Low on Disk Space

Hello Dustin, et al,

I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't come through.
Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the command line and
came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders GB34,103,296 free.
(I'm not sure what the "free" was about)

Also, it finally dawned on me that when I first got this computer, I
transfered data from two of my older computers. I wonder if this is what
caused the d drive recovery disk full message??

Can I just reformat the d drive and start from scratch? I am not that
technical and am really uncomfortable going into the registry. I'm not sure
how to back up a registry or fix it if I mess it up. Wouldn't reformating the
d drive now be easier?

I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you that under
Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little disk-like icon
and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has (C after it,
and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all say the Layout
is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank under File
System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says it is FAT32
File system.

I have no idea if any of the additional information helps, but I guess the
question is -- can I simply reformt the drive somehow?

Thanks!!

Barbara
(PS: Sorry for taking so long to post a response. I had some serious medical
problems I had to deal with and am now a bit better. I didn't want you to
think I just dropped out of our conversation.)
--
Barbara


"Dustin Harper" wrote:

> It sounds like it may be reporting the low disk space on the recovery
> partition.
>
> Try making this change in the registry to disable the low disk space
> warning, since you know you have the space:
>
> Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
> Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\
> Policies\ Explorer.
> If it's not there, create a DWORD value and call it NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.
> Double-click on NoLowDiskSpaceChecks, and enter the value 1, and press OK.
>
> --
> Dustin Harper
>
> http://www.vistarip.com
>
> --
> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
> news:0338C661-2DF6-4555-BB06-...
> > Steve,
> >
> > I appreciate your explanation about the defrag on new computers. I checked
> > task manager and didn't see anything (as far as I could tell), that would
> > eat
> > up the memory.
> >
> > I just posted a longer synopsis of what I have done and what I found
> > above -
> > in response to Gerry's post. As you can see - maybe is physical disk
> > space
> > that is the culprit instead of RAM? In any case, I am in over my head on
> > the
> > technical side of this problem and am glad you all are here to help.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Barbara
> >
> > --
> > Barbara
> >
> >
> > "Steve Urbach" wrote:
> >
> >> On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 12:30:01 -0700, Barbara
> >> <> wrote:
> >>
> >> >My computer is brand new. I've had it for one month. Yes, I did run a
> >> >defrag,
> >> >and I went through the process to do a disk clean-up, (repeated this
> >> >process
> >> >again today).
> >> How long you have had a computer has NO (OK little) bearing on needing
> >> a defragment. Updates on a new system alone, will fragment the disk
> >> severely when hundreds of files are updated from the initial release.
> >> Add updating Adobe, Flash Quicktime and other "common" programs found
> >> on most users computers leaves a lot of debris. Using programs with
> >> local, sizable databases (offline news readers, lots of web browsing)
> >> will cause more.
> >> Sounds like a misbehaving Program (open task manager and see where
> >> your memory has gone). REBOOT. Many computers default to HIBERNATE,
> >> which does not clear memory leaks. Check that your "Virtual memory"
> >> has not been incorrectly configured. Lastly, there is no substitute
> >> for RAM, 1G or more of it.
> >>
> >>
>

Hi, Barbara.

> I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't come through.

Yep. Both your messages arrived. ;<)

> Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the command line
> and
> came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders GB34,103,296
> free.
> (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)

First, a little HD 101...

GB means GigaByte. A "byte" is 8 bits. A bit is the smallest piece of info
a computer uses and a hard drive can store; 8 bits make one "byte", which
can represent one character, such as the letter "A" or the symbol "$".
Because the computer uses a binary system, rather than a decimal system,
most computer measurements deal in powers of 2, rather than in powers of 10.
A KB (kilobyte) is 2^10 bytes, or 1,024 bytes. For shorthand, since 1,024
is close to 1,000, and since often an approximation is "close enough", users
often referred to 16,000 as "16KB" or "16K", for example, even though 16 KB
is really 16,384. As we started dealing with bigger numbers, the
discrepancies got bigger, too, but most experienced users recognized the
differences and mentally reconciled the numbers. A MegaByte is K * K, or
1,024 * 1,024 = 1,048,576, not an even one million. So a 20 MB HD actually
held almost 21 million bytes - but there were always a few thousand bytes
lost to bad sectors and disk overhead, so 20 MB was "close enough". As disk
drive makers made even bigger drives, they passed the billion-byte capacity
mark. They began to use GB or GigaByte to refer to 1,000 MB, even though
many computer users pointed out that GB really means K * MB, or 1,024 MB or
1,073,741,824, and that a drive that holds 20 billion bytes and is probably
advertised as 20 GB, actually holds only about 18.626 GB (20,000,000,000 /
1,073,741,824). In most cases, referring to GB as a billion bytes is still
"close enough", but sometimes we have to be more precise.

In your case, your 1869 files use 12,062,061,174 BYTES, or almost 12 GB, not
12,062,061,174 GB. These 1869 files are in 237 folders. A folder (or Dir)
uses very little disk space, usually, since it is only an index to a group
of files.

Are you sure it said "GB34,103,296 free"? Or 34,103,296 BYTES free, which
would be about 34 MB, not GB - a thousand-fold difference. Your 34 MB of
free space is the amount of storage that is not currently in use. In other
words, you should be able to write nearly 34 MB more information to that
drive, which is about 1/30th of 1 GB. In today's world, 34 MB is not a lot
of free space; 34 GB should provide some elbow room.

> I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you that under
> Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little disk-like
> icon
> and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has (C after
> it,
> and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all say the
> Layout
> is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank under File
> System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says it is FAT32
> File system.

Disk Management is one of the most useful utilities in Windows, in my
opinion. I've been using it often ever since it first appeared in Windows
2000. (It still irritates me that I can't set it to always start
full-screen and with the column headings adjusted to fit the data in them,
but those are minor quibbles.) The Help file here is chock-full of
information that every computer user needs to know, although it is organized
to be read like a reference, rather than a text, so we have to search for
the topics we want to learn about, rather than read a sequential
explanation. You can organize the default View to show you more about YOUR
computer if the default does not fit it. The default shows the Volume List
at the top and the Graphical View at the bottom; the divider between them
can be moved with your mouse, just like any other window. Both views show
almost the same information, but organized differently. The graphical view
also shows the physical disks, as well as the volumes (partitions and
logical drives) on each disk. The "Simple" and "Basic" labels are normal
for most users (including me). The File System should be NTFS (NT File
System) for all of Vista, except for any special volumes that HP uses. The
Capacity and Free Space columns should match what other utilities (such as
Explorer and Dir) are telling you.

In your case, my guess is that you have a single disk; the Graphical View
should show it as Disk 0, divided into 3 primary partitions (boxes with a
dark blue bar over the top of each). The Volume List would show the 3 lines
you describe, one for each of those partitions. The first one has no
letter, probably because it is part of HP's OEM (Original Equipment
Manufacturer) drive organization; typically you would never need to explore
this un-lettered and un-labeled partition. The second partition is your
Drive C: and is where all (or most) of the action should be in your
computer. This should hold your Windows Vista, plus all your applications
and all your data - all of the 12 GB of "stuff" that you found.

The Drive D: that you see is more of HP's system for organizing and
maintaining your computer; since I've never had an HP or worked on one very
much, I have no idea what is here. But some of the HP-aware readers here
should be able to interpret that for you. My guess is that you could delete
that whole partition and recover the space for your use - but my
understanding may be wrong; deleting the partition could make your computer
unusable. :>( So wait until you really know what that Drive D: is all
about before you delete it.


I've probably told you more than you want to know (or what you already
know), Barbara, but in a newsgroup (or Communities), we never know who may
be "reading over our shoulders" and might benefit from the fuller
explanation.

Study Disk Management and its Help file at length, and find some other
references, too. A good understanding of hard disks and their management
will not just help you solve your current problem, but will be an investment
that will pay dividends as long as you continue to use computers - which
just might be for the rest of your life!

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail in Vista Ultimate x64)

"Barbara" <> wrote in message
news:407BB4BA-777E-4289-AC42-...
> Hello Dustin, et al,
>
> I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't come through.
> Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the command line
> and
> came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders GB34,103,296
> free.
> (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)
>
> Also, it finally dawned on me that when I first got this computer, I
> transfered data from two of my older computers. I wonder if this is what
> caused the d drive recovery disk full message??
>
> Can I just reformat the d drive and start from scratch? I am not that
> technical and am really uncomfortable going into the registry. I'm not
> sure
> how to back up a registry or fix it if I mess it up. Wouldn't reformating
> the
> d drive now be easier?
>
> I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you that under
> Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little disk-like
> icon
> and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has (C after
> it,
> and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all say the
> Layout
> is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank under File
> System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says it is FAT32
> File system.
>
> I have no idea if any of the additional information helps, but I guess the
> question is -- can I simply reformt the drive somehow?
>
> Thanks!!
>
> Barbara
> (PS: Sorry for taking so long to post a response. I had some serious
> medical
> problems I had to deal with and am now a bit better. I didn't want you to
> think I just dropped out of our conversation.)
> --
> Barbara
>
>
> "Dustin Harper" wrote:
>
>> It sounds like it may be reporting the low disk space on the recovery
>> partition.
>>
>> Try making this change in the registry to disable the low disk space
>> warning, since you know you have the space:
>>
>> Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
>> Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\
>> Policies\ Explorer.
>> If it's not there, create a DWORD value and call it NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.
>> Double-click on NoLowDiskSpaceChecks, and enter the value 1, and press
>> OK.
>>
>> --
>> Dustin Harper
>>
>> --
>> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
>> news:0338C661-2DF6-4555-BB06-...
>> > Steve,
>> >
>> > I appreciate your explanation about the defrag on new computers. I
>> > checked
>> > task manager and didn't see anything (as far as I could tell), that
>> > would
>> > eat
>> > up the memory.
>> >
>> > I just posted a longer synopsis of what I have done and what I found
>> > above -
>> > in response to Gerry's post. As you can see - maybe is physical disk
>> > space
>> > that is the culprit instead of RAM? In any case, I am in over my head
>> > on
>> > the
>> > technical side of this problem and am glad you all are here to help.
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > Barbara
>> >
>> > --
>> > Barbara
>> >
>> >
>> > "Steve Urbach" wrote:
>> >
>> >> On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 12:30:01 -0700, Barbara
>> >> <> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >My computer is brand new. I've had it for one month. Yes, I did run a
>> >> >defrag,
>> >> >and I went through the process to do a disk clean-up, (repeated this
>> >> >process
>> >> >again today).
>> >> How long you have had a computer has NO (OK little) bearing on needing
>> >> a defragment. Updates on a new system alone, will fragment the disk
>> >> severely when hundreds of files are updated from the initial release.
>> >> Add updating Adobe, Flash Quicktime and other "common" programs found
>> >> on most users computers leaves a lot of debris. Using programs with
>> >> local, sizable databases (offline news readers, lots of web browsing)
>> >> will cause more.
>> >> Sounds like a misbehaving Program (open task manager and see where
>> >> your memory has gone). REBOOT. Many computers default to HIBERNATE,
>> >> which does not clear memory leaks. Check that your "Virtual memory"
>> >> has not been incorrectly configured. Lastly, there is no substitute
>> >> for RAM, 1G or more of it.

Hello RC!

Thank you so much for all the information - and you were right to assume I
knew nothing about all that. I've been doing a lot of guessing for a while
now.

First thing is you were right about the space on what is called the D:
Drive. It does say:
237 dirs 34,103,296 BYTES
1869 files 12,062,061,174 BYTES free

So, I do have some room to spare.

The pain in my neck is now - I understood there were two 100GB hard-drives
in this machine when I bought it. I just assumed since I saw the drive letter
"D" that I had two drives. I'll have to go back to all the paperwork and
find what the heck I missed.

Also, since I just purchased this computer, I suppose I can take it back to
the store and ask them to fix it - but, that doesn't mean I am not going to
go into the help files and learn what it is I need them to do. I don't feel
like I am technically buffed enough to try figuring this out on my own.
Besides I am going to school and am now really behind on my homework. Good
thing I still have my old computer.

I really appreciate that you and everyone else has been there (here) to help
me with this. Wish me luck!

Thanks again,

Barbara




--
Barbara


"R. C. White, MVP" wrote:

> Hi, Barbara.
>
> > I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't come through.
>
> Yep. Both your messages arrived. ;<)
>
> > Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the command line
> > and
> > came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders GB34,103,296
> > free.
> > (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)
>
> First, a little HD 101...
>
> GB means GigaByte. A "byte" is 8 bits. A bit is the smallest piece of info
> a computer uses and a hard drive can store; 8 bits make one "byte", which
> can represent one character, such as the letter "A" or the symbol "$".
> Because the computer uses a binary system, rather than a decimal system,
> most computer measurements deal in powers of 2, rather than in powers of 10.
> A KB (kilobyte) is 2^10 bytes, or 1,024 bytes. For shorthand, since 1,024
> is close to 1,000, and since often an approximation is "close enough", users
> often referred to 16,000 as "16KB" or "16K", for example, even though 16 KB
> is really 16,384. As we started dealing with bigger numbers, the
> discrepancies got bigger, too, but most experienced users recognized the
> differences and mentally reconciled the numbers. A MegaByte is K * K, or
> 1,024 * 1,024 = 1,048,576, not an even one million. So a 20 MB HD actually
> held almost 21 million bytes - but there were always a few thousand bytes
> lost to bad sectors and disk overhead, so 20 MB was "close enough". As disk
> drive makers made even bigger drives, they passed the billion-byte capacity
> mark. They began to use GB or GigaByte to refer to 1,000 MB, even though
> many computer users pointed out that GB really means K * MB, or 1,024 MB or
> 1,073,741,824, and that a drive that holds 20 billion bytes and is probably
> advertised as 20 GB, actually holds only about 18.626 GB (20,000,000,000 /
> 1,073,741,824). In most cases, referring to GB as a billion bytes is still
> "close enough", but sometimes we have to be more precise.
>
> In your case, your 1869 files use 12,062,061,174 BYTES, or almost 12 GB, not
> 12,062,061,174 GB. These 1869 files are in 237 folders. A folder (or Dir)
> uses very little disk space, usually, since it is only an index to a group
> of files.
>
> Are you sure it said "GB34,103,296 free"? Or 34,103,296 BYTES free, which
> would be about 34 MB, not GB - a thousand-fold difference. Your 34 MB of
> free space is the amount of storage that is not currently in use. In other
> words, you should be able to write nearly 34 MB more information to that
> drive, which is about 1/30th of 1 GB. In today's world, 34 MB is not a lot
> of free space; 34 GB should provide some elbow room.
>
> > I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you that under
> > Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little disk-like
> > icon
> > and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has (C after
> > it,
> > and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all say the
> > Layout
> > is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank under File
> > System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says it is FAT32
> > File system.
>
> Disk Management is one of the most useful utilities in Windows, in my
> opinion. I've been using it often ever since it first appeared in Windows
> 2000. (It still irritates me that I can't set it to always start
> full-screen and with the column headings adjusted to fit the data in them,
> but those are minor quibbles.) The Help file here is chock-full of
> information that every computer user needs to know, although it is organized
> to be read like a reference, rather than a text, so we have to search for
> the topics we want to learn about, rather than read a sequential
> explanation. You can organize the default View to show you more about YOUR
> computer if the default does not fit it. The default shows the Volume List
> at the top and the Graphical View at the bottom; the divider between them
> can be moved with your mouse, just like any other window. Both views show
> almost the same information, but organized differently. The graphical view
> also shows the physical disks, as well as the volumes (partitions and
> logical drives) on each disk. The "Simple" and "Basic" labels are normal
> for most users (including me). The File System should be NTFS (NT File
> System) for all of Vista, except for any special volumes that HP uses. The
> Capacity and Free Space columns should match what other utilities (such as
> Explorer and Dir) are telling you.
>
> In your case, my guess is that you have a single disk; the Graphical View
> should show it as Disk 0, divided into 3 primary partitions (boxes with a
> dark blue bar over the top of each). The Volume List would show the 3 lines
> you describe, one for each of those partitions. The first one has no
> letter, probably because it is part of HP's OEM (Original Equipment
> Manufacturer) drive organization; typically you would never need to explore
> this un-lettered and un-labeled partition. The second partition is your
> Drive C: and is where all (or most) of the action should be in your
> computer. This should hold your Windows Vista, plus all your applications
> and all your data - all of the 12 GB of "stuff" that you found.
>
> The Drive D: that you see is more of HP's system for organizing and
> maintaining your computer; since I've never had an HP or worked on one very
> much, I have no idea what is here. But some of the HP-aware readers here
> should be able to interpret that for you. My guess is that you could delete
> that whole partition and recover the space for your use - but my
> understanding may be wrong; deleting the partition could make your computer
> unusable. :>( So wait until you really know what that Drive D: is all
> about before you delete it.
>
>
> I've probably told you more than you want to know (or what you already
> know), Barbara, but in a newsgroup (or Communities), we never know who may
> be "reading over our shoulders" and might benefit from the fuller
> explanation.
>
> Study Disk Management and its Help file at length, and find some other
> references, too. A good understanding of hard disks and their management
> will not just help you solve your current problem, but will be an investment
> that will pay dividends as long as you continue to use computers - which
> just might be for the rest of your life!
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
>
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Mail in Vista Ultimate x64)
>
> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
> news:407BB4BA-777E-4289-AC42-...
> > Hello Dustin, et al,
> >
> > I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't come through.
> > Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the command line
> > and
> > came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders GB34,103,296
> > free.
> > (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)
> >
> > Also, it finally dawned on me that when I first got this computer, I
> > transfered data from two of my older computers. I wonder if this is what
> > caused the d drive recovery disk full message??
> >
> > Can I just reformat the d drive and start from scratch? I am not that
> > technical and am really uncomfortable going into the registry. I'm not
> > sure
> > how to back up a registry or fix it if I mess it up. Wouldn't reformating
> > the
> > d drive now be easier?
> >
> > I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you that under
> > Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little disk-like
> > icon
> > and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has (C after
> > it,
> > and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all say the
> > Layout
> > is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank under File
> > System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says it is FAT32
> > File system.
> >
> > I have no idea if any of the additional information helps, but I guess the
> > question is -- can I simply reformt the drive somehow?
> >
> > Thanks!!
> >
> > Barbara
> > (PS: Sorry for taking so long to post a response. I had some serious
> > medical
> > problems I had to deal with and am now a bit better. I didn't want you to
> > think I just dropped out of our conversation.)
> > --
> > Barbara
> >
> >
> > "Dustin Harper" wrote:
> >
> >> It sounds like it may be reporting the low disk space on the recovery
> >> partition.
> >>
> >> Try making this change in the registry to disable the low disk space
> >> warning, since you know you have the space:
> >>
> >> Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
> >> Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\
> >> Policies\ Explorer.
> >> If it's not there, create a DWORD value and call it NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.
> >> Double-click on NoLowDiskSpaceChecks, and enter the value 1, and press
> >> OK.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Dustin Harper
> >>
> >> --
> >> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
> >> news:0338C661-2DF6-4555-BB06-...
> >> > Steve,
> >> >
> >> > I appreciate your explanation about the defrag on new computers. I
> >> > checked
> >> > task manager and didn't see anything (as far as I could tell), that
> >> > would
> >> > eat
> >> > up the memory.
> >> >
> >> > I just posted a longer synopsis of what I have done and what I found
> >> > above -
> >> > in response to Gerry's post. As you can see - maybe is physical disk
> >> > space
> >> > that is the culprit instead of RAM? In any case, I am in over my head
> >> > on
> >> > the
> >> > technical side of this problem and am glad you all are here to help.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks,
> >> >
> >> > Barbara
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Barbara
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > "Steve Urbach" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 12:30:01 -0700, Barbara
> >> >> <> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >My computer is brand new. I've had it for one month. Yes, I did run a
> >> >> >defrag,
> >> >> >and I went through the process to do a disk clean-up, (repeated this
> >> >> >process
> >> >> >again today).
> >> >> How long you have had a computer has NO (OK little) bearing on needing
> >> >> a defragment. Updates on a new system alone, will fragment the disk
> >> >> severely when hundreds of files are updated from the initial release.
> >> >> Add updating Adobe, Flash Quicktime and other "common" programs found
> >> >> on most users computers leaves a lot of debris. Using programs with
> >> >> local, sizable databases (offline news readers, lots of web browsing)
> >> >> will cause more.
> >> >> Sounds like a misbehaving Program (open task manager and see where
> >> >> your memory has gone). REBOOT. Many computers default to HIBERNATE,
> >> >> which does not clear memory leaks. Check that your "Virtual memory"
> >> >> has not been incorrectly configured. Lastly, there is no substitute
> >> >> for RAM, 1G or more of it.
>
>

Hi, Barbara.

I'm glad we're making some progress. ;<)

> I understood there were two 100GB hard-drives
> in this machine when I bought it. I just assumed since I saw the drive
> letter
> "D" that I had two drives.

One big problem is that we all (I plead Guilty, too!) use some words
ambiguously or carelessly. (English language can be SO precise - or SO
confusing!)

One word that is used in many different ways is "drive". Each computer may
use from one to several physical hard disk drives; to cut down on SOME of
the ambiguity, I often use "HD" to refer to a hard drive. Each HD can be
divided - by software - into several "partitions", each using a specific
portion of the HD surface. Each partition might look like a doughnut within
a doughnut, taking up a band of tracks on each platter of the physical disk.
The operating system (WinXP, Vista, Linux) assigns a "drive letter" to each
partition, which can be separately formatted (FAT32, NTFS) and managed as
though it were a separate drive. A HD can be "partitioned" into a single
partition - and many (most) of them are set up this way. In this case, the
"drive letter" still refers to the single partition, not to the whole HD.
The HD is usually referred to by number, starting with zero. IF you have
two HDs, Disk Management should show them - in the Graphical View - as Disk
0 and Disk 1, each displayed on a separate line, showing the partitions
("drives") on that particular disk.

Historically, PCs used floppy disks for several years before they got hard
disk drives, and there were no partitions on floppies. The first drive in
each computer was Drive A:; a few computers had a second floppy, Drive B:.
When hard drives first arrived, the operating systems reserved A: and B: for
floppies and assigned C: to THE hard drive. Later, we learned to divide a
HD into multiple partitions and to use multiple HDs in a single computer -
and even later, we started assigning "drive" letters to CD (and DVD) drives,
network drives, digital cameras, and all sorts of other devices.

The operating system (Vista) assigns drive letters during Setup, as it
installs the OS. Vista typically reserves C: for its own "boot volume";
this is usually but not always the first (only?) partition on the first
(only?) HD. Then it assigns other letters according to rules built into
Vista. The letter D: might be assigned to the next partition on the first
(only?) HD, or to a partition on another HD, or to a CD or other device
found during Setup. Other devices may be added later, and the user can
change most letter assignments by using Disk Management. Many of us
intentionally create multiple partitions so that we can install multiple
operating systems, or keep our applications (programs, like Word) and data
(like our letters, photos, etc.) in separate partitions for various reasons.

> I'll have to go back to all the paperwork and
> find what the heck I missed.

Yes. Your Drive D: might mean that you have a second HD. Or it might mean
that your one HD has been partitioned into at least two "drives". And you
will need to learn the significance of that Drive H:.

There's a lot more to be learned - but you've learned a lot already! More
than many computer users ever understand. ;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail in Vista Ultimate x64)

"Barbara" <> wrote in message
news:686B916B-130C-4964-A01C-...
> Hello RC!
>
> Thank you so much for all the information - and you were right to assume I
> knew nothing about all that. I've been doing a lot of guessing for a while
> now.
>
> First thing is you were right about the space on what is called the D:
> Drive. It does say:
> 237 dirs 34,103,296 BYTES
> 1869 files 12,062,061,174 BYTES free
>
> So, I do have some room to spare.
>
> The pain in my neck is now - I understood there were two 100GB hard-drives
> in this machine when I bought it. I just assumed since I saw the drive
> letter
> "D" that I had two drives. I'll have to go back to all the paperwork and
> find what the heck I missed.
>
> Also, since I just purchased this computer, I suppose I can take it back
> to
> the store and ask them to fix it - but, that doesn't mean I am not going
> to
> go into the help files and learn what it is I need them to do. I don't
> feel
> like I am technically buffed enough to try figuring this out on my own.
> Besides I am going to school and am now really behind on my homework. Good
> thing I still have my old computer.
>
> I really appreciate that you and everyone else has been there (here) to
> help
> me with this. Wish me luck!
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Barbara
>
>
> "R. C. White, MVP" wrote:
>
>> Hi, Barbara.
>>
>> > I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't come
>> > through.
>>
>> Yep. Both your messages arrived. ;<)
>>
>> > Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the command line
>> > and
>> > came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders GB34,103,296
>> > free.
>> > (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)
>>
>> First, a little HD 101...
>>
>> GB means GigaByte. A "byte" is 8 bits. A bit is the smallest piece of
>> info
>> a computer uses and a hard drive can store; 8 bits make one "byte", which
>> can represent one character, such as the letter "A" or the symbol "$".
>> Because the computer uses a binary system, rather than a decimal system,
>> most computer measurements deal in powers of 2, rather than in powers of
>> 10.
>> A KB (kilobyte) is 2^10 bytes, or 1,024 bytes. For shorthand, since
>> 1,024
>> is close to 1,000, and since often an approximation is "close enough",
>> users
>> often referred to 16,000 as "16KB" or "16K", for example, even though 16
>> KB
>> is really 16,384. As we started dealing with bigger numbers, the
>> discrepancies got bigger, too, but most experienced users recognized the
>> differences and mentally reconciled the numbers. A MegaByte is K * K, or
>> 1,024 * 1,024 = 1,048,576, not an even one million. So a 20 MB HD
>> actually
>> held almost 21 million bytes - but there were always a few thousand bytes
>> lost to bad sectors and disk overhead, so 20 MB was "close enough". As
>> disk
>> drive makers made even bigger drives, they passed the billion-byte
>> capacity
>> mark. They began to use GB or GigaByte to refer to 1,000 MB, even though
>> many computer users pointed out that GB really means K * MB, or 1,024 MB
>> or
>> 1,073,741,824, and that a drive that holds 20 billion bytes and is
>> probably
>> advertised as 20 GB, actually holds only about 18.626 GB (20,000,000,000
>> /
>> 1,073,741,824). In most cases, referring to GB as a billion bytes is
>> still
>> "close enough", but sometimes we have to be more precise.
>>
>> In your case, your 1869 files use 12,062,061,174 BYTES, or almost 12 GB,
>> not
>> 12,062,061,174 GB. These 1869 files are in 237 folders. A folder (or
>> Dir)
>> uses very little disk space, usually, since it is only an index to a
>> group
>> of files.
>>
>> Are you sure it said "GB34,103,296 free"? Or 34,103,296 BYTES free,
>> which
>> would be about 34 MB, not GB - a thousand-fold difference. Your 34 MB of
>> free space is the amount of storage that is not currently in use. In
>> other
>> words, you should be able to write nearly 34 MB more information to that
>> drive, which is about 1/30th of 1 GB. In today's world, 34 MB is not a
>> lot
>> of free space; 34 GB should provide some elbow room.
>>
>> > I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you that
>> > under
>> > Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little disk-like
>> > icon
>> > and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has (C after
>> > it,
>> > and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all say the
>> > Layout
>> > is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank under File
>> > System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says it is
>> > FAT32
>> > File system.
>>
>> Disk Management is one of the most useful utilities in Windows, in my
>> opinion. I've been using it often ever since it first appeared in
>> Windows
>> 2000. (It still irritates me that I can't set it to always start
>> full-screen and with the column headings adjusted to fit the data in
>> them,
>> but those are minor quibbles.) The Help file here is chock-full of
>> information that every computer user needs to know, although it is
>> organized
>> to be read like a reference, rather than a text, so we have to search for
>> the topics we want to learn about, rather than read a sequential
>> explanation. You can organize the default View to show you more about
>> YOUR
>> computer if the default does not fit it. The default shows the Volume
>> List
>> at the top and the Graphical View at the bottom; the divider between them
>> can be moved with your mouse, just like any other window. Both views
>> show
>> almost the same information, but organized differently. The graphical
>> view
>> also shows the physical disks, as well as the volumes (partitions and
>> logical drives) on each disk. The "Simple" and "Basic" labels are normal
>> for most users (including me). The File System should be NTFS (NT File
>> System) for all of Vista, except for any special volumes that HP uses.
>> The
>> Capacity and Free Space columns should match what other utilities (such
>> as
>> Explorer and Dir) are telling you.
>>
>> In your case, my guess is that you have a single disk; the Graphical View
>> should show it as Disk 0, divided into 3 primary partitions (boxes with a
>> dark blue bar over the top of each). The Volume List would show the 3
>> lines
>> you describe, one for each of those partitions. The first one has no
>> letter, probably because it is part of HP's OEM (Original Equipment
>> Manufacturer) drive organization; typically you would never need to
>> explore
>> this un-lettered and un-labeled partition. The second partition is your
>> Drive C: and is where all (or most) of the action should be in your
>> computer. This should hold your Windows Vista, plus all your
>> applications
>> and all your data - all of the 12 GB of "stuff" that you found.
>>
>> The Drive D: that you see is more of HP's system for organizing and
>> maintaining your computer; since I've never had an HP or worked on one
>> very
>> much, I have no idea what is here. But some of the HP-aware readers here
>> should be able to interpret that for you. My guess is that you could
>> delete
>> that whole partition and recover the space for your use - but my
>> understanding may be wrong; deleting the partition could make your
>> computer
>> unusable. :>( So wait until you really know what that Drive D: is all
>> about before you delete it.
>>
>>
>> I've probably told you more than you want to know (or what you already
>> know), Barbara, but in a newsgroup (or Communities), we never know who
>> may
>> be "reading over our shoulders" and might benefit from the fuller
>> explanation.
>>
>> Study Disk Management and its Help file at length, and find some other
>> references, too. A good understanding of hard disks and their management
>> will not just help you solve your current problem, but will be an
>> investment
>> that will pay dividends as long as you continue to use computers - which
>> just might be for the rest of your life!
>>
>> RC
>>
>> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
>> news:407BB4BA-777E-4289-AC42-...
>> > Hello Dustin, et al,
>> >
>> > I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't come
>> > through.
>> > Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the command line
>> > and
>> > came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders GB34,103,296
>> > free.
>> > (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)
>> >
>> > Also, it finally dawned on me that when I first got this computer, I
>> > transfered data from two of my older computers. I wonder if this is
>> > what
>> > caused the d drive recovery disk full message??
>> >
>> > Can I just reformat the d drive and start from scratch? I am not that
>> > technical and am really uncomfortable going into the registry. I'm not
>> > sure
>> > how to back up a registry or fix it if I mess it up. Wouldn't
>> > reformating
>> > the
>> > d drive now be easier?
>> >
>> > I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you that
>> > under
>> > Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little disk-like
>> > icon
>> > and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has (C after
>> > it,
>> > and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all say the
>> > Layout
>> > is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank under File
>> > System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says it is
>> > FAT32
>> > File system.
>> >
>> > I have no idea if any of the additional information helps, but I guess
>> > the
>> > question is -- can I simply reformt the drive somehow?
>> >
>> > Thanks!!
>> >
>> > Barbara
>> > (PS: Sorry for taking so long to post a response. I had some serious
>> > medical
>> > problems I had to deal with and am now a bit better. I didn't want you
>> > to
>> > think I just dropped out of our conversation.)
>> > --
>> > Barbara
>> >
>> >
>> > "Dustin Harper" wrote:
>> >
>> >> It sounds like it may be reporting the low disk space on the recovery
>> >> partition.
>> >>
>> >> Try making this change in the registry to disable the low disk space
>> >> warning, since you know you have the space:
>> >>
>> >> Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
>> >> Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\
>> >> Policies\ Explorer.
>> >> If it's not there, create a DWORD value and call it
>> >> NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.
>> >> Double-click on NoLowDiskSpaceChecks, and enter the value 1, and press
>> >> OK.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Dustin Harper
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
>> >> news:0338C661-2DF6-4555-BB06-...
>> >> > Steve,
>> >> >
>> >> > I appreciate your explanation about the defrag on new computers. I
>> >> > checked
>> >> > task manager and didn't see anything (as far as I could tell), that
>> >> > would
>> >> > eat
>> >> > up the memory.
>> >> >
>> >> > I just posted a longer synopsis of what I have done and what I found
>> >> > above -
>> >> > in response to Gerry's post. As you can see - maybe is physical
>> >> > disk
>> >> > space
>> >> > that is the culprit instead of RAM? In any case, I am in over my
>> >> > head
>> >> > on
>> >> > the
>> >> > technical side of this problem and am glad you all are here to
>> >> > help.
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks,
>> >> >
>> >> > Barbara
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > Barbara
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > "Steve Urbach" wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 12:30:01 -0700, Barbara
>> >> >> <> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >My computer is brand new. I've had it for one month. Yes, I did
>> >> >> >run a
>> >> >> >defrag,
>> >> >> >and I went through the process to do a disk clean-up, (repeated
>> >> >> >this
>> >> >> >process
>> >> >> >again today).
>> >> >> How long you have had a computer has NO (OK little) bearing on
>> >> >> needing
>> >> >> a defragment. Updates on a new system alone, will fragment the disk
>> >> >> severely when hundreds of files are updated from the initial
>> >> >> release.
>> >> >> Add updating Adobe, Flash Quicktime and other "common" programs
>> >> >> found
>> >> >> on most users computers leaves a lot of debris. Using programs with
>> >> >> local, sizable databases (offline news readers, lots of web
>> >> >> browsing)
>> >> >> will cause more.
>> >> >> Sounds like a misbehaving Program (open task manager and see where
>> >> >> your memory has gone). REBOOT. Many computers default to HIBERNATE,
>> >> >> which does not clear memory leaks. Check that your "Virtual memory"
>> >> >> has not been incorrectly configured. Lastly, there is no substitute
>> >> >> for RAM, 1G or more of it.

Barbara

One small detail to add to an excellent explanation by RC. Disk
Management is found by selecting Start, Settings, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management.

--


Hope this helps.

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

"R. C. White, MVP" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> Hi, Barbara.
>
> I'm glad we're making some progress. ;<)
>
>> I understood there were two 100GB hard-drives
>> in this machine when I bought it. I just assumed since I saw the
>> drive letter
>> "D" that I had two drives.
>
> One big problem is that we all (I plead Guilty, too!) use some
> words ambiguously or carelessly. (English language can be SO
> precise - or SO confusing!)
>
> One word that is used in many different ways is "drive". Each
> computer may use from one to several physical hard disk drives; to
> cut down on SOME of the ambiguity, I often use "HD" to refer to a
> hard drive. Each HD can be divided - by software - into several
> "partitions", each using a specific portion of the HD surface.
> Each partition might look like a doughnut within a doughnut,
> taking up a band of tracks on each platter of the physical disk.
> The operating system (WinXP, Vista, Linux) assigns a "drive
> letter" to each partition, which can be separately formatted
> (FAT32, NTFS) and managed as though it were a separate drive. A
> HD can be "partitioned" into a single partition - and many (most)
> of them are set up this way. In this case, the "drive letter"
> still refers to the single partition, not to the whole HD. The HD
> is usually referred to by number, starting with zero. IF you have
> two HDs, Disk Management should show them - in the Graphical
> View - as Disk 0 and Disk 1, each displayed on a separate line,
> showing the partitions ("drives") on that particular disk.
>
> Historically, PCs used floppy disks for several years before they
> got hard disk drives, and there were no partitions on floppies.
> The first drive in each computer was Drive A:; a few computers had
> a second floppy, Drive B:. When hard drives first arrived, the
> operating systems reserved A: and B: for floppies and assigned C:
> to THE hard drive. Later, we learned to divide a HD into multiple
> partitions and to use multiple HDs in a single computer - and even
> later, we started assigning "drive" letters to CD (and DVD)
> drives, network drives, digital cameras, and all sorts of other
> devices.
>
> The operating system (Vista) assigns drive letters during Setup,
> as it installs the OS. Vista typically reserves C: for its own
> "boot volume"; this is usually but not always the first (only?)
> partition on the first (only?) HD. Then it assigns other letters
> according to rules built into Vista. The letter D: might be
> assigned to the next partition on the first (only?) HD, or to a
> partition on another HD, or to a CD or other device found during
> Setup. Other devices may be added later, and the user can change
> most letter assignments by using Disk Management. Many of us
> intentionally create multiple partitions so that we can install
> multiple operating systems, or keep our applications (programs,
> like Word) and data (like our letters, photos, etc.) in separate
> partitions for various reasons.
>
>> I'll have to go back to all the paperwork and
>> find what the heck I missed.
>
> Yes. Your Drive D: might mean that you have a second HD. Or it
> might mean that your one HD has been partitioned into at least two
> "drives". And you will need to learn the significance of that
> Drive H:.
>
> There's a lot more to be learned - but you've learned a lot
> already! More than many computer users ever understand. ;<)
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
>
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Mail in Vista Ultimate x64)
>
> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
> news:686B916B-130C-4964-A01C-...
>> Hello RC!
>>
>> Thank you so much for all the information - and you were right to
>> assume I
>> knew nothing about all that. I've been doing a lot of guessing
>> for a while
>> now.
>>
>> First thing is you were right about the space on what is called
>> the D:
>> Drive. It does say:
>> 237 dirs 34,103,296 BYTES
>> 1869 files 12,062,061,174 BYTES free
>>
>> So, I do have some room to spare.
>>
>> The pain in my neck is now - I understood there were two 100GB
>> hard-drives
>> in this machine when I bought it. I just assumed since I saw the
>> drive letter
>> "D" that I had two drives. I'll have to go back to all the
>> paperwork and
>> find what the heck I missed.
>>
>> Also, since I just purchased this computer, I suppose I can take
>> it back to
>> the store and ask them to fix it - but, that doesn't mean I am
>> not going to
>> go into the help files and learn what it is I need them to do. I
>> don't feel
>> like I am technically buffed enough to try figuring this out on
>> my own.
>> Besides I am going to school and am now really behind on my
>> homework. Good
>> thing I still have my old computer.
>>
>> I really appreciate that you and everyone else has been there
>> (here) to help
>> me with this. Wish me luck!
>>
>> Thanks again,
>>
>> Barbara
>>
>>
>> "R. C. White, MVP" wrote:
>>
>>> Hi, Barbara.
>>>
>>> > I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't
>>> > come through.
>>>
>>> Yep. Both your messages arrived. ;<)
>>>
>>> > Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the
>>> > command line
>>> > and
>>> > came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders
>>> > GB34,103,296
>>> > free.
>>> > (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)
>>>
>>> First, a little HD 101...
>>>
>>> GB means GigaByte. A "byte" is 8 bits. A bit is the smallest
>>> piece of info
>>> a computer uses and a hard drive can store; 8 bits make one
>>> "byte", which
>>> can represent one character, such as the letter "A" or the
>>> symbol "$".
>>> Because the computer uses a binary system, rather than a decimal
>>> system,
>>> most computer measurements deal in powers of 2, rather than in
>>> powers of 10.
>>> A KB (kilobyte) is 2^10 bytes, or 1,024 bytes. For shorthand,
>>> since 1,024
>>> is close to 1,000, and since often an approximation is "close
>>> enough", users
>>> often referred to 16,000 as "16KB" or "16K", for example, even
>>> though 16 KB
>>> is really 16,384. As we started dealing with bigger numbers,
>>> the
>>> discrepancies got bigger, too, but most experienced users
>>> recognized the
>>> differences and mentally reconciled the numbers. A MegaByte is
>>> K * K, or
>>> 1,024 * 1,024 = 1,048,576, not an even one million. So a 20 MB
>>> HD actually
>>> held almost 21 million bytes - but there were always a few
>>> thousand bytes
>>> lost to bad sectors and disk overhead, so 20 MB was "close
>>> enough". As disk
>>> drive makers made even bigger drives, they passed the
>>> billion-byte capacity
>>> mark. They began to use GB or GigaByte to refer to 1,000 MB,
>>> even though
>>> many computer users pointed out that GB really means K * MB, or
>>> 1,024 MB or
>>> 1,073,741,824, and that a drive that holds 20 billion bytes and
>>> is probably
>>> advertised as 20 GB, actually holds only about 18.626 GB
>>> (20,000,000,000 /
>>> 1,073,741,824). In most cases, referring to GB as a billion
>>> bytes is still
>>> "close enough", but sometimes we have to be more precise.
>>>
>>> In your case, your 1869 files use 12,062,061,174 BYTES, or
>>> almost 12 GB, not
>>> 12,062,061,174 GB. These 1869 files are in 237 folders. A
>>> folder (or Dir)
>>> uses very little disk space, usually, since it is only an index
>>> to a group
>>> of files.
>>>
>>> Are you sure it said "GB34,103,296 free"? Or 34,103,296 BYTES
>>> free, which
>>> would be about 34 MB, not GB - a thousand-fold difference. Your
>>> 34 MB of
>>> free space is the amount of storage that is not currently in
>>> use. In other
>>> words, you should be able to write nearly 34 MB more information
>>> to that
>>> drive, which is about 1/30th of 1 GB. In today's world, 34 MB
>>> is not a lot
>>> of free space; 34 GB should provide some elbow room.
>>>
>>> > I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you
>>> > that under
>>> > Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little
>>> > disk-like
>>> > icon
>>> > and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has
>>> > (C after
>>> > it,
>>> > and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all
>>> > say the
>>> > Layout
>>> > is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank
>>> > under File
>>> > System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says
>>> > it is FAT32
>>> > File system.
>>>
>>> Disk Management is one of the most useful utilities in Windows,
>>> in my
>>> opinion. I've been using it often ever since it first appeared
>>> in Windows
>>> 2000. (It still irritates me that I can't set it to always
>>> start
>>> full-screen and with the column headings adjusted to fit the
>>> data in them,
>>> but those are minor quibbles.) The Help file here is chock-full
>>> of
>>> information that every computer user needs to know, although it
>>> is organized
>>> to be read like a reference, rather than a text, so we have to
>>> search for
>>> the topics we want to learn about, rather than read a sequential
>>> explanation. You can organize the default View to show you more
>>> about YOUR
>>> computer if the default does not fit it. The default shows the
>>> Volume List
>>> at the top and the Graphical View at the bottom; the divider
>>> between them
>>> can be moved with your mouse, just like any other window. Both
>>> views show
>>> almost the same information, but organized differently. The
>>> graphical view
>>> also shows the physical disks, as well as the volumes
>>> (partitions and
>>> logical drives) on each disk. The "Simple" and "Basic" labels
>>> are normal
>>> for most users (including me). The File System should be NTFS
>>> (NT File
>>> System) for all of Vista, except for any special volumes that HP
>>> uses. The
>>> Capacity and Free Space columns should match what other
>>> utilities (such as
>>> Explorer and Dir) are telling you.
>>>
>>> In your case, my guess is that you have a single disk; the
>>> Graphical View
>>> should show it as Disk 0, divided into 3 primary partitions
>>> (boxes with a
>>> dark blue bar over the top of each). The Volume List would show
>>> the 3 lines
>>> you describe, one for each of those partitions. The first one
>>> has no
>>> letter, probably because it is part of HP's OEM (Original
>>> Equipment
>>> Manufacturer) drive organization; typically you would never need
>>> to explore
>>> this un-lettered and un-labeled partition. The second partition
>>> is your
>>> Drive C: and is where all (or most) of the action should be in
>>> your
>>> computer. This should hold your Windows Vista, plus all your
>>> applications
>>> and all your data - all of the 12 GB of "stuff" that you found.
>>>
>>> The Drive D: that you see is more of HP's system for organizing
>>> and
>>> maintaining your computer; since I've never had an HP or worked
>>> on one very
>>> much, I have no idea what is here. But some of the HP-aware
>>> readers here
>>> should be able to interpret that for you. My guess is that you
>>> could delete
>>> that whole partition and recover the space for your use - but my
>>> understanding may be wrong; deleting the partition could make
>>> your computer
>>> unusable. :>( So wait until you really know what that Drive D:
>>> is all
>>> about before you delete it.
>>>
>>>
>>> I've probably told you more than you want to know (or what you
>>> already
>>> know), Barbara, but in a newsgroup (or Communities), we never
>>> know who may
>>> be "reading over our shoulders" and might benefit from the
>>> fuller
>>> explanation.
>>>
>>> Study Disk Management and its Help file at length, and find some
>>> other
>>> references, too. A good understanding of hard disks and their
>>> management
>>> will not just help you solve your current problem, but will be
>>> an investment
>>> that will pay dividends as long as you continue to use
>>> computers - which
>>> just might be for the rest of your life!
>>>
>>> RC
>>>
>>> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
>>> news:407BB4BA-777E-4289-AC42-...
>>> > Hello Dustin, et al,
>>> >
>>> > I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't
>>> > come through.
>>> > Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the
>>> > command line
>>> > and
>>> > came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders
>>> > GB34,103,296
>>> > free.
>>> > (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)
>>> >
>>> > Also, it finally dawned on me that when I first got this
>>> > computer, I
>>> > transfered data from two of my older computers. I wonder if
>>> > this is what
>>> > caused the d drive recovery disk full message??
>>> >
>>> > Can I just reformat the d drive and start from scratch? I am
>>> > not that
>>> > technical and am really uncomfortable going into the registry.
>>> > I'm not
>>> > sure
>>> > how to back up a registry or fix it if I mess it up. Wouldn't
>>> > reformating
>>> > the
>>> > d drive now be easier?
>>> >
>>> > I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you
>>> > that under
>>> > Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little
>>> > disk-like
>>> > icon
>>> > and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has
>>> > (C after
>>> > it,
>>> > and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all
>>> > say the
>>> > Layout
>>> > is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank
>>> > under File
>>> > System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says
>>> > it is FAT32
>>> > File system.
>>> >
>>> > I have no idea if any of the additional information helps, but
>>> > I guess the
>>> > question is -- can I simply reformt the drive somehow?
>>> >
>>> > Thanks!!
>>> >
>>> > Barbara
>>> > (PS: Sorry for taking so long to post a response. I had some
>>> > serious
>>> > medical
>>> > problems I had to deal with and am now a bit better. I didn't
>>> > want you to
>>> > think I just dropped out of our conversation.)
>>> > --
>>> > Barbara
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > "Dustin Harper" wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> It sounds like it may be reporting the low disk space on the
>>> >> recovery
>>> >> partition.
>>> >>
>>> >> Try making this change in the registry to disable the low
>>> >> disk space
>>> >> warning, since you know you have the space:
>>> >>
>>> >> Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
>>> >> Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\
>>> >> CurrentVersion\
>>> >> Policies\ Explorer.
>>> >> If it's not there, create a DWORD value and call it
>>> >> NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.
>>> >> Double-click on NoLowDiskSpaceChecks, and enter the value 1,
>>> >> and press
>>> >> OK.
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >> Dustin Harper
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >> "Barbara" <> wrote in
>>> >> message
>>> >> news:0338C661-2DF6-4555-BB06-...
>>> >> > Steve,
>>> >> >
>>> >> > I appreciate your explanation about the defrag on new
>>> >> > computers. I
>>> >> > checked
>>> >> > task manager and didn't see anything (as far as I could
>>> >> > tell), that
>>> >> > would
>>> >> > eat
>>> >> > up the memory.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > I just posted a longer synopsis of what I have done and
>>> >> > what I found
>>> >> > above -
>>> >> > in response to Gerry's post. As you can see - maybe is
>>> >> > physical disk
>>> >> > space
>>> >> > that is the culprit instead of RAM? In any case, I am in
>>> >> > over my head
>>> >> > on
>>> >> > the
>>> >> > technical side of this problem and am glad you all are
>>> >> > here to help.
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Thanks,
>>> >> >
>>> >> > Barbara
>>> >> >
>>> >> > --
>>> >> > Barbara
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> > "Steve Urbach" wrote:
>>> >> >
>>> >> >> On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 12:30:01 -0700, Barbara
>>> >> >> <> wrote:
>>> >> >>
>>> >> >> >My computer is brand new. I've had it for one month. Yes,
>>> >> >> >I did run a
>>> >> >> >defrag,
>>> >> >> >and I went through the process to do a disk clean-up,
>>> >> >> >(repeated this
>>> >> >> >process
>>> >> >> >again today).
>>> >> >> How long you have had a computer has NO (OK little)
>>> >> >> bearing on needing
>>> >> >> a defragment. Updates on a new system alone, will fragment
>>> >> >> the disk
>>> >> >> severely when hundreds of files are updated from the
>>> >> >> initial release.
>>> >> >> Add updating Adobe, Flash Quicktime and other "common"
>>> >> >> programs found
>>> >> >> on most users computers leaves a lot of debris. Using
>>> >> >> programs with
>>> >> >> local, sizable databases (offline news readers, lots of
>>> >> >> web browsing)
>>> >> >> will cause more.
>>> >> >> Sounds like a misbehaving Program (open task manager and
>>> >> >> see where
>>> >> >> your memory has gone). REBOOT. Many computers default to
>>> >> >> HIBERNATE,
>>> >> >> which does not clear memory leaks. Check that your
>>> >> >> "Virtual memory"
>>> >> >> has not been incorrectly configured. Lastly, there is no
>>> >> >> substitute
>>> >> >> for RAM, 1G or more of it.
>

Hi Gerry,

Thanks for the additional info. I am really glad all of you are here and so
helpful. I hope I learn enough to be able to return the favor. Seriously!

Oh, and...I assume the disk management area is where I'll find out how to
remove or clean up what is the "D" drive on this machine so I can get this
little window to quit poping up at me every other minute to tell me the D
drive is low on space, etc.? Based on everything we have all talked about,
all I should have to do is delete whatever is there...right? Except the
directories that are there "look" like they are empty but, they must be full
of hidden files. (those files I saw when I did the "dir" command in the
command window right?)

I'm just afraid I'll erase the wrong thing. :-(

Thanks,

Barbara

--
Barbara


"Gerry Cornell" wrote:

> Barbara
>
> One small detail to add to an excellent explanation by RC. Disk
> Management is found by selecting Start, Settings, Control Panel,
> Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management.
>
> --
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> "R. C. White, MVP" <> wrote in message
> news:%...
> > Hi, Barbara.
> >
> > I'm glad we're making some progress. ;<)
> >
> >> I understood there were two 100GB hard-drives
> >> in this machine when I bought it. I just assumed since I saw the
> >> drive letter
> >> "D" that I had two drives.
> >
> > One big problem is that we all (I plead Guilty, too!) use some
> > words ambiguously or carelessly. (English language can be SO
> > precise - or SO confusing!)
> >
> > One word that is used in many different ways is "drive". Each
> > computer may use from one to several physical hard disk drives; to
> > cut down on SOME of the ambiguity, I often use "HD" to refer to a
> > hard drive. Each HD can be divided - by software - into several
> > "partitions", each using a specific portion of the HD surface.
> > Each partition might look like a doughnut within a doughnut,
> > taking up a band of tracks on each platter of the physical disk.
> > The operating system (WinXP, Vista, Linux) assigns a "drive
> > letter" to each partition, which can be separately formatted
> > (FAT32, NTFS) and managed as though it were a separate drive. A
> > HD can be "partitioned" into a single partition - and many (most)
> > of them are set up this way. In this case, the "drive letter"
> > still refers to the single partition, not to the whole HD. The HD
> > is usually referred to by number, starting with zero. IF you have
> > two HDs, Disk Management should show them - in the Graphical
> > View - as Disk 0 and Disk 1, each displayed on a separate line,
> > showing the partitions ("drives") on that particular disk.
> >
> > Historically, PCs used floppy disks for several years before they
> > got hard disk drives, and there were no partitions on floppies.
> > The first drive in each computer was Drive A:; a few computers had
> > a second floppy, Drive B:. When hard drives first arrived, the
> > operating systems reserved A: and B: for floppies and assigned C:
> > to THE hard drive. Later, we learned to divide a HD into multiple
> > partitions and to use multiple HDs in a single computer - and even
> > later, we started assigning "drive" letters to CD (and DVD)
> > drives, network drives, digital cameras, and all sorts of other
> > devices.
> >
> > The operating system (Vista) assigns drive letters during Setup,
> > as it installs the OS. Vista typically reserves C: for its own
> > "boot volume"; this is usually but not always the first (only?)
> > partition on the first (only?) HD. Then it assigns other letters
> > according to rules built into Vista. The letter D: might be
> > assigned to the next partition on the first (only?) HD, or to a
> > partition on another HD, or to a CD or other device found during
> > Setup. Other devices may be added later, and the user can change
> > most letter assignments by using Disk Management. Many of us
> > intentionally create multiple partitions so that we can install
> > multiple operating systems, or keep our applications (programs,
> > like Word) and data (like our letters, photos, etc.) in separate
> > partitions for various reasons.
> >
> >> I'll have to go back to all the paperwork and
> >> find what the heck I missed.
> >
> > Yes. Your Drive D: might mean that you have a second HD. Or it
> > might mean that your one HD has been partitioned into at least two
> > "drives". And you will need to learn the significance of that
> > Drive H:.
> >
> > There's a lot more to be learned - but you've learned a lot
> > already! More than many computer users ever understand. ;<)
> >
> > RC
> > --
> > R. C. White, CPA
> > San Marcos, TX
> >
> > Microsoft Windows MVP
> > (Running Windows Mail in Vista Ultimate x64)
> >
> > "Barbara" <> wrote in message
> > news:686B916B-130C-4964-A01C-...
> >> Hello RC!
> >>
> >> Thank you so much for all the information - and you were right to
> >> assume I
> >> knew nothing about all that. I've been doing a lot of guessing
> >> for a while
> >> now.
> >>
> >> First thing is you were right about the space on what is called
> >> the D:
> >> Drive. It does say:
> >> 237 dirs 34,103,296 BYTES
> >> 1869 files 12,062,061,174 BYTES free
> >>
> >> So, I do have some room to spare.
> >>
> >> The pain in my neck is now - I understood there were two 100GB
> >> hard-drives
> >> in this machine when I bought it. I just assumed since I saw the
> >> drive letter
> >> "D" that I had two drives. I'll have to go back to all the
> >> paperwork and
> >> find what the heck I missed.
> >>
> >> Also, since I just purchased this computer, I suppose I can take
> >> it back to
> >> the store and ask them to fix it - but, that doesn't mean I am
> >> not going to
> >> go into the help files and learn what it is I need them to do. I
> >> don't feel
> >> like I am technically buffed enough to try figuring this out on
> >> my own.
> >> Besides I am going to school and am now really behind on my
> >> homework. Good
> >> thing I still have my old computer.
> >>
> >> I really appreciate that you and everyone else has been there
> >> (here) to help
> >> me with this. Wish me luck!
> >>
> >> Thanks again,
> >>
> >> Barbara
> >>
> >>
> >> "R. C. White, MVP" wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi, Barbara.
> >>>
> >>> > I thought I posted a response, but it looks like it didn't
> >>> > come through.
> >>>
> >>> Yep. Both your messages arrived. ;<)
> >>>
> >>> > Anyway, I check the directories on the d drive through the
> >>> > command line
> >>> > and
> >>> > came up with 1869 files GB12,062,061,174 and 237 folders
> >>> > GB34,103,296
> >>> > free.
> >>> > (I'm not sure what the "free" was about)
> >>>
> >>> First, a little HD 101...
> >>>
> >>> GB means GigaByte. A "byte" is 8 bits. A bit is the smallest
> >>> piece of info
> >>> a computer uses and a hard drive can store; 8 bits make one
> >>> "byte", which
> >>> can represent one character, such as the letter "A" or the
> >>> symbol "$".
> >>> Because the computer uses a binary system, rather than a decimal
> >>> system,
> >>> most computer measurements deal in powers of 2, rather than in
> >>> powers of 10.
> >>> A KB (kilobyte) is 2^10 bytes, or 1,024 bytes. For shorthand,
> >>> since 1,024
> >>> is close to 1,000, and since often an approximation is "close
> >>> enough", users
> >>> often referred to 16,000 as "16KB" or "16K", for example, even
> >>> though 16 KB
> >>> is really 16,384. As we started dealing with bigger numbers,
> >>> the
> >>> discrepancies got bigger, too, but most experienced users
> >>> recognized the
> >>> differences and mentally reconciled the numbers. A MegaByte is
> >>> K * K, or
> >>> 1,024 * 1,024 = 1,048,576, not an even one million. So a 20 MB
> >>> HD actually
> >>> held almost 21 million bytes - but there were always a few
> >>> thousand bytes
> >>> lost to bad sectors and disk overhead, so 20 MB was "close
> >>> enough". As disk
> >>> drive makers made even bigger drives, they passed the
> >>> billion-byte capacity
> >>> mark. They began to use GB or GigaByte to refer to 1,000 MB,
> >>> even though
> >>> many computer users pointed out that GB really means K * MB, or
> >>> 1,024 MB or
> >>> 1,073,741,824, and that a drive that holds 20 billion bytes and
> >>> is probably
> >>> advertised as 20 GB, actually holds only about 18.626 GB
> >>> (20,000,000,000 /
> >>> 1,073,741,824). In most cases, referring to GB as a billion
> >>> bytes is still
> >>> "close enough", but sometimes we have to be more precise.
> >>>
> >>> In your case, your 1869 files use 12,062,061,174 BYTES, or
> >>> almost 12 GB, not
> >>> 12,062,061,174 GB. These 1869 files are in 237 folders. A
> >>> folder (or Dir)
> >>> uses very little disk space, usually, since it is only an index
> >>> to a group
> >>> of files.
> >>>
> >>> Are you sure it said "GB34,103,296 free"? Or 34,103,296 BYTES
> >>> free, which
> >>> would be about 34 MB, not GB - a thousand-fold difference. Your
> >>> 34 MB of
> >>> free space is the amount of storage that is not currently in
> >>> use. In other
> >>> words, you should be able to write nearly 34 MB more information
> >>> to that
> >>> drive, which is about 1/30th of 1 GB. In today's world, 34 MB
> >>> is not a lot
> >>> of free space; 34 GB should provide some elbow room.
> >>>
> >>> > I checked the computer management again and wanted to tell you
> >>> > that under
> >>> > Volume, there are three rows. The first one just has a little
> >>> > disk-like
> >>> > icon
> >>> > and nothing after it, the next one has the same icon and has
> >>> > (C after
> >>> > it,
> >>> > and the last one has the icon, and has HP_RECOVERY D: They all
> >>> > say the
> >>> > Layout
> >>> > is "Simple", the Type is "Basic" but the blank row is blank
> >>> > under File
> >>> > System, while the (C says NTFS AND THE HP_RECOVERY (D says
> >>> > it is FAT32
> >>> > File system.
> >>>
> >>> Disk Management is one of the most useful utilities in Windows,
> >>> in my
> >>> opinion. I've been using it often ever since it first appeared
> >>> in Windows
> >>> 2000. (It still irritates me that I can't set it to always
> >>> start
> >>> full-screen and with the column headings adjusted to fit the
> >>> data in them,
> >>> but those are minor quibbles.) The Help file here is chock-full
> >>> of
> >>> information that every computer user needs to know, although it
> >>> is organized
> >>> to be read like a reference, rather than a text, so we have to
> >>> search for
> >>> the topics we want to learn about, rather than read a sequential
> >>> explanation. You can organize the default View to show you more
> >>> about YOUR
> >>> computer if the default does not fit it. The default shows the
> >>> Volume List
> >>> at the top and the Graphical View at the bottom; the divider
> >>> between them
> >>> can be moved with your mouse, just like any other window. Both
> >>> views show
> >>> almost the same information, but organized differently. The
> >>> graphical view
> >>> also shows the physical disks, as well as the volumes
> >>> (partitions and
> >>> logical drives) on each disk. The "Simple" and "Basic" labels
> >>> are normal
> >>> for most users (including me). The File System should be NTFS
> >>> (NT File
> >>> System) for all of Vista, except for any special volumes that HP
> >>> uses. The
> >>> Capacity and Free Space columns should match what other
> >>> utilities (such as
> >>> Explorer and Dir) are telling you.
> >>>
> >>> In your case, my guess is that you have a single disk; the
> >>> Graphical View
> >>> should show it as Disk 0, divided into 3 primary partitions
> >>> (boxes with a
> >>> dark blue bar over the top of each). The Volume List would show
> >>> the 3 lines
> >>> you describe, one for each of those partitions. The first one
> >>> has no
> >>> letter, probably because it is part of HP's OEM (Original
> >>> Equipment
> >>> Manufacturer) drive organization; typically you would never need
> >>> to explore
> >>> this un-lettered and un-labeled partition. The second partition
> >>> is your
> >>> Drive C: and is where all (or most) of the action should be in
> >>> your
> >>> computer. This should hold your Windows Vista, plus all your
> >>> applications
> >>> and all your data - all of the 12 GB of "stuff" that you found.
> >>>
> >>> The Drive D: that you see is more of HP's system for organizing
> >>> and
> >>> maintaining your computer; since I've never had an HP or worked

Barbara

Low on disk space messages are usually because the pagefile maximum
is set too low. Right click on the Computer icon on your Desktop and
select Properties, Advanced System Settings, Advanced, Performance
Settings, Advanced, Change. Is your system set to Automatically
manage the pagefile or have you set a custom pagefile minimum /
maximum? What maximum has been set?

--


Hope this helps.

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


"Barbara" <> wrote in message
newsAF6E4E2-1E60-4673-8CCF-...
>
> Hi Gerry,
>
> Thanks for the additional info. I am really glad all of you are
> here and so
> helpful. I hope I learn enough to be able to return the favor.
> Seriously!
>
> Oh, and...I assume the disk management area is where I'll find out
> how to
> remove or clean up what is the "D" drive on this machine so I can
> get this
> little window to quit poping up at me every other minute to tell
> me the D
> drive is low on space, etc.? Based on everything we have all
> talked about,
> all I should have to do is delete whatever is there...right?
> Except the
> directories that are there "look" like they are empty but, they
> must be full
> of hidden files. (those files I saw when I did the "dir" command
> in the
> command window right?)
>
> I'm just afraid I'll erase the wrong thing. :-(
>
> Thanks,
>
> Barbara
>
> --
> Barbara
>
>

Hello Gerry,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I am in school and am swamped with
homework. I reset the configuration so windows would automatically manage the
pagefile. Then, I just deleted the files that were there. (they didn't make
any sense to me, but that doesn't mean a lot) I have clicked on the clean up
buttons and have run defrag a couple of times. I now have 1.05GB of free
space out of 10.2GB. I really do not see anything on the drive. Do you know
why it shows that the space is used? Are the files hidden? Did I mess things
up by deleting the files I could see?

Thanks, again -

Barbara

--
Barbara


"Gerry Cornell" wrote:

> Barbara
>
> Low on disk space messages are usually because the pagefile maximum
> is set too low. Right click on the Computer icon on your Desktop and
> select Properties, Advanced System Settings, Advanced, Performance
> Settings, Advanced, Change. Is your system set to Automatically
> manage the pagefile or have you set a custom pagefile minimum /
> maximum? What maximum has been set?
>
> --
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
> "Barbara" <> wrote in message
> newsAF6E4E2-1E60-4673-8CCF-...
> >
> > Hi Gerry,
> >
> > Thanks for the additional info. I am really glad all of you are
> > here and so
> > helpful. I hope I learn enough to be able to return the favor.
> > Seriously!
> >
> > Oh, and...I assume the disk management area is where I'll find out
> > how to
> > remove or clean up what is the "D" drive on this machine so I can
> > get this
> > little window to quit poping up at me every other minute to tell
> > me the D
> > drive is low on space, etc.? Based on everything we have all
> > talked about,
> > all I should have to do is delete whatever is there...right?
> > Except the
> > directories that are there "look" like they are empty but, they
> > must be full
> > of hidden files. (those files I saw when I did the "dir" command
> > in the
> > command window right?)
> >
> > I'm just afraid I'll erase the wrong thing. :-(
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Barbara
> >
> > --
> > Barbara
> >
> >
>
>