Random Windows Question

[dalinux_n00bie]

I know I know.. .tis blasphey... but I have an interesting issue on my fathers windoze XP box that I can't figure out and is bugging the heck out of me.

His C:\ drive is shrinking! He got a low disk warning a few weeks ago, cleaned up some programs and uninstalled them VIA perfect uninstaller, freed up about... 3-4 gigs worth. the next day, he got the SAME WARNING saying that the C:\ drive only had 200 MB left.

We have repeted the process of deleting a GB a day for the past few weeks to no avail...

I can't figure it out... He doesn't have a virus, or malware, or a worm, I set it internet explorer and firefox temp files to be on the D:\ partition, he hasn't installed anything in months...

Any ideas?

[dxqcanada]

Check for apps that use tempoary files like IE.
Check for apps that use Swap files
Check to see if the Windows Swap file is growing.

Use the Windows disk cleanup tool to see what is being wasted.

[dalinux_n00bie]

We already did the windows disk clean up several times... couldn't find squat.

How would I check for swap files? I didn't know windows was smart enough to use them.... Blast i'm to used to linux....

[jayd512]

When's the last time you guys defragged?

[dalinux_n00bie]

When's the last time you guys defragged?

When we discovered the problem. But often times when we try the defragger said there wasn't enough room.

[dxqcanada]

Right click on My Computer
Select Properties

ahh, one of those tabs should get you to were you can set the swap drives and size.

[jayd512]

one of those tabs should get you to were you can set the swap drives and size.

Advanced tab... Start-up and Recovery

[devils casper]

Advanced tab... Start-up and Recovery

Its My Computer ( Right click - Properties ) -- Advanced -- Perfromance Tab -- Advanced -- Vertual Memory (Change Button).
Check out how much space Windows XP has allocated to Virtual Memory.

I don't think its a Virtual Memory ( SWAP ) problem. It could be virus problem only because non of application or even Web Browsing fill that much space of disk.

Boot up from LiveCD of any Linux distro, mount all partitions of Windows XP and check if there is any Autorun.ini or suspicious files.

[ryokimball]

The natural assumption is that (a) you emptied the recycling bin and (b) when using 'disk cleanup' you selected everything. Not at all calling you dumb, just covering bases.
My theory is shadows and backups. Especially if it blue-screens or shuts off immediately (w/o warning etc) Windows dumps information that only God (and well-paid Microsoft technicians) know what for, usually never to be used because the screw-ups are an everyday thing that no one pays attention to. And I was astonished to find that in Vista there are shadow copies of my every past "recent items" lists... I know you aren't using Vista, but it's the same idea, just different things.
Anyways, go to disk clean-up (my computer/right-click C drive/disk cleanup... wow, good thing I'm going through this with you; I need to clean my disk!), and go to the 'more options' tab, and under 'System Restore and Shadow Copies' hit 'clean up...'
On machines that haven't done this before, I have cleared over a GB by doing that.
...that's really about it, though. Otherwise I concur with the virus idea (there are some that simply infect and bloat) or downloading stuff unaware/accidentally.

[schwim]

restore points? I've always turned it off on a fresh install, so I have no idea what size those can be, but something to look at. If you're not running backups, I can't imagine why you would lose a gig a day. That's a bunch of space. Check your running processes and try disconnecting it from the intardnet for a day to see if you get any kind of error from something trying to connect to something.