Harddrive issues...

[Silent_Joka]

I am running WinXP Home Edition SP2 and, lately I have noticed that my harddrive has been increasingly using more and more space. Example, yesterday I was using about 18 gigs of spaces and today I am using 19 gigs. I got my computer used and when I got it, it was using 5-6 gigs of space. I have had this computer for a little less than a year. I have about 5 gigs of music/video and, about 1-2 gigs of programs. Where is the other 8-9 gigs coming from?

 

[Jorsoft]

Windows and Office take up lots, rest is more than likely just crap and temporary internet files. You should buy a program called Windows Washer, it'll clean up your computer totally for you and gain you back tons of space and performance.

 

[Silent_Joka]

Anything like Windows Washer that is free?

 

[dma11]

CCleaner is a good utility to clean out the junk. Delete the recycle bin files and temporary files, older restore points all of which take up space. Also uninstall programs u dont need. Make sure you run the disk defragmenter after that to prevent the drive from getting cluttered and slow. some links
http://pcworld.about.com/magazine/2007p162id97442.htm
http://www.pctechguide.com/tutorials/HDDMaint.htm#Scope

 

[Win2kpatcher]

I would download a disk usage utility and see exactly where the space is being allocated to... I personally love this free little scanning tool which you can download here

http://www.steffengerlach.de/freeware/

It would be the Scanner tool.

This will give you a graphical layout in different colors on where the space is being allocated to. You can then hover your mouse over each section to see what directory it is let us know your results!

 

[yosa]

If you have multiple user accounts that could eat up space as well. 8-9 gigs is quite a bit, you can double check the directories on your drive and see if any look out of proportion.

 

[Osiris]

You can try this:

http://www.werkema.com/software/spacemonger.html

to view what is using all the space

then use these tools below to clear some junk off:

http://www.ccleaner.com/

http://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup/