Hard disk lost space

[mfir]

 
 Document and settings folder has grown to 62Gig there are 6sub folders with about 30Mb in the folder is there any way of getting the 61+Gig back into the C: drive without doing a full format of the machine.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

C:\Documents and Settings\

What Operating System?

This folder includes pretty much everything in short of Program Files.
For example, your Temporary Files, User Settings, Personal Files (my documents, my pictures, ect...), Your Desktop is located there and your Application Data is located in Documents and Settings.

You can free up a lot of space automatically using CCleaner.
My suggestion is going through your files (Desktop and My Documents First) and deleting what you don't need.
Then remove programs you don't use anymore.

[samcarney]

have you experimented with disk partitions lately?

[samcarney]

there is a program called treesize out there.  It shows you graphically where all your HD space is allocated in nice graphs etc.

[drmsucks]

@mfir: What are you trying to accomplish?

[mfir]

  Sorry operating system is XP

  What i,m after is to claim back space from the documents and settings folder, properties for the folder says its 62.7 Gig , so i'm down to 1.2gig left in the C: drive .  All the folders in the documents and settings folder (there are about 6 folders) only total about 30mb.
so where is the other 62gig

    Windows wont let some folders  be deleted , hidden folders perhaps ?.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Highlight them, right click and click Properties

[drmsucks]

Okay, you're just trying to gain space, it seems.

I would: a) run 'disk cleanup'  - Start>My Computer>right-click on C:>Properties>General Tab>Disk Cleanup; b) run CCleaner as suggested by Carbon Dudeoxide - be sure to select 'Delete Index.dat Files,' if you use IE. This file can grow out of control over time - note that you must re-boot to allow CCleaner to delete index.dat; also, be sure to select: Temporary Files, Clipboard, Memory Dumps;  c) look at My Documents and see if there are data files that you can move to an external drive or DVD or CD, e.g., music or pictures.

You are right to be concerned - with free space that small, you are bound to have your performance reduced. When you gain some free space, I would also suggest a defrag - wouldn't try it now because of the lack of free space.

Good luck.

EDIT: Go to 'Add/Remove Programs' and uninstall any programs that you no longer use.

[patio]

How about telling us the name of these mystery folders and a description of some of the files that reside inside of them ? ?

[Jeronimo_Mc_Kinsley]

Try scanning C:/ with WinDirStat downloadable here.

It'll list all files and folders under the desired location. I think you need to change a few setting in the program to show hidden files and system folders.
If that doesn't work out try out Total Commander (downloadable here). That should actually show ALL files (undeleted of course) on your partition/drive.

Note: Total Commander is shareware, but doesn't force you to buy a license. I think the only difference to the purchased version is, that there is no notification window when starting the program.

Good luck !