C Drive space decreasing rapidly

andygb

Having sorted my last problem, thanks to the help of a few souls on here, I may now have another problem.
Internet explorer does not want to work, and I have to go through Firefox all the time, so I cannot link to the upgrades for Windows defender.
I seem to be losing space on the C Drive. It has gone from 21 GB available (Out of 70 GB), down to 14.7 GB in a matter of days. I have deleted a large number of Photos which I do not really need to keep, but they do not seem to be creating more space.
I also have a couple of windows popping up, one says that certain startup programmes have been stopped, and the other says that I have security issues.
Can anyone please help?

Andy

herbert_goon

Hi

HAve you tried a search for files say over 10000kb? Run this then sort by size descending and check the created date - maybe some clues in that. Could you be more specific about the "security issues" pop-up? If it's a browser window but with no URL bar - right click it and select properties - what's the URL?

Also run a Malwarebytes scan if you can (download from malwarebytes.org).

HTH

andygb

The IE problem:
Internet explorer cannot display webpage.

Windows network diagnostics: "UK.Yahoo.com" is not set up to establish a connectionon port World Wide Web service (HTTP) with this computer.
Verify current proxy server configuration.


As far as I know, IE has only stopped working since 23/12/10, when Malwarebytes was run, the trojans cleared, and the PC started running quickly and efficiently again. I have just run Malwarebytes again and it was all clear.

GeoffX

To find where space on your hard disk is being used download WinDirStat and allow it to scan. You'll then see a graph of the drive's usage. Click on items in the graph and they will be highlighted in the list at the top of the window.

Have a look at this: http://forums.techarena.in/windows-vista-network/691007.htm. Do you have any expired firewalls or security software on your machine?

peterbaker

Have you ever grappled in any way with the myriad of temporary files which Windows loves to hoard?

At an elementary level, did you actually permanently delete all those photos recently or are they recoverable in Recycle Bin?

To prune everything hard (but with options) and get rid of most temporary files that may still be hogging space have you tried CCleaner from Piriform? You can download it from several official places.

There is another similar but not so often updated program called CleanUp! which may get to the parts that CCleaner cannot reach (if there are any) but be circumspect about where you choose to download it from.

Before using either of the above do spend time reading the options because they can indeed prune hard and for example you will quickly find that most recently used file shortcuts, IE and Firefox history, drop down lists, cookies and even the most recently used program shortcuts in the Start Menu will be deleted. If you can live with such a spring clean, then you might consider these.

But I hadn't seen WinDirStat before so I am looking at it right now (thanks GeoffX!)

andygb

Thanks Geoff, I now have IE working after following the advice on the linked site:

"For those who never had Norton but having this issue:
Please go to Internet Properties > Connection > Lan Settings
and uncheck the "Proxy Server" options and check the "Automatically detect settings"

Hammyman

Install and run CCLeaner. Under Tools, click on System Restore and delete all the restore points except the current one (which it won't allow anyway).