WHY????? No matter how many programs (etc.) we 'remove' from our computer, there is still 'no room' left???!??

Question

EVERY time I log on I get a message that pops up saying I'm "critically low on disc space". It sometimes tells me I don't even have enough space left to delete or remove things (?)!! I removed a couple small programs after being told to "free up at least 225kb" of space, after doing so I was told I NOW needed to "free up at least 547kb", again I removed some things & was told I STILL neeed to free up space but NOW it was "875kb"...!!!! WHYYYYY?????? HELP ME!!!!
I also get messages saying "indexing has been suspended..." Our "system restore" is disabled....! Anyone know why??? ANY ideas would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! (If you hadn't figured it out already I'm 'computer illiterate' so speak slowly and in small words ;)...)

Answer 1

Try removing the older $NtUninstall......$ files.



I usually only keep a months worth.



These files are in the C:\Windows directory and are used to uninstall windows updates, which you really don't want to ever do. You will see a lot of these files.



Make sure you empty your recycle bin as well

Answer 2

Sometimes I do a "Search" for "All files and folders" options "What size is it?"(Start, Search, All files and folders, What size is it?) . Then I look for files larger than, say, 10000KB (10mb). After it is done and gives me a list of files, I then decide whether to delete it or not. Sometimes I have old downloaded program files something.zip that I delete. Some are old drivers that I downloaded that I don't really need or other files like large movies or pictures. Just recently I found an old Windows Movie Maker file that was 40GB! Since I had already burnt it to a CD, I deleted it.



It might be time to uninstall any programs you no longer use.



So I think some house cleaning like Disk Defragmenter and Disk Cleanup in "Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools" will free up a lot of disk space. Make sure you do Disk Defragmenter the very last, AFTER you have emptied the Recycle Bin.

Answer 3

From my experience, this is the first time I'm seeing something which asks to free up atleast "xx" amount of disk space. Normally when Windows go low on disk space, it will give a standard warning which says that "Your computer is critically low on disk space. Click here to free up disk space", but it never tells you to free up a certain amount of space. Besides, your system restore is disabled. This sounds like a virus to me.



If you have an antivirus program, update it to the latest - but if you ask me, the virus would have disabled your Antivirus program too by now. If that is the case, or if you do not have an antivirus program (Norton, Avast, McAfee etc.), what I suggest is to backup all important files on to a CD or a DVD and then fully format your system. Then reinstall your Operating system. (If you have Operating system CDs that came with your computer, it should help - or a technician online will help you do this over the phone). Once you get your system reloaded, before you install any programs, install an Antivirus software and update it to the latest available - and then go for copying your backed up files, because if any of them were infected, your Antivirus program would be able to catch it.



I hope that helps. If you need more help, let me know.

Answer 4

My humorous answer is that it is Murphy's law of computers that data will always expand to take up all available disc space.

The serious answer is that many of today's programs use a lot of memory, and sometimes allocate areas on your hard disk as "virtual memory" if you don't have a lot of RAM.

Some programs are not very good at de-allocating this disk space when you close the program - leaving areas of your disk un-useable until you reboot.

Another possibility is that you have a virus in your machine that gobbles up disk space. Get a good virus checker and scan your disk.

These days you need a machine with at least 256 Mb of RAM and a 300GB hard drive.

Answer 5

If you are to the point where you have less than 1 megabyte of space on your hard drive, you are VERY low on disk space. You should consider removing things like music and video files by deleting them or copying them onto CD/DVD or onto a portable flash drive. You should also consider a long-term solution like adding another hard drive, so you have more storage space.



No matter how big your hard drive is, once it gets over about 75-80% full, you will start to see a decrease in system performance. You should think about re-evaluating what you choose to store on your hard drive and what you archive onto CD/DVD.

Answer 6

A clean computer is key to a faster computer. Run the 3 scans below.





Run a virus scan weekly.



Update and run your Anti-Virus program. Don't have one? You can run a free online scan from CA.

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virus...







Run Spybot and SuperAntiSpyware weekly.





Download, update and run Spybot---http://www.safer-networking.org/...... . Don't forget to use the Immunize feature.





Download, update and run SuperAntiSpyware---http://www.snapfiles.com/get/SuperAntiSpyware.html









Now to prevent spyware from being installed in the first place....



Download SpywareBlaster---http://majorgeeks.com/download2859.html...

SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed.



It's main features include:

- Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted pests.

- Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox.

- Restrict the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer.













Now lets clean up your registry.









Run RegScrubXP weekly. Run Cleanup every time you log off.





Download RegScrubXP--http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?d...



Safely cleans junk out of the Windows 2000/XP system registry. All changes made to the registry are fully restorable to it's original condition. You can make an exclusion list of registry entries that RegScrubXP will not display as problems. You can sift through a list of file extensions, company names, run upon startup programs, Internet Explorer history, and uninstall programs to delete what you think is junk.







Download CleanUp---http://www.stevengould.org/software/clea...



Free disk space, make your computer run better/faster and protect your privacy - all in one easy solution. All for free!











Now lets clean up your disk.







Run a Disk Cleanup 2 times a month. Run Disk Defrag. monthly.





Do a Disk Cleanup and Disk Defrag. You can find both of them by following the path below.

Start>all programs>accessories>system tools>Disk Cleanup. Let it do its thing. You can check every box that has something to delete.

Now follow the same path and do a Disk Defrag. Again just let it do its thing.









Now lets tweak your connection.





If your speed is good I would not mess with it by trying to tweak it. If you do tweak once it is done you should not have to do it ever again.





There are many programs out there to do this. I will give you 2 of them.

The first one is TCP Optimizer.



Description: The TCP Optimizer is a free, easy Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection. There is no installation required, just download and run.





http://www.download.com/SG-TCP-Optimizer/3000-2155_4-10488572.html



You can get support for the best way to set it up right from their forum http://forums.speedguide.net/



The second one is Cablenut.



Windows XP tested and approved



CableNut is a tool for optimizing your Internet Connection. We have provided a way to tweak any option you may want to in the adjuster. You can load "CableNut Custom Setting" files that are included with the program to tweak your Internet connection.



http://www.cablenut.com/



Again support is available right from their forum.http://www.broadbandnuts.com/index.php?p...









All programs are FREE!









After applying the suggestions above you will have a clean and faster computer. Enjoy.













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Answer 7

Have you tried emptying your Recycle Bin and then running a DiskCleanup or Defrag on your hard drive?

Answer 8

maximum protection updates do no longer upload courses on your laptop. they only alter ones that are already there to be greater safeguard so there may be no benefit to removing them. in case you want greater effective area I advise uninstalling video games you in no way play. burning movies you in no way watch to documents dvds and likewise archiving your much less listened to song. the main suitable area culprits are video, audio, and photographs. in my opinion I only save including exterior demanding drives and placed all the junk accessible. So in all removing protection courses won't help and could make it worse.

Answer 9

You could view my Best Answer here:

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20070224112401AAcfe5P&show=7#profile-info-1582224c92f1f47e5c2569f84cdcadacaa

Answer 10

try defragging your computer or seeing how full your recycle bin is.

Answer 11

i don't know why, but simply buy a hardware with more space.