Full C Drive

[BEEDEE]

Hi. I had a person set up my computer so that I have a C drive for the
important stuff, and a D drive for everything else. Needless to say, C drive
is now full and cannot defrag, and D drive is 75% empty. What is the best
way to transfer information from C drive to D drive so I can defrag.
Also asking me to chkdsk before I defrag, and I can't find this command
anywhere. Any suggestions? If I transfer files from C drive to D drive, do
I run any risk of not being able to access these files later if they are not
esential files?
Thanks

BEE

[Unknown]

Run disk cleanup instead of chkdsk.
"BEEDEE" > wrote in message
...
> Hi. I had a person set up my computer so that I have a C drive for the
> important stuff, and a D drive for everything else. Needless to say, C
> drive
> is now full and cannot defrag, and D drive is 75% empty. What is the best
> way to transfer information from C drive to D drive so I can defrag.
> Also asking me to chkdsk before I defrag, and I can't find this command
> anywhere. Any suggestions? If I transfer files from C drive to D drive,
> do
> I run any risk of not being able to access these files later if they are
> not
> esential files?
> Thanks
>
> BEE

[JS]

First use Windows 'Disk Cleanup' to create more space on your C: drive. Also
empty the Recycle Bin.

Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder (move it to the D
drive)
See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310147
Also:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/how_to_move_my_documents.htm

Free up disk space by reducing the number of 'System Restore' point:
Select Start/Control Panel/System, then in the System Properties window
click on the System Restore tab.
Next select the drive letter where Windows is installed (usually C:),
Then click on the Setting button
Now in the Drive Settings window move the Disk space usage slider to the
left to reduce the amount of drive space System Restore points will use.
This will remove some of the older restore points and free up some space.

JS

"BEEDEE" > wrote in message
...
> Hi. I had a person set up my computer so that I have a C drive for the
> important stuff, and a D drive for everything else. Needless to say, C
> drive
> is now full and cannot defrag, and D drive is 75% empty. What is the best
> way to transfer information from C drive to D drive so I can defrag.
> Also asking me to chkdsk before I defrag, and I can't find this command
> anywhere. Any suggestions? If I transfer files from C drive to D drive,
> do
> I run any risk of not being able to access these files later if they are
> not
> esential files?
> Thanks
>
> BEE

[Ken Blake, MVP]

On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:01:01 -0800, BEEDEE
> wrote:

> Hi. I had a person set up my computer so that I have a C drive for the
> important stuff, and a D drive for everything else. Needless to say, C drive
> is now full and cannot defrag, and D drive is 75% empty. What is the best
> way to transfer information from C drive to D drive so I can defrag.


It's hard to give you good advice, knowing so little about your
system. Please answer the following questions:

1. How big is C:?

2. How big is D:

3. What do you consider "important stuff"?

4. What is the "everything else" that you've been putting on D:?

5. Besides \Windows, what are some of the biggest folders on C:?

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

[Nepatsfan]

"BEEDEE" > wrote in message
...
> Hi. I had a person set up my computer so that I have a C drive for the
> important stuff, and a D drive for everything else. Needless to say, C drive
> is now full and cannot defrag, and D drive is 75% empty. What is the best
> way to transfer information from C drive to D drive so I can defrag.
> Also asking me to chkdsk before I defrag, and I can't find this command
> anywhere. Any suggestions? If I transfer files from C drive to D drive, do
> I run any risk of not being able to access these files later if they are not
> esential files?
> Thanks
>
> BEE

First off, you neglected to include information that would have been helpful.
For instance, how large is your hard drive? How much hard drive space is
allocated to your C and D drives?

That said, here are some steps you can take to free up space on your C drive.

1. Relocate the My Documents folder to the D drive. Take a look at this article
for more info.

How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310147

2. Reduce the amount of hard drive space allocated to System Restore.

Go to Control Panel and double click the System icon.
Click on the System Restore tab.
Under Available drives, click on the C drive so it's highlighted.
Hit the Settings button.
Move the slider to the left so it reserves no more than a GB of HD space.

3. Reduce the amount of space allocated for Internet Explorer's
cache.

Go to Control Panel and double click Internet Options.
Hit the Settings button in the Browsing history section on the General page.
Note: Hit the Settings button in the Temporary Internet Files section of the
General page if using IE6.
Reduce the amount of disk space used to something between 50 and 100 MB.

4. Reduce the amount of space used by the Recycle bin.

Right click the Recycle bin icon on the Desktop and select Properties from the
menu.
Move the slider to the left. 5% should be more than enough.

5. Remove Windows Update uninstall files.

The files used to uninstall updates to Windows can be deleted
if you're confident that they will not have to be uninstalled
in the future. These files can be found in the Windows folder
with names similar to this $NtUninstallKB123456$. They are
hidden folders so make sure you enable viewing of hidden files
and folders in Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View tab.
Note: Do not delete the $hf_mig$ folder. This folder will be
used by future updates.

Here's a web site which provides an automated way of deleting
these folders.

Courtesy of Doug Knox, MS-MVP
Removes Hotfix Backup files and the Add/Remove Programs
Registry entries.
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

Keep in mind that any files that you consider irreplaceable should be backed up
to media such as CD or DVD, or an external USB hard drive. Relying on a second
partition on an internal hard drive to safeguard your personal files is not a
wise move. Should your hard drive fail, recovering your files could prove to be
a difficult and expensive experience. That's if they're recoverable.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

[philo]

"BEEDEE" > wrote in message
...
> Hi. I had a person set up my computer so that I have a C drive for the
> important stuff, and a D drive for everything else. Needless to say, C
drive
> is now full and cannot defrag, and D drive is 75% empty. What is the best
> way to transfer information from C drive to D drive so I can defrag.
> Also asking me to chkdsk before I defrag, and I can't find this command
> anywhere. Any suggestions? If I transfer files from C drive to D drive,
do
> I run any risk of not being able to access these files later if they are
not
> esential files?
> Thanks
>
> BEE

If you have data on the C: drive that can be moved to D:

also...you may want to allocate less space for system restore...
by default it's set way higher than is needed.

also...if the machine is a desktop...and you never use hibernation...
then you can turn that off and give yourself a bit more room on the C: drive

[Gerry]

Without resizing partitions you can create more free space in C by
carrying any of the measures suggested below.

The default allocation to System Restore is 12% on your C partition
which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right click your My
Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. Place the cursor
on your C drive select Settings but this time find the slider and drag
it to the left until it reads 700 mb and
exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and
exit.

Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary
internet files, especially if you do not store offline copies on disk.
The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to
offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer
select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files,
Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of days
history is held.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to
5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor
on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and
move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get
too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will
bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

You can generate more space in the system partition by relocation of
folders.

For Temporary Internet Files select Start, Control Panel, Internet
Options, Temporary Internet Files. Settings, Move Folder.

To move the Outlook Express Store Folder select in Outlook Express
Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder, Change.
http://www.tomsterdam.com/insideoe/files/store.htm

How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310147

You may also need to change Default File locations in the Microsoft
Office programmes you choose to move the My Documents folder. For Word
go to Tools, Options, File Locations, highlight Documents, click on
Modify and change file path. For Excel go to Tools, Options, General
and change default file path.

My Documents is one of a number of system created Special Folders
including My Pictures and My Music. These can more easily be relocated
using Tweak Ui. Download TweakUI, one of the MS powertoys, from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

In TweakUi select My Computer, Special Folders. You can scroll down to
see the full list of Special Folders to the left of the Change
Location button.

You can move programmes but to do this you have to uninstall and
reinstall.

If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with
your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of
your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows
folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$
etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed
the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not
compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and
select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress
contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount
gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder
compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System
Information, Tools, Dr Watson and verify that the box before "Append to
existing log" is NOT checked. This means the next time the log is
written it will overwrite rather than add to the existing file.

The default maximum size setting for Event Viewer logs is too large.
Reset the maximum for each log from 512 kb to 128 kb and set it to
overwrite.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BEEDEE wrote:
> Hi. I had a person set up my computer so that I have a C drive for
> the important stuff, and a D drive for everything else. Needless to
> say, C drive is now full and cannot defrag, and D drive is 75% empty.
> What is the best way to transfer information from C drive to D drive
> so I can defrag.
> Also asking me to chkdsk before I defrag, and I can't find this
> command anywhere. Any suggestions? If I transfer files from C drive
> to D drive, do I run any risk of not being able to access these files
> later if they are not esential files?
> Thanks
>
> BEE