Losing Disk Space By The GBs

joeandmarg0:

Concerning Reflect, I didn't mean the same problem, many times, just some problem that couldn't be solved (at least, easily) by any method other than restoring a system image. Like a bad download and/or install that couldn't be fixed or uninstalled.

Don't know what Reliability History is.

I'll try to look into the Task Manager thing at some point. But it's not like every minute free space is going down, so I'm not sure how this is going to show me anything.

Concerning Powershell, does 'dism' actually do anything as far as deleting/making changes, etc., or does it just display information?

idgat:

I still would like to know if System Protection is simply and only Restore Point.

I'll look into TreeSize if I don't get a definitive answer soon.

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Right now I'm going to bed.

Again, thanks for the responses.

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Alright, dalchina, maybe I'll do WizTree.

The system images I create used to be 45 GB. Now they're 75-80. I don't have that much new stuff on my machine. What's it saving?

It is not shadow copies because they are excluded from images by default. That is why I suggested taking a look with the free glary program.

I went to Reliability History and looked at everything it had to show me--back into April. Nothing there of any importance.

SIW2:

Apparently now I'm supposed to download 3 programs to look at my file structure.

dalchina:

Again, I've been using Reflect (and before that, the Windows SI process) for years; I know what it does.

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If anybody's gonna try to educate me on System Protection/Restore Point, please focus on my EXACT words and stop right there, to wit:

"I still would like to know if System Protection is simply and only Restore Point."

That's it; that's all I'm asking. Thanks.

Now I'm going to bed.

1. I know what my screenprint says about 'hibernation,' but I don't completely understand it. I don't know that I turned it on. If I turn it off, what happens/what do I lose? Also, where/how do I turn it off?

Hibernation is a sleep state. In basic terms, it means that the computer dumps the entire contents of memory to the HDD or SSD to a special hibernation file and then turns off. So, at this point the computer is using no power. When you turn the computer back on again, it reads that hibernation file back into memory so you end up exactly where you left off with all of the same programs running, documents opened, etc.

2. 'System Protection' sounds important. Is that nothing more than a restore point? I've used a restore point a grand total of one time, and it worked. Other than that I use Macrium Reflect to create system images, which I've had to use many times to overcome some kind of problem.

Yes, this allows you to create restore points. If you want that ability, don't disable this. Certain features will come at a cost of using some amount of storage, of course.

3. Concerning your 'clean' command, I ran it to the point of seeing what it produced. I guess it has in it all that Disk Cleanup has, plus some more stuff. Some of it I probably would be leery of checking since I'm not a computer person and don't understand some of that stuff, and some of it I wouldn't check because I don't check it in Disk Cleanup. If you're telling me nothing bad would happen if I delete those 'systemy' sounding things, I might be more adventurous. Also, why doesn't the Advanced function show the amount of space each item involves, like the normal cleaning function?

The way I was having you run it is a special mode of cleanmgr that is more intended to be run on a scheduled basis. Because it cannot predict in advance how much space will be saved when it is run at a future time, it doesn't show how much space would be saved. If you run just cleanmgr by itself it will then show you how much space would be saved, but this won't show every available option. At that point it is pretty much like what you are already doing.

4. "Even if it did continue to use more and more storage over time, you only need to do the management on a very infrequent basis. The end result will be the same and you will gain your space back." I'm not getting the space back; that's the problem--it's getting worse.

Yes, you are not going to get every little bit of space back. Programs will save user data and settings, registry entry settings will get saved, e-mail accumulate, etc. Windows does not have an exact, fixed footprint. The amount of space used will vary with what you have installed, how you are using the computer, etc.

But let me ask a question: You have a 1 TB drive in your system. Why? If you absolutely do not want it to use more than a small fraction of that space, then what's the point of having a 1 TB drive? I have one laptop that has only a 256 GB drive in - one quarter of the space you have. Yet I NEVER EVER EVER do any sort of space management on it except to delete old documents that I don't need any longer. There is one exception: I do get e-mail on that machine, and I know a few people who like to send really big e-mail attachments. So, my free space shrinks a bit over time because of all that data, but never really to the point where it becomes a concern. Just to keep things tidy, I clean out old e-mail maybe once every 18 months or so .

I also have another machine that has only 64 GB of storage. That's one sixteenth the amount of storage you have. Now, on that system, I admit that I have to be a bit more vigilant and keep after myself. Once I get below about 10 GB of free space, I like to do a little housekeeping because I'll start getting a little twitchy them. But if I have 20 GB of free, I'm a happy boy!

The point is this: The space is there to be used! With 1 TB of storage, I would be downloading files, creating VMs (a big space consumer), storing my music library, all with reckless abandon . That's why it's there!

By all means, micro-manage your data as much as you want, but don't drive yourself crazy trying to account for what in the big picture is rarely a small amount of space. My opinion only so don't take this the wrong way, but if I was losing even 20 GB a week, I simply wouldn't give a hoot. It wouldn't even be worth my time to investigate. I have more important things to do. Now, if that trend continued and I got to a point where maybe a few hundred GB of unaccounted for space got used up, then it would get my attention and I'd want to investigate.

5. "Finally, Windows has mechanisms built-in that automatically kick-in to free up space if the system starts getting low on storage space." Again, I've already experienced Windows cleaning itself even though I'm not (yet) low on space. And Windows (any process) should clean up after itself.

6. "you have so much free space available"--I wanna keep it that way, not watch it disappear.

Understood, but where do you set the limit? Why would you happy if only 50 GB of space was in use (just a random number I'm citing)? Why not then insist on only 40 GB being used. Or maybe 30 GB. Why have a 1 TB drive if you are never ever going to allow the system to use more than a tiny fraction of that space? Of course, it's up to you, after all, it's called a Personal Computer, so how you want to manage your system may be very different than what I do.

Okay, I've said enough! I simply want you to be able to enjoy having a nice roomy drive and not have to worry about it.

vanp said:

SIW2:

Apparently now I'm supposed to download 3 programs to look at my file structure.

dalchina:

Again, I've been using Reflect (and before that, the Windows SI process) for years; I know what it does.

Any of them, they all do a similar thing. People who later suggested other programs presumably didn't bother to read the thread.

Because your image sizes are increasing, I will say for the last time , it is not due to restore points because they are excluded from images by default.