicates how full a drive is has turned RED. I presume that is because the pc thinks the drive is almost full...so turns RED to alert me to that. Just added another screenshot that I took just now.
I appears to have recovered 1 gigabyte from somewhere ?

NeuesTestament · 31 Aug 2018

When you access the drive does it take longer to show you the contents? And do you experience any slowdowns in writing stuff to and from the harddrive.
If any of these things happen that might indicate a drive failure.

Milton · 31 Aug 2018

Hi NeuesTestament.

The computer is only around 8 months old.
When I click on the (C) drive, I can view the contents normally (speedwise).

I haven't noticed any slowdown at all in using the hard drive.

I'm baffled!

Just had a look at Computer Management (see screenshot).....it indicates only 3% of the drive is free....and is 'healthy'.

EdTittel · 31 Aug 2018

Have you tried other disk inspection tools such as the Open Source WinDirStat or TreeSize Free? They will not only confirm or correct your disk consumption situation, they will also show you where the storage has been allocated if indeed it has been consumed. And yes, actually, I can confirm from two occasions (one from rogue software, another from deliberate creation of repeated backups) that it is possible to consume close to 1 TB of disk storage in a single day.
Please give one or both of those tools a try and report back here as to what they report for that disk.
Best wishes and HTH,
--Ed--

Milton · 31 Aug 2018

Downloading WinDirStat now Ed.
Will report back as soon as I have more info.

milton

Milton · 31 Aug 2018

Downloaded WinDirStat.....see screenshots for results....shows only around 28gb's free.
Will now try TreeSize Free to see if I get the same results.

EdTittel · 31 Aug 2018

If you run WinDirStat as administrator, you may get more visibility into the Generic "Files" bucket and into System Volume Information. Highly recommended, in fact, for "mystery files" like yours. Something odd is definitely up. TreeSize requires no such contortions.
--Ed--

Milton · 31 Aug 2018

Think TreeSize has indicated where the problem lies (see screenshot)

I'll try and make this as brief as possible (long story)

In July I installed a free 'giveaway version' of Wise Care 365 Pro....with a 'lifetime licence''...but no updates included.
I had set the program to NEVER check for updates (or it would become the standard FREE version if I updated it).
However I also had a (portable) program called PatchMyPC which would periodically check for updates to (some) installed programs...and update them 'silently'.
Well, it appeared that PMPC updated Wise Care 365 Pro despite my setting it to never check for updates.
I contacted Wise Care support and explained that somehow WC Pro had reverted to the 'free version'...despite my setting it to never update. They very quickly replied and sent me a link to download a slightly different version of WC Pro 365. I then discovered what PatchMyPC had done....via its log file.
I removed PatchMyPC from my computer and installed the new version. Viola...problem solved!...or so I thought.
From TreeSize results it appears that WC Pro 365 has created a MASSIVE 818.gb file.
I therefore think I need to try and delete that file and then hopefully I will get a true reading of free space.
That's what I am thinking I should do. What do you think Ed ?
Ed I'm running WinDirStat again. I think that I was a little impatient with it. Scan hadn't completed.

Touchbase · 31 Aug 2018

47,000 folders is a lot what is inside that WISE_DISKSCRUBTEMP folder?

Milton · 31 Aug 2018

Ed, I ran WinDirStat again...took around 9 mins.
It does appear to confirm what TreeSize Free indicated. A massive 818.gb file called "WISE_DISKSCRUBTEMP"
See screenshot.
I agree Touchbase....it's hell of a lot.
As to what is inside the folder...I don't know. WinDirStat goes into 'Not Responding' mode if I try and have a look.
Actually Touchbase, I think that's the total of folders on 'Windows'.....not the WISE.etc