Member Avatar for db_york

My disk space gradually fills up during an online session. After a restart everything is back to normal.

My hard disk is partitioned into two NTFS drives, C: (10GB) holds Windows and all other software, D: (30GB) holds data files. Once I've started an internet connection the C: drive gradually appears to fill up. I can see this happening in My Computer / Properties. It happens even when explorer isn't running, faster when it IS running, and happens even though I'm not actually hitting any web pages. (Explorer is set to use 312Mb for temporary files but I shouldn't even be using that because I'm not actively surfing!).

After a restart I have the correct amount of disk space showing - about 5 Gb of a 10Gb partition. So it's some kind of temporary storage. I haven't been able to find the file or directory that is filling up - I tried using SEARCH for files modified on that day.

My set up is XP, IE 6, and I'm also running SYGATE firewall, PC-CILLIN virus detector, WE-BLOCKER filtering. SYGATE logs are restricted to 512KB.

(Originally posted as a reply in [post]69895[/post])

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A clean reinstall (as reported by ) removed the symptom, but that is a blunt cure. ’s memory-pressure idea is a reasonable lead—heavy commit charge can push activity to disk—but several other, non-destructive causes can produce the exact behaviour described (disk free space shrinking during an online session, then “normal” after reboot). The notes below give concrete diagnostics that locate the offender without reloading the OS.

Start by getting a before/after snapshot and a visual map of C:. Run a disk-usage scanner (WinDirStat or TreeSize Free) to see which folders grow. From an elevated command prompt a quick snapshot can be collected with:

fsutil volume diskfree c:
dir c:\ /s /a > c_drive_snapshot_before.txt

Reproduce the problem for a short time, repeat the snapshot, and compare sizes. For real-time detection, use Sysinternals Process Monitor (Procmon) with tight filters: Path begins with C:\ and Operation is WriteFile (capture only a minute or two). Sort by WriteSize to find the process and path producing files.

Common culprits and checks

  • Temp and cache folders: C:\Windows\Temp and the user Temp/IE cache; use Disk Cleanup rather than blind deletes.
  • AV/firewall/quarantine or caching for filtering products; check their settings and quarantine folders.
  • System Restore / shadow copies consuming hidden space; inspect System Properties → System Restore.
  • Pagefile growth under memory pressure (pagefile usually persists across sessions unless explicitly cleared at shutdown).
  • Large log files or corrupted files created by a misbehaving service, or malware. Run chkdsk and an offline malware scan if nothing obvious appears.

Cautions: Procmon generates large logs—filter before capturing. Avoid random deletion of system files; identify the process owner first. A reinstall removes many classes of causes (corrupt system files, unknown drivers or services), which explains why it fixed the problem for , but the steps above let similar issues be diagnosed and fixed without a full OS reinstall.

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Member Avatar for JANINE

hmmmm, now this is only a possibility but it sounds like you havent got enough memory to cope with the amount of files and processes so to compensate for this information is getting shoved onto the hard drive temporarily to allow the RAM to free up a little bit. when this occurs you might notice the machine gets sluggish.

Member Avatar for db_york

I did fix the problem - by a complete reinstall of XP.
The hardware and software setup is exactly the same as it was but no disk space problem.

Member Avatar for nanosani

hehe .. clean installation is the ultimate solution to all problems :D. Marking this thread as solved.

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