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Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby Craigular.B » Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:25 am

Hey everyone-

This is kind of time-sensitive as I leave for school next week and this machine is staying behind as a donation to a local school as a video editing terminal. Faster responses would be greatly appreciated.

So, I just built a computer based off of a Shuttle XPC Glamor barebones box (C2D 2.66GHz, 4GB RAM, 1.5TB HDD), and after everything's all set up I've hit a bit of a problem. OS is XP Pro 64-bit SP2.

So the hard drive is 1.5TB, SATA3. My Computer currently reports the drive as having 386GB used (that's over a quarter of the drive). If I un-hide hidden and system files, select everything in C:\, and right-click -> "Properties", it reports the total size of everything as ~13GB (images included). I'm inclined to agree with the 13GB reading, because what I've installed should not total 386GB. The things I've done to the computer so far:

  1. (long) Format drive as NTFS/Install OS
  2. Install system drivers (VGA, sound, LAN, etc.)
  3. Windows Update for OS updates
  4. Install AVG Free edition and update
  5. Install Adobe Premiere CS4 and Encore CS4

I noticed the (HUGE) discrepancy after I installed the Adobe software, but to be honest I didn't actually look at it before that point so I can't say for sure when anything changed.

I've also run most of a virus scan (ran out of time, will be running another, full scan soon), CHKDSK, and defragged and it didn't fix the problem. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Please and thanks,
-Craig


Files_Properties.JPG
All files in C: selected, showing ~13GB used
Files_Properties.JPG (78 KiB) Viewed 2117 times



Properties.JPG
Properties of entire disk, showing 386GB used
Properties.JPG (81.04 KiB) Viewed 2126 times
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Re: Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby augie » Wed Aug 19, 2009 6:15 am

Have you sorted your files, try TreeSize. Might help you finding the lost space. I seem to remember that XP uses %12 of disk space for restores, then there's hibernate. Can't think of anything else ATM.

Ya, even with that it's nowhere close to 386GB! :no
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Re: Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby JabbaPapa » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:37 am

Whenever I have seen misreporting of used space on the hard drive, it has been indicative of either a) drive failure or b) hardware configuration or partitioning issues. I would guess that the hard drive itself is likely not dysfunctional.

You should double check your internal connections, and possibly consider replacing the SATA cable.

If all hardware configuration is correct and clean and the issue persists, then you should probably try reinstalling Windows by booting from the CD, then *deleting* the existing partition using setup tools, and reinstall creating a new partition -- if there is a problem with the partitioning on a drive, formatting would be insufficient to correct the error. And yes, having a partition using the entirety of a drive constitutes "partitioning". :)
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Re: Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby Craigular.B » Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:59 pm

JabbaPappa-

Thanks for the reply. Checked the connections and tried replacing the cable, but no dice. I'm going to run a chkdsk from the install disc and see if that kicks anything up, otherwise I'll start reinstalling/repartitioning the drive.

augie-

Sounds kind of like a Mac program I've used called Disk Inventory X. But you're right, there's no way all that stuff would use 386GB. Thanks for the input though ^*^

-Craig
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Re: Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby augie » Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:35 pm

Now that I'm awake, does the Adobe stuff create/reserve space for itself? Like virtual drives etc.
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Re: Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby Craigular.B » Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:54 pm

augie wrote:Now that I'm awake, does the Adobe stuff create/reserve space for itself? Like virtual drives etc.


Not that I know of. I've installed CS4 software on other machines before and never run in to a problem like this. They do have scratch disks for certain apps but I think you actually need to start a project which I have not yet done. I'm running a full chkdsk from the install CD, so I'm hoping that'll fix it. If not I'll just redo the machine, won't take me too long.

-Craig
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Re: Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby augie » Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:01 pm

Hmm, I hate a slash&burn but at least you can now watch your hard disk usage as things go in. Have you tried the drive makers software yet? It's what I use when I'm questioning a hard drives reliability, like WD's DataLifeguard.
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Re: Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby Craigular.B » Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:38 pm

augie wrote:Hmm, I hate a slash&burn but at least you can now watch your hard disk usage as things go in. Have you tried the drive makers software yet? It's what I use when I'm questioning a hard drives reliability, like WD's DataLifeguard.


Thanks for the reminder; I had forgotten about SeaTools :roleeyes (it's a Seagate drive). I just ran the Short drive self-test, short generic and SMART test, and it passed those. I'm now running a long generic, and that'll take "several hours"....I'll update when I know something for sure, but I'm getting closer and closer to the point where it'll be easier to just wipe the computer and try again. I appreciate the help, though!

-Craig
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Re: Innacurate Hard Drive Usage Reported (XP 64-bit)

Postby augie » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:00 pm

Craigular.B wrote:
augie wrote:Hmm, I hate a slash&burn but at least you can now watch your hard disk usage as things go in. Have you tried the drive makers software yet? It's what I use when I'm questioning a hard drives reliability, like WD's DataLifeguard.


Thanks for the reminder; I had forgotten about SeaTools :roleeyes (it's a Seagate drive). I just ran the Short drive self-test, short generic and SMART test, and it passed those. I'm now running a long generic, and that'll take "several hours"....I'll update when I know something for sure, but I'm getting closer and closer to the point where it'll be easier to just wipe the computer and try again. I appreciate the help, though!

-Craig


Wiping the machine may seem easier but if you have a hardware issue, then no amount of reinstalls will work. Check your memory while you're at it too, Memtest86. If anything's bad, should give you results almost immediately, otherwise just let it run overnight. Good luck and I appreciate your donation on behalf of those who can't afford one. ^*^
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