where are all my files hiding?

[barondidit]

I run xp, and download alotof movies, music etc. I use azeurus for my client. Usually i download, burn to dvd then erase the file from my compuer..least from my azeurs downloads folder in : my documets.
Anyway its seem there must be a folder that is keeping a copy r something/ because im runing low on disk space. I only have like 2g left. When go to the my computer > adinistrater> files...icant find one with nearly that much info. my azuerus downloads says like, 8.8g.
in short..when i go to the my computer tab it says i have 2g left but i cant find the folder that has all this "copied" unwanted..or whathaveyou.?
How can i find it??Thanks,,B

[barondidit]

documents and setings folder says i have 61gigs in it. none of he files in threre have nearly that muc stuff in them.
There are however a BUNCH of small tmp files that i dont know how they got there.. Even when i erase thoseit doesnt solvethe problem??

[Broknwing]

empty your trashcan...i forget to do so myself....it takes up the drive space until you do so....

also open your browser & clear out your cache & temp internet files....those take up more space than you realize if you've never dunped them....

[barondidit]

thanks...did that. still nothinh..got soeyhing to do with that docments and settings folder..hmmmm???...thinkin aboutdeleting the whole folder...although that sucks cause i have some stuff i want in it....wonder if its a virus that ate my hard drive???hopr not:(
central florida huh? u live near me! hi!:)

[cypresss]

maybe your operating system didn't make a good raport about free space on ur hdd. make a check disk: right-click on desired partition->Proprieties->Tools tab->press Check now. If ur on OS system this operation is done before ur next reboot.

Maybe is a good idea to see hidden files but I'm sure u didn't download such kind of files. On WindowExplorer->Tools->Folder Options->View tab->See hidden files and folders.

[mike]

Are you using a secondary drive to download to. If so you might find that it has it's own recycle file that does not show up on your desktop.

[Patonb]

empty the temp files.

Easiest would be to run the disk cleanup utilty in the accessories menu

[bob clark]

Hi Barondidit,

There are a couple/few ways to find those lost 61GBs of media files. The easiest way is to go to Start/Search/All files and folders/All or part of file name... then type in *.jpg or *.mpg or *.mp3 or whatever the file extension of the majority of your lost media files is and put an asterisk (*) and a period (.) in front of it. Then click on "Search".

This will search for and list all of those file types. Then right click on one and left click on "Properties". Then left click on its Location path then right click on that and then click on "Select All". Then right click and choose "Copy" (or hit Ctrl + c) then paste that (or hit Ctrl + v) into a notepad or wordpad document. That's will give you its location path.

Or click on "My Computer" and paste the location such as "C:\Documents and Settings\Bob Clark\My Documents\My Pictures" into the Address Bar and hit Enter and it will take you there.

Or if you know the name of a certain file then type that into the Search function and find where it's at.

I hope the "easiest way" is confusing enough! :)

Bob.

PS. I only have 2.60GBs of stuff in my Documents and Folders and I haven't formatted and clean installed XP in 3 years. 61GBs is way too much! You may want to get another hard drive to copy and/or store those large downloads on/to. You can set the location path to wherever you want when you download those large files. They're getting all mixed up in your Operating System slowing your computer down. Or as you're doing, just delete them then empty your Recycle Bin. Then do a "Disk Cleanup" then "Defragment" your computer. If you don't know how just ask. You may need to increase the size of your Recycle Bin if you delete too many files at once or just do a few at a time. Default for your Recycle Bin is 10% of your hard drive space so you can probably delete 5GBs at a time. Hold down the Ctrl key then click on the files you want to delete to select more than one file at a time.

[Leif]

Maybe this free program could help you - DoubleKiller (http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,24152-order,1-page,1/description.html)

[Patonb]

Bob, I got 8.25Gig in mine.

Don't forget alot of games save profiles in there too.

[bob clark]

Bob, I got 8.25Gig in mine.

Don't forget alot of games save profiles in there too.

Hi Patonb,

8.25GBs is a farrrr cry from 61! I didn't think game profiles were large files or that they were very numerous but I don't know much about them. I only combat flight sim Lock On/Flaming Cliffs and play an ocassional round of Tiger Woods PGA Tour '04-'07. Golfing helps me wind down from all those hair-raising sortes my commanding officer sends me on. :)

It appears obvious that Barondidit has a bunch of large video files or a massive amount of hidden jpgs etc. on his C: drive. I hope he can find and get rid of them... leaving XP with just 2GBs of "wiggle room" will definitely slow it down. XP was designed with large partitions or hard drives in mind and as you know, needs to be constantly shuffling things around to work properly. I would have thought that XP would have given Barondidit a warning about low disk space by now. I want at least 20% free space available on my C: drive (preferably 30-40%) and it appears as though Barondidit has less than 2%. That's a whole lotta extra shufflin' goin' on! His hard drive activity light must be on practically all the time. :)

I have 2 hard drives in my computer. The "master" (74GB 10,000RPM Raptor) has 3 partitions on it. D: is sometimes used as my paging file partition so is only 6GBs in size and the E: partition is where I normally install my sims and games.

Then on a "slave" 120GB 7,200RPM Barracuda, that has 4 partitions on it, is where I store everything that's static such as video files, picture files, exes, etc. It keeps my C: drive, where the OS is installed, lean, clean, mean and free from all that unnecessary clutter so it can operate less encumbered. And in this way it defrags in a couple/few minutes so is easy to maintain.

Compared to many computers that I read about my hard drive capacity is fairly limited. But what average computer user needs a terrabyte or 2 of storage capacity? Nonetheless I still have over 60% free space available. I just don't install many unnecessary things on it or download/store large files on it. I gave up on porn a few years ago so that probably accounts for the main reason. :)

I used to format and clean install my OS every 6 months or so to keep my computer running at top speed. On my current computer I haven't done it once yet... I'm getting lazy.

Bob.

PS. I was going to start a separate thread about CapnGimp but thought maybe someone here knows.... where the hell is he? I sent him an email several days ago with no reply.

[Patonb]

Yha Bob 61Gig is Ginormous.... Turnd out i had 4 Gigs of music... But My game profiles.. NWN2, SimCity, store online maps and such.

Definately seems Asurues is Copying them.. Probably 1 copy to his folder, and oe in it's folder for uploading.

I'm setup like you.. My DT has a 500Gig in it, butI also have a USB external 500Gig broken up for my media stuff.

I also always have a FAT32 portion for Linux/Mac Sharing.

[barondidit]

Still cant find all this stuff n yea its def mostly movie files divx ect.:( i only have one partition(drive c 80 gig) Its al in this documents and settings folder in administrater folder...least it say it is when i drag the cursur over it. Not in there when i open it though:(????. just about 10 gigs stuff.
I tried erasing the whole folder but wouldnt let me, cause there were programs needed for windows to rub properly. any other ideas? thanks

[barondidit]

ye6 i need capngimp...he knows his stuff for sure:)where are you?

[Patonb]

How many profiles are on your computer?

The crqap is in hidden folders.. unhide them using:

Tools -> Options -> View Tab -> Show hidden files and folders

Then go looking for the large folders.

[bob clark]

ye6 i need capngimp...he knows his stuff for sure:)where are you?

Hi Barondidit,

I got a reply to the email I sent to the Capn. He's doing fine, just taking a little vacation from CC.

Bob.

[barondidit]

i found them!! thanks every one. You guys help in sooo many ways here. Anyway...i had to go to that folder and then view..then click show hidden folders. There it was a temp folder filled with 60 gig of stuff,. Yay. I eraesd most of it except a couple movies i hadnt copied to dvd yet.
:)YAY!!!!!
thanks again
Baon

[Broknwing]

yeah, glad ya got it figured out! :)

in respnse to where in central FL I'm at...I was in Orlando for almost 10 yrs, I'm now a lil further south....So I guess I'm south-central...lol...I do drive thru Gainesville whenever I travel tho :)