XP SP2 stealing disk space

navig8r

Hi, I have just installed xp home sp1 on my daughter Pc and the used space shows 2.38 GB.I then went to MS udate and installed SP2 and the used space now reports over 11GB used :eek: does any one have a clue where all this extra usage has come from bearing in mind that no programs have been installed ...just SP2??

Dave

Blacksheep1979

hmmmm - how long did it take to download this update as 8-9gb should take several hours to download. If you go to c: and right click on the windows folder and go to properties how much space does it say thats using? Also how big is the pagefile?

Madiba_2

SPII is a huge pile of poop.

A couple of things to check are that it isnt keeping a million years worth of recovery files, and that the page file is a reasonable size. You can do this via Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore and Control Panel>System>Virtual Mem Settings respectively.

Also, run a defrag cos even if you cant recover the space, its better that its defragmented. I always say, if you've bought the hardisk, you may as well fill it up and get your money's worth. ;-)

Alternatively, switch to Linux.:money:

navig8r

Thank for the relies.Ok this is what I did : Format HDD> Installed Xp form xp disk..then right clicked on the properties of C:..2.38 GB.

then I downloaded Sp 2 which took about 30 mins to download on 2mb broadband.but the install process took about an hour...After the reboot I checked the properties of C: and it reported 11.1 gb used..
Since reading the replies ..Windows folder shows 2.79 gb ...pagefile is 768MB and documents and settings are 141 MB ..I have folder options to show files including system/hidden ect and can not see any significant file sizes which may be using the space on the HDD...A defrag check reports no defrag needed.

Dave

Chippy_Minton

See Safely remove the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Uninstall files to free some space.

albertross_2

try https://www.ccleaner.com

Blacksheep1979

Is your pagefile set to one size or is it variable - its much better to keep a fixed sized of aprox 3072mb.

Madiba_2

Blacksheep1979 wrote:

Is your pagefile set to one size or is it variable - its much better to keep a fixed sized of aprox 3072mb.

Surely the size of it depends on how much RAM you have amoungst other things?

I wont argue though, as in theory, no pagefile at all is ideal. I will never understand why you even need it. I have 2GB of DDR2 and XP still insists on using my harddisk as virtual memory. CRAZY!

I dont have SPII on my Xp machine, when I do install it, it just mucks everything up and exposes me to spyware. How ironic!

GreenNotM

Madiba wrote:

I dont have SPII on my Xp machine, when I do install it, it just mucks everything up and exposes me to spyware. How ironic!

As soon as you install SP2 - install the hot fixes for sp2 via windows update, general consensus is that it will leave your pc/laptop more secure and you will be able to keep your machine updated, well genuine installs of windows...

Madiba_2

GreenNotM wrote:

As soon as you install SP2 - install the hot fixes for sp2 via windows update, general consensus is that it will leave your pc/laptop more secure and you will be able to keep your machine updated, well genuine installs of windows...

Thanks for the tip. However I'll leave it for now, it works. :-D

MadCowMan

I'd imagine there could be a couple of restore points in there ( If I remeber correctly , by default windows will allow up to 10% local drive space for restore points , the max is 12% )

If you want to see where your size is going try a little bit of freeware called Treesize.

http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

GreenNotM is 100% correct , a well patched machine is always going to be more secure than an RTM version - that philosophy is the same even in the world of UNIX.