Member Avatar for CLEARICE01

i am running a p4 1400 m.d.g with windows xp home edition.i did a fresh install of xp that time i had 21 gigs free space on a 40 gig hard drive after the install i have 14.9 i looked for eny thing that was a double or taking up space that it shouldnt bee but nothing please help.iam ready to format the hard drive but if i dont have to why do it

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Short expert summary tied to the thread: reports ~6 GB gone after an XP reinstall. Several replies suggested leftover Windows files or repartitioning (, , ). Before doing another full format, run a few quick checks — XP often eats gigabytes with hidden system files and settings, and those are easier to fix than a reformat.

Quick diagnostic checklist (in roughly this order):

  • Reveal hidden and protected system files in Explorer and look for pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys. The pagefile (virtual memory) is often sized automatically and can be ~1.5× RAM by default; the hibernation file is roughly the size of installed RAM. (learn.microsoft.com)

  • Inspect System Restore usage (Control Panel → System → System Restore). On XP the feature can reserve a large chunk (up to ~12% of a partition by default); reducing that slider or using Disk Cleanup’s “Clean up system files” → “More Options” to remove old restore points typically recovers multiple GB. (bleepingcomputer.com)

  • Run a folder/treemap scan (WinDirStat or similar) to see which folders consume the space — it quickly exposes big installers, old backups, or orphaned folders. (windirstat.net)

  • Check Disk Management (Computer Management → Storage → Disk Management) for any hidden OEM/recovery partitions that don’t appear in My Computer; reclaiming an unused recovery partition will restore several GB but must be done carefully. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes and cautions: disabling hibernation removes hiberfil.sys; changing pagefile settings affects stability if RAM is low, so prefer system‑managed sizing or set both min/max the same if experienced. If none of the diagnostics locate the space sink, a full repartition/format (the approach advocated by ) will guarantee a clean drive — but only after backing up needed data.

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Member Avatar for darkshadow

there are files on the harddrive from the old windows you have to find out which ones are from the old windows and delete them

Member Avatar for caperjack

quote!!-i did a fresh install of xp that time i had 21 gigs free space on a 40 gig hard drive after the install i have 14.9

Trying to figure out if you did a clean install how you had 21 gigs free on a 40 gig hd.winxp pro[what i use ] clean install is only 1.5 gig .

Member Avatar for )BIG"B"Affleck

Look you just didnt delete the other partitions thats all. Start over again and hit D then enter to delete all the other partitions go over them twice for extra comfort. It will say [Fresh(New)]space partiton[39004 mb] left on the drive then install.

Member Avatar for CLEARICE01

thanks for the reply. big b affleck. iam a newbie so if you could spell in out for me a little more. like at what point do i hit d to clear the other partitions.and again thaks for the speedy reply

Member Avatar for )BIG"B"Affleck

No problem my russian friend. After you put the WINDOWS cd-ROM in and rebootyouy will get a promt to hit any KEY to boot from CD-ROM ........Hit any key from there.After that you will get a prompt from windows saying accept the following agreements hit F8.So hit F8 and you will get another prompt by windows to install or repair hit ESCAPE (I think ) to install a fresh addition of XP.After that you will be asked if you want to delete older partitions hit D then ENTER to delete the partitions. Use the up & down arrow key to cycle through all the partitions and delete all of them.
Print this out even though the windows XP install gives you step by step instructions.
And like they say in RUSSIA

Member Avatar for CLEARICE01

thank for spelling it out for me big b affleck you know your shit. like they say in america. thanks dude

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