What Do I Do About A Full Computer?

[Brina]

Hello! I have a couple questions about my computer. My C drive is almost full. It has a 14.2 GB capacity and I only have 2 GB left. I am running Windows XP and constantly delete temp files and old restore points to free up space. I have deleted all programs and files that I do not use and it's still this full.

My first question is this. In the control panel, under add/remove programs, there are alot of programs that say Windows XP Hotfix. There are 26 of them. I don't know what these are, so are they safe to delete?

My next question is this. Since my space is low, what do I do to increase it? I've installed RAM on this computer before so I think I could probably do it myself, but the problem is, I'm not sure what exactly to buy to install!

Thanks in advance for you help!

[Setzar]

Sounds like you just need a larger hard drive. Your hard drive (HD) is the place where your programs and files are stored (aka Drive C:). With Windows XP being huge in the first place and newer software also needing more HD space, 14.2 GB isn't a lot. HD aren't terrably expensive and you can find them pretty cheap if you watch the salespapers (I like Best Buy).

Your options then are to either copy your old HD to the new one or to have a 2 HD system. Either way, you need a new HD.

[mjc]

Also you can reign in the XP system restore feature...it will use a lot of space saving restore points at the default settings.

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/pro/techinfo/administration/systemrestore/default.asp

[Deagle]

Windoze xp hot fixes are the critical updates that patches up your xp. I suggest you turn off system hibernation support and do a defragmentation of the disk if you haven't already. If you had installed ram before on your system then you should know what kind of ram your system needs? Just in case you don't check in the mobo manual or your system manual.
;)

[superdrumr]

just go buy a bigger hard drive and install it as a slave to store files on

[kayofcircles]

Someone needs to correct me if I am wrong, but adding a second hard drive to a system seems to me to necessitate "room" for one thing (inside the case), maybe a larger power supply (?), maybe more fans, etc. So, I tend to think a new, bigger hard drive is the answer here.

With Windows XP being huge in the first place...
Just how big is XP? And how much is added by the hot fixes?

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Somewhere's in the ballpark of 2 to 3 megs just the OS. So I've been told. I don't imagine Hot Fixes to be very substantial but programs and the likes could pile it on a bit.

[mjc]

megs or gigs?

[Fruss Tray Ted]

http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/icons/icon11.gif!!!!

[kayofcircles]

It's been awhile, obviously, but I remember reading a Consumer Reports article on how "bloated" ME is. Something about a photo editing part that took up a GB all by itself. Don't remember what the total was, but article definitely said you need more hard drive space and more RAM for ME. Was just curious, and too lazy to Google for an answer..lol.

[Sylvander]

One approach is to start with the fundamentals and eliminate “slack”.
Slack is wasted [unused] space in the HDD clusters.
Every file wastes [an average of] half a cluster, so if you have 20 or 50 thousand files and the cluster size is say32 kB, then:
50 x 1,000 x 32 x 1,000 = 1,600 MB or thereabouts of empty, unused, practically unusable HDD space.

So how do you eliminate slack?
Well, what I do is:
a. Make separate partitions.
b. Put small files in small partitions with small cluster sizes.
c. Put big files in big partitions with big clusters.

In practice you can only approximate to the ideal so:
1. Keep only the Operating System and the Program files [plus some bits & pieces] on the C: partition and use 2 or 4 kB clusters.
2. Keep the really big files [like “.wav” & “.mp3”] on a dedicated partition and use 64 kB clusters.
3. Keep the other stuff on another partition and use small to medium clusters.
When you’re defragmenting the number of little rectangles [clusters] that make up each file will indicate whether the clusters are too big or too small.

“Partition Magic” would do a good job of displaying the wasted space that would result from the choice of cluster size.
It also makes it easy to re-partition “on-the-fly”.

I didn’t use it myself. I used “Simple Backup” to juggle things but I wouldn’t recommend it. It automatically restores to the drive with the same letter as the one that was backed up and that makes it difficult or impossible to do some things.
Imagine making a backup of the C: drive then reducing the partition to fit the files and making an extra 2 GB partition, restoring the files, then moving some files [2 GB worth] off the C: partition to this new D: partition.
Then you backup the C: and D: partitions and re-partition again to reduce the C: partition to fit the new file total and restore again and move some more files to the D: partition.
Not an easy method to move files and re-size partitions, but it does work.

Regularly delete the Temporary Internet Files.
“Disk Frontier” was a great help in showing that these occupy a LOT of space and most of these are seldom used.
I use “Spider” to periodically eliminate them.
I've seen a method of putting a command in the "Autoexec.bat" file to delete them at each boot of Windows.

[deddard]

Adding a secondary hard disk isn't difficult. You do need some physical space - but that is normally available. Assuming you don't have some oddball system case, the CD/DVD in your computer is at the front, in a bay. There are usually one or two extra bays (hidden behind the plastic 'blanks') These bays are where you can add a further disk drive - after this, you should have everything you need - the Power supply has adequate connectors for a second HDD, though you may have to buy a further EIDE cable.
Inside the computer, the Primary HDD will be connected to the IDE 1 connector, and the CD/DVD will be either connected to the same ribbon, or it will have it's own ribbon connector going to the IDE2 connector.
If the CD is attached to the same cable as the Primary HDD, then you need to buy a second cable (these aren't expensive) as well as the new HDD.
There should be several threads on installing new HDDs on the forum, but if you decide to go this route (the only real way to give you more space) and still have problems - post back and we'll help you out.

[superdrumr]

In most cases you dont need to buy a new IDE cable, they almost always come with the hard drives, as long as it is a "retail boxed" drive and not a "bare drive". If they optical drive is on the IDE 1 Channel it would be advisable to move it to the IDE 2 channel and set it as the master instead of the slave drive

[Brina]

Thanks for your replies everyone. It sounds like I need a hard drive. Could I add an external hard drive and be ok? I don't know alot about installing components inside the tower, but the external hard drives appear to be easy to hook up. If this is an option, how many GB should I get? And what else should I know before doing this? Thanks again!

[Budfred]

An external drive would work, but it would be really slow unless you have Firewire or USB2 ports. I am guessing that you don't since it sounds like your computer is a few years old. In that case, you would need to install an add-in card which is only slightly less technical than putting in a new hard drive.

Truth is, it is really pretty easy to put in a hard drive. They come with pretty good instructions and have the software you need for them. They also usually come with a cable as an earlier post said. If you can handle a screwdriver, you can probably do it and if you get stuck we can help.

If you get an external, it will cost about $100 more than an equivalent internal and you will still need to buy an add-in card for at least another $20.

[Jumby]

And here are a couple more suggestions (like you don't have enough already). I don't know if you have any other drive like a zip, CDR, etc., and not knowing what you do with your computer, but if you store all your files and stuff on the hard drive, you might think about storing them on some kind of removable media instead. Also, I didn't see that you have done "disk cleanup". I'm amazed at all the stuff that is removed when I do that. And if you've never done it, you should. But a new hard drive is also very easy to do, and they are always on sale somewhere.

[Brina]

I have done disk clean-up, defrag, and everything else I could think of to do. How do I know if my computer is capable of having a second internal HD installed? It already has a CD burner, CD ROM drive, and floppy disk drive, so is there room for a HD also? AS far as the external drive goes, I have an extra card installed already with extra USB ports. Does it matter which brand name HD I install? The one I have now is a Samsung, but I didn't know if that would matter in purchasing a second one.

[Budfred]

To find out if you have room you need to check 2 things:

1. Open the case and see if you have any more slots for a 3.5 inch drive or any of the 5.25 inch bays that your CD drive is in. If you do, you have the physical room.

2. Check your power supply on the 12 volt leg and see how many amps you have. You can refer to this web page (http://members.shaw.ca/need4speed/Power%20Supply%20Choices.htm) to get details on how much power is needed.

If you already have a USB card installed, the question to ask is if it is USB 2 or if it is the old USB standard. If it is the old one and you use it for an external drive (if you can find one that will), it will be very, very slow. USB 2 is something like 10 times faster than USB and is one of the reasons that external drives are now more feasible. Firewire is the other reason.

You can install any brand of hard drive that you would like. To take advantage of sales, you would probably want to get a Maxtor, Western Digital or Seagate. For example, CompUSA has a 160gig on sale through today for $100 after rebate. By comparison, an Maxtor external on sale is $160 for 80gig or a 120gig Western Digital for $220.

[Brina]

I checked and did not see any more slots available to install an internal hard drive. I went to Best Buy and bought a BUSlink 80GB external hard drive. I also got the USB 2.0 card. The one I had was an older one. I got both installed, but now the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the system tray won't go away. I don't want to remove the hardware but I think my computer wants me to. I've tried restarting and it still comes back up. Any ideas on how to get rid of this without removing the hard drive?

[Brina]

Something else I noticed since I installed the new hard drive is that the computer won't restart. It goes to the "Windows Is Shutting Down" screen and then stops. If I unplug the hard drive, it restarts fine.

[Budfred]

Here is a page (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310664) that talks about that icon. It is part of how Windoze sets things up and you only need to use it when you disconnect the drive.

If the computer is hanging on shutdown, that is usually because there is something running background that won't shut down. I suspect it is the programs to safely remove the hard drive. Consult your manual for the drive to see if there is a fix for this...

[Sylvander]

Try "Ctrl+Alt+Del" if it hangs during shutdown.

[deddard]

Something to be aware of for EVERYONE concerning USB2.
I read this week that there have been problems with speed, and the team which controls and defines USB have stated that:

USB2 does NOT necessarily mean High-Speed USB (High Speed USB2 specifies 480Mb/S) and that many (especially the earlier boards with USB2) are actually USB 1.1. This is because the USB2 specifications actually include the speed ratings for USB 1.1.

The difference is vast. You can have a USB2 port which supports 12 Mb/S (which is the USB1.1 specification) or USB2 which supports 480Mb/S.

They have clarified their position, and state that any USB2 device/card should state that it is HIGH SPEED USB2.
Anything less, and you could run into problems.

If you buy any USB2 device, whether it is a motherboard or peripheral, make sure that it states that it is HIGH SPEED, or gives the rated speed as 480Mb/s

[Paul Komski]

Must have missed this post but I was somewhat amused by:-

and I only have 2 GB left

2 GB - Two Thousand Million Bytes!!! Which is about 6 times larger than a 320 MB HDD that I had only a few years ago for a 486.

How times change!! :D :D

2 GB is quite enough for a clean install of WinXP and this can be made even more economical by reducing the space taken-up by system restore and hibernation (as already mentioned) and by creating a small or absent pagefile if there is loads of RAM.

[Brina]

Thanks for the help everyone! After I installed the hard drive Saturday, I tried doing my Windows Updates, which I do often. But for some reason, when I downloaded the updates, it put them on the new hard drive instead of the C drive and messed everything up. I took my computer to Best Buy and they had to reinstall Windows and then they did the updates for me. I'm afraid now to try doing anymore updates myself. It never gave me the option to pick which drive to use. The computer guy at Best Buy said that it may have did that because my C drive was almost full. Anyways, I'm just glad I have my computer back!

[superdrumr]

glad we could all be of help