Computer keeps losing space everyday

[emily_rose887]

I need some advice on what I should do, my computer is literally losing space everyday! I've uninstalled pretty much everything on the C drive, my hard drive is split in half(80 gb of space, 45.2 gb on C and 29.2 on D) Having a look at the folders i've realized my windows folder is taking up 37.2 gb of space, program files and documents/settings is taking up another 3gb leaving me with almost no space on C. I've done several virus scans and it always comes back clean, I really have no idea why my windows folder gets larger every day but for some reason my computer wants to do "Windows Update" everytime I go to turn it off, I always decline but looking in the windows folder i've found that the "windows update log file" is constantly updated..not too sure if that has anything to do with it but I can't afford to lose anymore space at the moment, is there anything I can do to make my windows folder a bit smaller?! I've also ran the disk cleanup, cc cleaner as well daily..doesn't help alot. There's also almost next to nothing in the temp folder as well I have no idea what may be wrong

[quaxo]

Are you sure you didn't get those Windows and Program Files sizes mixed up? 37.2 is massive for a Windows folder. I haven't formatted this computer in 2 years and its Windows folder is only 6.

[mroilfield]

Why do you always decline the updates?

[emily_rose887]

Are you sure you didn't get those Windows and Program Files sizes mixed up? 37.2 is massive for a Windows folder. I haven't formatted this computer in 2 years and its Windows folder is only 6.

yes 100% sure i've checked several times every time i check it's bigger.. I just tried highlighting everything thats in the windows folder and right click/properties it comes up with 21,831 files and 2019 folders 3.58gb total but when i right click in C: on the windows folder it comes up as 29,338 files and 2072 folders taking up 37.2gb, my program files is only 2gb since i deleted pretty much everything off C


When it first started happening I didn't decline but when i noticed my windows folder getting bigger I started declining because i thought maybe it was because of that but it doesn't look like it since it keeps getting bigger, although I noticed that the "windows update" logfile has recently been updated yesterday in my windows folder

[Allan]

1) Download treesize to see where the space is being used (http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml)

2) Disable System Restore - this will release a LOT of space (NOTE: All restore points will be deleted immediately). You can then re-enable system restore and change the space allocated

3) If problem still exists, Please follow the instructions in the following link and post your logs in the thread you create (NOT in this thread):
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,46313.0.html

[emily_rose887]

I downloaded treesize and found the source of the problem, apparently my c:\windows\installer is taking up 33.7 GB is there any way to fix this?There's ALOT of files in there but i'm not too sure if i should delete them or not. I tried disabling system restore as well but i only got about 2gb back, thank you for your help! Also if it helps to know my computer hasn't been reformatted since about 3 years ago.

[Allan]

1) You should never reformat a drive unless absolutely necessary. I have systems running 8+ years that have never been formatted after the OS was installed.

2)http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370523%28VS.85%29.aspx

[emily_rose887]

So I installed Msizap, under the C:\Program files\Windows Installer Clean up there's 2 files called msizap and msicuu, there's also files under C:\Program Files\MSECACHE\WICU3 called msicuu,MsiZapA and MsiZapU. Where exactly am I supposed to direct the command prompt to so I can clean up the Installer folder?

[Broni]

See here: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic109060.html
There is a link at that page for Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, which is not longer valid (MS retired that utility; why?), so you'll have to get it from here: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Secure-cleaning/Windows-Installer-CleanUp-Utility.shtml

[emily_rose887]

That did the trick! I now have 36.4 GB free space left on C bringing my windows folder down to a much more normal 4.51GB
Thank you everyone for your help

[Broni]

Cool