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Unplug the box from the net. Run scandisk and defrag the drive, keep it off the net. Run the box for a while and see if the same thing happens. If so, format/reinstall. No way should the HDD size fluctuate as much as yours seems to be doing.
BTW. Is the net connection BB?
It's not the same as in WinXP which keeps copies of everything. It's most likely his swap file getting out of hand.Quote:
Automated updates for windows can take up a lot of room it creates hidden directories in the windows directory with all the update configuration files and after a year or to if you don't remove them they can create a lot of clutter. But i cant remember if win98 had a automated update tool so this might be totally uninteresting.
There are some steps you can do to eliminate what it possibly could be.
1. Get rid of the excess files that you've downloaded (I don't know about others but when using a computer I download, install and keep all the zips even if I don't need them, pack rat that I am). Clean out the temp directory and other locations where files are kept (clean out IE cache).
2. Boot into safe mode and scan there (some viruses will hide themselves from scanners so it can be a good way to detect)
3. Power off (note: NOT reboot) and leave off for about 10 minutes. Come back and start up. Check disk space. If it's smaller, that'd indicate swap file issues. You'd just need to set the swap file to a specific maximum size rather than letting the OS determine how much it needs. Go to Control Panel --> System --> Performance --> Virtual Memory. Click the button that says Let me specify my own settings. Set the minimum and maximum values. You'll probably need to reboot.
HTH
Hi,
Another thought is that you have "quickfind" or "quicksearch" enabled............unless you are regularly handling lots of documents and spreadsheets, you don't need it and this can easily gobble up as much as 10Gig..........well that's the biggest I have ever seen. I always disable it and delete its files.
When you loaded Win98 it will have dumped a load of .cab files on your HDD...........they are the compressed files containing the OS............if you have the CD you don't need them.
I would suggest that you do a Google search for "Xen" by Paul Brown. It is a general Windows tweaking and cleaning tool, it does a pretty good job of getting rid of "baggage"
If you are running a browser in Win 98 make sure to set days history to 0 and the cache file to something sensible.........use the options to clear cache & history.
As I said Xen is a good tool ...............particularly for lazy people like me :D
This lot is in addition to what you have already been told.
Cheers
This is where i would start.. while Virtual mem and some Updates (yes i have had win98 keep some updates ..usually IE-6 from what I have found).. will take up some space.. they don't suddenly run off and start consuming masses of hdd space..Quote:
I would sugest you do a search on you C: drive for all files over lets say 100M. just to see if there is one file that is taking all the space or a number of them. If you get one file that is about 1.1 Gb it could be either a log file or it is, as was said above the virtual memory.
The reason I would start here is especialy if you have a P2P prog runnig..a couple of machines in the last week.. 1 XP the other Win 98 both with WinMX had some files larger than 1Gb (the XP had 2 files of 8.4GB) Deleted these and the "Incomplete" files.. freedup a mass of hdd realestate, nearly half the drive in both cases..
If you have MS office (2k or earlier not sure about 2k2 or later) make sure that FastFind is disabled.. then delete all of its index files..
Xen.. All we need is a Ying & Yang.. and our puters will be verry mantra
jokes aside.. Xen is good.. ..
Sudden increases of HDD space, especially if the install is aged..
ask your self..
What new software..?
What softwre have i removed?
What system changes. (have I fiddled with the registry or enabled /disabled services(ok it is 98sry))?
If using a P2P prog.. could it have chucked a spaz..(see my earlier comments)
While I am careful and I have a good AV (AVG isn't that bad..pretty good compared).. did I make a mistake fiddling with those sus emails the other day?
and last-- is my installation of 98 just getting too darn old? chop and change proges and over time it just plain o'le stuffes up.. forget the grease and Oil.. new install
Cheers
my first idea...virtual memory. check "pagefile.sys", after enabling view of system and hidden files from the folder options. see how large that file is.
http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/
This is an awesome way to find your largest files. Use treesize.
Win 98 don't have Pagefile.sys .. it does have a swap file win386.swp .. sizes between 35 and 120Mb are normal.. unles you have moved it (registry hack) it should be in the C:\windows folder..Quote:
my first idea...virtual memory. check "pagefile.sys", after enabling view of system and hidden files from the folder options. see how large that file is.
For a clean OEm install of Win98 you are looking at 120 to 300Mb of hdd.. throw in office 2k and you can still fit the whole lot onto a CD and have realestate to spare.. As for Win XPensive a normal install is around 2Gb
More Questions..
..Are your "Program Files" and "My Documents" on the same partition as Windows..
..What Software are you running..
Some Imaging progs will chew massses of the swp file, but this should settle after a restart ..
oh yeh.. talking about restarts.. had any scandisk activity starting up lately? chech your c:\ for chk files.. have seen hundreds in there (mind win98/dos spits a dummy when the root folder reaches 512 files)
Note in my replies I am mentioning the whole of the windoze install not just the windows folder.... which are you talking about.. and most of my comments refer to Win98se
Cheers