DennisD >> Moving the pagefile on another partition will not be more effective, because it's the same disk.
If you do only have one drive, I'll try sort out a decent free partition manager for you.Of course the other guys will probably also have suggestions if you go in that direction.
Aethec, we weren't actually sure at this stage as to whether the OP had two drives or one, and it would probably be more useful directing your correct observation to the OP, asking him to make sure what his setup is before going ahead with anything.
David, I also highly recommend WinDirStat http://windirstat.info/ apart for all the previous benefits stated:
"It shows a graphical representation for every single file on the harddrive, making them as big as they are in comparison to another file. For instance, a 1Gb file would be a huge rectangle taking up most of the space, while a 2 KB log file will show up as a near minuscule block. And, you can click on each block to see what it correlates to."
You can also open / launch / view all files + run video / movie files, a great way to inspect / decide / discover "I did not know I had 3 copies of that file (or very large movie file) stored in that directory and that directory etc.
You can also run this app across a LAN, something I do regularly to keep a check on my Wife and Son's PC available storage space. When I see an issue looming I can even send them an e-mail from within WinDirStat to them which list / show the UNC path of the suspect duplicated files for deletion.
There are many other benefits to numerous to list here, do yourself a BIG favour, go and read up on WinDirStat. By the way there is (was) no cost for the SW. Donations are always welcome they tell me.
Regards
Tasgandy
However, it seems that there will always be a 'creeping' loss of free memory.
You're right. You will always loose a little bit of disk space every time you use your computer.
This is because of internet cache, system logs, restore points, program usage, etc, etc...
So, your real options are:
1. Run CCleaner every time you use your PC.
2. Delete all but the most recent restore point (using Disk Cleanup).
3. Uninstall programs you don't use.
2. Moving some free space from D to C.
I would need advice on how to do this partitioning, preferably from someone who has had experience of it, because if I do something wrong it might wreck my system completely.
You can only do this if C and D are on the same drive.
If you are going to partition your drive(s), I recommend EASEUS Partition Master.
I've used it myself many times, and it's really good and very easy to use.
"How to"s are available here.
Be careful though, ask if you're not sure.
Hi David
Moving the page file is a very quick and straightforward task. If that gives you enough space for now (even to plan what you want to do with your C drive in future) then it's a sensible option.
But as you suggest, you can't just move the file yourself. Here are Microsoft's instructions ... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307886
Or the watered down version ... http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/...y-pagefile.html
Post back if you're unsure about anything
Marmite, thanks for your reply. I've checked, and I find that I moved the page file to Drive D years ago, but forgot about it. So that option isn't on.
Talking to a friend yesterday, who is a computer consultant in his spare time, he suggested that in his opinion, it is not difficult to transfer free memory from Drive D to Drive C using Norton Partition Magic. It's expensive, but is probably preferable to using freeware products. So I might give it a try.
My computer is settling down now, with the free space more or less stable, provided I use Disk Cleanup and Ccleaner regularly. Mostly it's just temporary internet files that have to be removed. I now have 4.48GB free space available, which is much better.
David Hanstater
Do some research on whichever program you're gonna use, as expensive really doesn't guarantee performance or reliability.
Lots of free software leaves commercial stuff behind.
I've made and flawlessly restored 3 back up Disk Images with Macrium Reflect. Free software.
I partitioned my single drive with Paragon software (Free), and then resized them by reallocating free space, on 3 separate occasions, again with no problems, and I used the same software to recently merge my Recovery Partition into my System Partition as I was running out of space.
I'm not pitching here for Paragon software, just pointing out that being expensive doesn't really mean a lot.
Have a google for forums or reviews on whichever program you opt for. It's time well worth spending.
DennisD, thanks for the info. I've done lots more checking, and I've now managed to increase my free space to 4.75GB, which is a big improvement. But I would still like to discover why it so rapidly reduced from about 8GB. There must still be more rubbish on my C Drive. I did discover that uninstalling AVG (see my earlier message) left some files behind, one of which was a .dll file which generated some temporary files every time I used the internet. I've dealt with that. It also left behind some 'Prefetch' files and also some registry entries (I backed up first), which has helped.
I still know that I'm missing something which would account for the 4GB.
I take your point about freeware v. payware. Is it easy to use Paragon Free just to move some free space from D to C without affecting anything else? Norton Partition Magic costs about ?40 sterling, and that's a lot to pay for a one-off exercise
David Hanstater
Do some research on whichever program you're gonna use, as expensive really doesn't guarantee performance or reliability.
Lots of free software leaves commercial stuff behind.
I've made and flawlessly restored 3 back up Disk Images with Macrium Reflect. Free software.
I partitioned my single drive with Paragon software (Free), and then resized them by reallocating free space, on 3 separate occasions, again with no problems, and I used the same software to recently merge my Recovery Partition into my System Partition as I was running out of space.
I'm not pitching here for Paragon software, just pointing out that being expensive doesn't really mean a lot.
Have a google for forums or reviews on whichever program you opt for. It's time well worth spending.
Completely agree with DennisD. Partition Magic is fine, but don't assume that because you're paying for it that it will do a better job! As you point out, ?40 is a lot for a one-off!
Have a look at metalj's 'how-to' link above ... the principles are pretty much the same whatever software you're using.
Hi David.
It is pretty straightforward, although with any major task like this there's a wee bit of trepidation until it's complete.
The important thing I think is to prepare your drives beforehand by getting rid of temp files and carrying out a good defrag to both partitions, which will make it easier for the software to move files around.
As I say, I've resized my partitions a few times with no problems at all, and I had some pics of the entire process which may be of some help, but I think I have them stored on a DVD. I'll see if I can find them for you if you like and post them tomorrow.
I'll also send you a pm which will explain itself when you read it.
Just a note to everyone that I took DennisD's advice and used a freeware partition manager which moved 8GB from my big D Drive to the smaller C Drive without problems.
Just a point about defragging. I use Ashampoo's Magic Defrag, which works in the background and keeps my hard drives defragged.
So a big thanks to DennisD and all who sent me their valuable suggestions.
David Hanstater
Hi David.
It is pretty straightforward, although with any major task like this there's a wee bit of trepidation until it's complete.
The important thing I think is to prepare your drives beforehand by getting rid of temp files and carrying out a good defrag to both partitions, which will make it easier for the software to move files around.
As I say, I've resized my partitions a few times with no problems at all, and I had some pics of the entire process which may be of some help, but I think I have them stored on a DVD. I'll see if I can find them for you if you like and post them tomorrow.
I'll also send you a pm which will explain itself when you read it.
I'm sure I speak for all the guys David when I say it's good that it worked out for you. Well done.
Just a point about defragging. I use Ashampoo's Magic Defrag, which works in the background and keeps my hard drives defragged.
I personally think defraggers that constantly run in the background like that are a waste of time and just provide unnecessary wear on the HD
Nice one David.
My turn now Since this thread started, I dropped my Western Digital portable HD end up onto a marble floor and it doesn't want to talk to me any more ... just kinda clucks at me.
I replaced it today and I need to partition the new one ... so I'm gonna try Easeus because the free version seems more fully-featured than the Paragon free version.
Of course it's always less worrying a task when it's an empty drive!
I personally think defraggers that constantly run in the background like that are a waste of time and just provide unnecessary wear on the HD
Along similar lines I think that defragging on a whole, like many 'performance tweaks', is given disproportionate time and attention by some. Reading some posts on here it's carried out with almost religious zeal with the holy grail being ZERO DEFRAGMENTATION!!! Sure, that's nice ... but to me trying to maintain that all of the time ranks right up there with polishing your car every day ... and running CCleaner every hour. Everything in moderation
If I was going to do that I'd rather use background software and let the PC get on with it than do it as a frequent discrete activity. Interesting point about HD wear though ... I wonder how much difference it makes ... probably a reasonable amount.
The whole point about Ashampoo Magic Defrag is that it runs in the background, but only works if the computer is idle. It takes up no time at all.
I agree that in normal circumstances it is not necessary to clean drives very often, and common sense suggests that the more work you give a hard drive the shorter its life. It has been said - many times - that there are only two types of hard drives, those that are going to crash and those that have crashed .
However, in my case, the critical lack of free space on my boot Drive C threatened to stop the computer booting up at all. I was fighting a losing battle to claw back some free space. Now all is sweetness and light .
David Hanstater
Along similar lines I think that defragging on a whole, like many 'performance tweaks', is given disproportionate time and attention by some. Reading some posts on here it's carried out with almost religious zeal with the holy grail being ZERO DEFRAGMENTATION!!! Sure, that's nice ... but to me trying to maintain that all of the time ranks right up there with polishing your car every day ... and running CCleaner every hour. Everything in moderation
If I was going to do that I'd rather use background software and let the PC get on with it than do it as a frequent discrete activity. Interesting point about HD wear though ... I wonder how much difference it makes ... probably a reasonable amount.
I used Paragon Freeware because it was recommended to me by someone who has used it several times and found it did what was required very well.
So I saved myself ?40 Sterling by NOT buying Norton Partition Magic - and then took my wife out to lunch - it cost almost exactly ?40 Sterling .
David Hanstater
Nice one David.
My turn now
Since this thread started, I dropped my Western Digital portable HD end up onto a marble floor and it doesn't want to talk to me any more ... just kinda clucks at me.
I replaced it today and I need to partition the new one ... so I'm gonna try Easeus because the free version seems more fully-featured than the Paragon free version.
Of course it's always less worrying a task when it's an empty drive!
So I saved myself ?40 Sterling by NOT buying Norton Partition Magic - and then took my wife out to lunch - it cost almost exactly ?40 Sterling.
David Hanstater
You can't win 'em all.
You can't win 'em all.
I thought my problem had been dealt with satisfactorily - and it has. My C Drive free space has remained steady at a comfortable 12.6GB since moving free space from Drive D.
Now, today, my free space has suddenly increased to to 14.6GB, although I've done nothing which could account for the 2GB increase. I've tried using Recuva to see if it would find any big deleted files, but it found nothing significant.
The C Drive total size hasn't changed since I increased it to 36GB .
Any suggestions?
I have no idea David.
The important thing is that there hasn't been any change in the total size of the two partitions. They've remained solid and fixed as they should do.
It was a mystery where your free space disappeared to not so long ago, and now some of it has returned, which is also a mystery. If you'd previously ran and recorded the results of "windirstat", it may have given you an idea as to where the difference may be. But of course hindsight is a great thing as we all know.
As far as my knowledge goes, I would have started looking for the obvious candidates like System Restore points, or did you have XP's "Hibernation" feature running and have turned it off. The "Hiberfil.sys" file takes up a lot of space.
Do you do any work with Video Conversion software? That's usually a process which results in big temp files, and not every program cleans up after itself and gets rid of them. The size you mention would be ran up quite easily with that type of process.
Just guessing here. To have half a clue we'd need to have the computer sitting in front of us.
Maybe run and then record the results of something like "windirstat" now, so if there were any other big changes in free space, you'd have somewhere to start.
EDIT: Have you ran CCleaners "Wipe Free Space" feature at any time, with it not completing?
Do you have any software that keeps logs?
Just check by going into your program files and opening any security software folders and looking for anything labeled logs. Hover curser over the file and it should tell you the size of it.
Sometimes the logs can be else where eg Malwarebytes logs are in Docs and Settings\ MyName\ApplicationData\ MBAM but you may have to have 'show hidden files' ticked to see them.
It may also be worth considering using the AVG removal tool to ensure that you have no remnants of it left on your system
http://www.avg.com/us-en/download-tools
Have you gone back to using this?