Oddity with disk capacity

[Julianne]

My old PC's 20gb hard drive had LOTS of programs installed, including biggies such as Photoshop and Word, plus heaps of photos and MP3s (at least 3 CDs-worth). Despite this, I'd used less than 10gb (FAT32 file system). The OS was XP Pro.

My new PC has a 120gb hard drive (although it's really 114.5gb in real terms rather than manufacturer terms) with XP Home. So far all I've done is re-install the main programs that I use. I've not put on any photos or MP3s. When I look in My Computer, though, I find that I've already used over 8gb (NTFS file system)!

I don't understand how I've managed to use up such a large amount of space when I don't have nearly as much on the hard drive as what was on the old PC! I know programs like Photoshop are big, but surely they're only a couple of hundred megs, not a couple of gigs, and XP is "only" supposed to take up around 500mbs, isn't it? Are there any possible reasons why I've managed to use so much space in comparison to the space used on the old hard drive/PC?

Also, I've used True Image to make a backup of the main hard drive onto the second hard drive - the second one is the hard drive from my old PC that I wiped clean. Although the main drive was pre-formatted and I created just one NTFS partition on the second drive, True Image shows both drives as having a few megs of unallocated space. Are there any reasons for this?!

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[wolluf]

Have you got system restore turned on?
XP home normally takes up 1.2+ GB on initial set up (the more RAM the bigger - because of Pagefile).
Try this app to analyse your disk space usage:-

http://www.lpacomputers.telinco.co.uk/ddsetup.zip

When XP creates a partition for installation, it always leaves a few megs free - I'm sure someone can tell you why!

 

[Julianne]

Yes, I have got System Restore switched on, but then I also had it switched on with the other PC. Maybe I'll have to have a look at how much space has been allocated to it. Are you saying that whatever space I've set for it, it's actually taking up that much space at any given time? In other words, if I have 115gb of space and it's set to 10% then My Computer will show that 11.5gb has been used up before I've allowed for XP, programs, files etc?

http://www.leevalleylions.co.uk

 

[wolluf]

Julianne,

Not sure as I always turn it off! I'd just try analysing what's using the space & see if any file/folder(s) seem to be too large for what they are.

 

[Comtech]

System restore uses a percentage of drive. If you use 10% of 10 gig, it's a LOT smaller than 10% of 120 gig... Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/