What are the large fluctuations in drive free space?

After an upgrade from XP to Vista, the "free space" on my 80 GB hard drive
fluctuates back and forth between 36 GB and 42 GB, having hit both the
higher and lower numbers several times. Using Windows Explorer and TreeSize
I don't see where the extra material is, but both tools are denied access to
a few folders such as System Volume Information.

Is the 6 GB swing due to changes in size of Restore Points or some other
expected Windows function? 6 GB of restore information is more than I would
have predicted for the 24.6 GB of files that TreeSize reports.

"Mickey Segal" <not_monitored@example.com> wrote in message
news:OWg$WshSHHA.1228@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> After an upgrade from XP to Vista, the "free space" on my 80 GB hard drive
> fluctuates back and forth between 36 GB and 42 GB, having hit both the
> higher and lower numbers several times. Using Windows Explorer and
> TreeSize I don't see where the extra material is, but both tools are
> denied access to a few folders such as System Volume Information.
>
> Is the 6 GB swing due to changes in size of Restore Points or some other
> expected Windows function? 6 GB of restore information is more than I
> would have predicted for the 24.6 GB of files that TreeSize reports.
>

It could be partly System restore,part page file if not set to a specific
size and part hiberfil.sys which is the file created by Vista's power
management scheme.

--
Jim

"JimR" <jrap107@msn.com> wrote in message
news:8D9A762A-EB05-4E2C-9EED-0A41C3199DAD@microsoft.com...
> It could be partly System restore,part page file if not set to a specific
> size and part hiberfil.sys which is the file created by Vista's power
> management scheme.

How can I check how big these files are?

I don't see a setting to control the hard drive space devoted to system
restore, as one could do in Windows XP.

My paging file is set to 1024 MB, but I haven't been changing it.

I hadn't turned on hibernation when the computer was in Windows XP and
hibernation seems to be a component of sleep in Vista, so I'm not sure which
settings are involved.

To see how much space restore points are using, see our blog post at
http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/arc...ows-vista.aspx.

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Want to learn more about Windows file and storage technologies? Visit our
team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/default.aspx.



"Mickey Segal" <not_monitored@example.com> wrote in message
news:u7zLWpiSHHA.2188@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> "JimR" <jrap107@msn.com> wrote in message
> news:8D9A762A-EB05-4E2C-9EED-0A41C3199DAD@microsoft.com...
>> It could be partly System restore,part page file if not set to a specific
>> size and part hiberfil.sys which is the file created by Vista's power
>> management scheme.
>
> How can I check how big these files are?
>
> I don't see a setting to control the hard drive space devoted to system
> restore, as one could do in Windows XP.
>
> My paging file is set to 1024 MB, but I haven't been changing it.
>
> I hadn't turned on hibernation when the computer was in Windows XP and
> hibernation seems to be a component of sleep in Vista, so I'm not sure
> which settings are involved.
>

Using vssadmin showed that 12 GB was devoted to backups. Early after
installation I was able to see some description of the contents of System
Volume Information. There was a 12 GB file and an 8 GB file. I don't
remember if I did something special to see this or if it just no longer
works. It seems like the 12 GB has been there consistently and the rest
seems to come and go, but I don't know what the rest is.

"Jill Zoeller [MSFT]" <jillz@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:uiJAutjSHHA.2124@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> To see how much space restore points are using, see our blog post at
> http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/arc...ows-vista.aspx.