Computer memory & hard drive issues

[kwk285]

My wife recently got a new computer. We plan on using the old computer in our kitchen for various things.

According to my computer we have 2GB left out of 76GB for memory. I have deleted programs but the memory hasn't improved. I am guessing the memory is being used in data storage or some where else on the hard drive.

1) How do I find out where the memory is being used?

2) Do I have to do anything special to delete the files to be able to get more memory available in the computer.

If you have any further questions, I will try and answer them. I understand basic computers but I don't think my knowledge level is very good.

Also, we have a hard drive that the computer had recognized in the past. In the last few days it stop recognizing the hard drive. How do I address that.


Thanks for any help you may give me

 

[mparker762]

did you empty the trashbin?

edit: don't know what your knowledge level is, but usually when my mom complains about this, then this is the reason....

 

[j19bill]

What kind of OS are you using?

What brand of computer is it?

I trashed the hard drive in my old dell and started a with a fresh 250gig. I still had the original winxp disk so I was able to start fresh, If you don't need anything on it i would do that.

 

[Luc]

I'm assuming you are running Windows on that old computer.

Try to do a right-click on the hard disk (C drive) and properties. There should be a 'clean-up' button.

Also, Try going in the 'Control Panel' -> -'Internet Options' and clear all the history/cache from Internet Explorer. For some reason, I don't use it on my computer but it was eating 3 gigs...

 

[Carlin]

First off, what you are referring to as "memory" should actually be referred to as "disk space." Memory is usually in relation to RAM while "hard drive space" or "disk space" is for your hard drive.

To find out where alot of large files are download this program http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/download.shtml . It'll create some graphs that show where everything is. Since you said you understand basic computer things, you should know what to and what not to delete. If you have problems in that area, let me know and I can help you out through remote viewing or something.

Carlin


*Edit, as for that failed hard drive, I'd actually have to be there to look at it and see what's wrong =/ . Good news, harddrives are cheap now a days with 1TB being under $80 and if you need something with less space, even less! Let me know if you need help finding one.

 

[kwk285]

did you empty the trashbin?

edit: don't know what your knowledge level is, but usually when my mom complains about this, then this is the reason....

I have emptied it in both my and my wife's quadrants on the computer.

 

[kwk285]

What kind of OS are you using?

What brand of computer is it?

I trashed the hard drive in my old dell and started a with a fresh 250gig. I still had the original winxp disk so I was able to start fresh, If you don't need anything on it i would do that.

It is a Dell desktop about 2 years old.

We are running XP

 

[Duckster]

You might also want to defrag the hard drive. Windows comes with a Disk Defragmenter utility. You can probably find it here:
Start –> Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools –> Disk Defragmenter


Why defrag?

 

[DESkydiver]

When you say you have 2GB of memory left out of 76GB, I must believe that is actual hard drive space as compared to RAM memory (typically 256 MB, 512 MB, 1GB, 2GB or 4 GB of RAM). Only smokin’ servers would be able to use 76GB of memory (RAM).

With that said, anytime your hard drive falls below 10% available space there is a potential for problems. Files become more segmented throughout the hard drive and CPU time increases putting all the segmented pieces together as well as increased read/write movement causing additional wear and tear of the hard drive.

To answer your questions:

1) How do I find out where the memory is being used?
I am assuming you are running Microsoft Windows, Right-click in a blank spot on your Taskbar (the Blue bar where ‘Start’button is) and select ‘Task Manager.’ Here yu will see a few tabs, go to Performance tab to see how much memory is being used. You can also look under ‘Processes’ tab to see which application are using memory (RAM) and how much.

2) Do I have to do anything special to delete the files to be able to get more memory available in the computer.
Randomly deleting files can be dangerous, if you delete program files/folders without removing them from Add/Remove programs first can corrupt the PCs Registry.

It may be easier to reload your PC using the system recovery discs that came with it (if you still have them), just remember to save all your important files to a safe location, like CDs, thumb / flash drive or external hard drive first.

As for the hard drive not being recognized… the move from one location to the kitchen may have caused the cabling to become loose… remove power (unplug), open the case, momentarily ground yourself to the chassis to remove static, then reseat the cables on the hard drives. If reseating the cables does not work, the drive may have been disabled in the BIOS or it has gone ‘belly up.’ If you have gone this far and still not working, try your local ‘geek squad’ type person

 

[cvac]

Try CCleaner first.

Download here:

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Then you'll need to find a way to clear off the files off your hard drive. Music, video and picture files tend to take up a lot of space. You might want to look into an external hard drive with a USB cable.

2GB should be sufficient...however, find out how much RAM is on your computer. If you don't have enough ram and are running a ton of things at once, the computer will use your hard drive space as "virtual memory" which will slow things way down. You may want to look into upgrading the RAM at some point.

After you do CCleaner and move some files off, defragment your harddrive.

PowerDefragmenter and PageDefrag should take care of it.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/Power-Defragmenter.shtml

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897426.aspx

 

[mparker762]

There are two different types of memory which you seem to be confusing in your original post: RAM, and hard disk. Files are stored on the hard disk, and RAM is used for programs that are actually running.

How are you measuring free RAM and free disk space on your computer? Is it possible that you're checking RAM and not disk space after you're deleting files? Deleting files won't change the amount of RAM...

 

[DunEdinRanger]

You have a program that went bonkers and ate up a lot of memory, or you have a ton of music/dvd files.

I would first make sure there are no hidden files or folders when you view the directories and then check under Programs or Windows for programs called PCtools or Protect Tools or something similar. The log file may be what is eating up all the space.

 

[Bertilak]

Don't confuse memory and disk space. Your files are all on the disk (hard drive).

There is not much you can do about optimizing memory usage -- deleting files will make no difference.

Your disk contains several kinds of files:

1. data files (your documents, images, videos, whatever)
2. application programs
3. system programs (and some system data like the registry)
4. temporary space used when the system is active (swapper)

The only things you have any kind of reasonable control over are 1 and 2.

For number 1: Delete what you no longer want, if anything. Many people offload data files to gigantic external USB drives which are pretty cheep nowadays., You can get one to hold all your data files probably more than 10 times over for under 100 bucks.

For number 2: Go into add/remove software and remove any applications you have personally installed that you no longer want.

Doing a de-fragment will help performance but won't recover any disk space since you will still have all the same files just re-arranged differently.

There is probably a utility on your system that will find and remove temporary files that often get left lying around. These are things the system created on its own, under the covers, so to speak. It cannot recognize files you may have made on a temporary basis as it has no way of knowing your intentions when you create a file.

You can affect the size of the swapper to save disk space but I don't recommend it. You could make your system behave very badly.

 

[Confuzius]

You can use something like this

http://lifehacker.com/5226033/spacesniffer-does-eye-candy-drive-space-analysis
To visualize what files are taking up the most space on your hard drive, then decide if you can part with them.

 

[SliceOfLife]

A screenshot of the system page that's showing you your memory available would be helpful.

I see three possibilities from what you've said
First, you have a 76gb hard drive (very small for a 2 yr old machine... VERY small, but Dell probably does carry 80GB drives and that would format in the neighborhood of 76) and 2 gb RAM (what programs load into while the run, temporary immediate storage) and your actual free hard drive space is unknown.

Second, You have 76gb free space and 2gb ram. (My suspician)

Third you have 76gb hard drive with 2gb free space and unknown ram.


A few tips.

1. Unless what you're removing are fairly recent retail programs such as Office, or recent games, it's probably not going to clear a lot of space to remove them. As someone mentioned, video and audio files are what fills most peoples computers. Older applications tend to be quite small. For instance, I seem to recall when Microsoft Word fit on a couple floppies.

2. When you remove programs, there is a hierarchy as to the best way to do it.

Best: programs uninstall feature
2nd: Windows add/remove program
Worst, bad, don't do it: Deleting the folder

 

[funkyb]

You can use something like this

http://lifehacker.com/5226033/spacesniffer-does-eye-candy-drive-space-analysis
To visualize what files are taking up the most space on your hard drive, then decide if you can part with them.

Time to increase that Win 7 partition and squeeze down that XP one ;-)

Win 7 will let you shrink/expand those partitions (provided there's free space to shrink) without reformatting the partitions themselves.

 

[Confuzius]

Time to increase that Win 7 partition and squeeze down that XP one ;-)

Win 7 will let you shrink/expand those partitions (provided there's free space to shrink) without reformatting the partitions themselves.

What's shown in that screenshot are actually virtual machine disk images, not partitions...

 

[Alacrity59]

Some PCs have programs that automatically save a system restore point whenever a new piece of software is installed. Sometimes you have a separate partition for this. Sometimes it is somewhere on your C drive. In either case it can take up a fair bit of disk.

 

[kwk285]

Thanks for all of the help. I dug into my wife's quadrant and found 5 movies saved in Picasa. I thought all copies of movies had been put on to our hard drive.

I am going to try to find more room but now I am up to 16 GB of free space vs 2 GB.

I am still trying to get the computer to recognize the hard drive.

 

[Gravy]

If I had a hard drive that wasn't being recognized I would shut down the comp. and switch the PSU (power supply) off.
Pull the power plug.
Open the side of the computer and while holding on to the frame of the computer case to ground myself, remove the connection to the troubled Hard drive. Also check the power plug going to the HD to make sure it is connected good.
Reconnect the HD, intall side of case, plug in computer, flip PSU on, power up, see if the the HD is now recognized.

You might also want to check for updates for your mobo and HD at the manufacturers web site.