Memory problems on computer

S

sueellen

Guest
We recently have had a very serious problem where our C drive where XP is installed has gone to zero space for no apparent reason. We have had memory problems with drive C before but we managed to free up recently about 500 MB. However, yesterday all that memory suddenly disappeared (own up who stole it :) ).

One of our log-ins seems to have been reset as if it is a completely new one but all the old files/favourites etc. from the original log-in are still saved in drive C. In the documents and setting folder there are now 5 folders for log-ins when there should be 4 two of which have the same name.

Does this sound like a virus or something else? Please don't say reformat :)
 
First things first: hard disk space is not memory (virtual memory swap/page files excepted):

bbspot.com/News/2000/8/hour_lost.html

:)

Have you checked the Windows XP event log to see if anything untoward is going on?

www.windowsnetworking.com...pevent.htm

Have you checked your PC for viruses/adware etc



Have you installed anything new that might have used up the space (for program files or log files etc.)?

500MB free is pretty tight when running most versions of Windows anyway so you may simply need more disk space - e.g. an additional hard disk - even when you get to the bottom of this seemingly mysterious disappearance.
 
sueellen - this could be totally innocent or it could be very bad indeed.

Disk space is designed to be used, so just being used is not inherently a problem. However, 500m is a lot of space in many contexts. Your basic spreadsheet or word proceesing document will be somewhere between 0.05m and 0.5m, so it doesn't look like ordinary use. Of course it is possible to make them bigger by embedding large images and stuff, but 500m is still large.

However a CD holds 650m or thereabouts, so if someone small were to copy their buddies MP3 collection you could easily account for the space.

It might also be used up by your browser cache being a bit too anal and keeping everything for a long time instead of deleting old content as new content comes in. Again, 500m is still a good bit of cache.

The worrying thing is the fact you said one of the logins has been reset - I'm taking this to mean that the password changed. This typically doesn't happen in isolation. It happens because someone has control over it. If this someone isn't in your household then this is a serious concern.

We had a client once who complained about their internet access being slow. Upon investigation it turned out that one of their machines was being used to distribute MP3s or movies or something to just about everyone on the planet - both exposing their network and utilising their bandwidth.

I would start by finding out where your disk space has gone. There is a utility (can't remember the name - treesomething) which will give you a graphical indication of your disk usage - folder by folder. Just concentrate on the large folders (as reported) and see what's in them. If you recognise the contents then that's OK, but if there are files there that nobody can account for then start worrying.

z
 
Re: Crying in the shed

Unregistered,

Thanks for the reply. Yep have done all of the above so back to the drawing board.

"while his mother cried in the family room"

Just off to the shed at the end of the garden - don't have a family room ;)
 
Hi zag,

Thanks for the reply.

We have constantly deleted the temporary internet files especially since this problem first originated.

The log-in was not password protected. The old one is still there and there's just a new one set-up automatically as well.

We ran the Treesize Program and had a look but nothing obvious.

:rolleyes
 
sueellen - how big is your disk ? If you start at the root of C: and look for the biggest folder there (excepting c:\ windows" in the first instance) you need to ask yourself - is this folder bigger than I would expect it ? If the answer is no, then move to the next one and so on down. I think treesize will report across the disk on file types - like 25% .EXEs, 35% .DLLs, 13% .DOCs, etc . . . you could use that to gauge the type of files that using up the bulk of the space. You aren't interested in the ones that only account for a small fraction of the space - less than 500m anyway.

What is the name of the new login ? Do you have broadband ? There should be a size limit for the cache - try setting it to something small and seeing if the space continues to get smaller over time - then use treesize to comparatively work out which directories have increased in size.

Alternatively ask all family members to own up.

z
 
..

sue,
A couple of things to try.
open a dos prompt
and run the followinig

Code: 
   dir /a c:\pagefile.sys

this will return the size of the virtual memory. It should be related to the size you set your VM, maybe someone upped it?
eg, if your VM is set to 500mb , this will be the size of the file etc..

also if Im not mistaken, XP will only let you look at the folders of the user youre logged in as. maybe treesize didnt show you all folders? Its probably not that tho.

Something else...
open the dos prompt again, and run the following
Code: 
   c:
Code: 
   cd \
Code: 
   dir /s /a /Os > c:\out.log

This will list all files (should take a few minutes), including hidden files and sorted by size (in a folder) and output to
Code: 
    c:\out.log
. Edit the log in notepad to see if it turned up anything.

****Edited to fix code display
 
Hi sueellen,

First things first. I did not have sexual relations with that woman!

Oh sorry...I mean...I did not steal your memory! :)

When was the last time you did a defrag?
If it was a long time ago then it will likely free up disk space. I'm a big fan of defrag.

At home I have an old-ish P3 with a 6GB hard drive. A while ago I was getting some anomolous behaviour whereby I was being told I'd run out of disk space all the time when in fact I had 2 GB left. Defragging resolved the problem but I have no idea what caused it in the first place. Doesn't sound like the same problem you're having but defragging is worth a try.

Finally, if that fails I often find standing in front of your screen and shouting repeatedly at it (call it bad names) often helps matters.
 
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