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Windows reports incorrect space
“My 80GB C drive just saves 50GB files, but Windows Explorer reports only 5GB free space is left now. Where is my extra 25GB capacity? I don’t know what causes this error and the only solution I have found is to backup all important files, and then reinstall Windows. Why Windows reports incorrect free space? Is there any better solution?”.
This is a frequently asked question, and we will give explanations in this post.
Why Windows Reports Incorrect Space
1.Page file and hibernation file take up some space
Space occupied by page file is nearly the same as the amount of your RAM. For example, if your computer has 8GB RAM, the page file may take up 8GB space. In addition, the hibernation file may occupy the same space, too. That is to say about 16GB space will be occupied. Nevertheless, these files are always hidden in C drive by Windows so that users often neglect to add the space occupied by these files to total file size. Actually, under this situation, Windows doesn’t report incorrect space.
Fortunately, both files can be deleted via disabling the 2 features, and detailed steps will be introduced later. Nevertheless, we do not recommend doing it unless you badly need this part of space, because it may influence computer performance to come extent.
2.Windows Restore Points Occupy Some Space
Restore Points are effectively mini backups of the operating system since it can help us restore system to a specified state. Nevertheless, these points will eat much disk space over time, and this part of space similarly will not be included to total file size, making users mistakenly think Windows reports incorrect space. You can also free up the space by turning off system protection and deleting all Windows Restore Points or reducing space allocated to this feature. Steps are also introduced later.
3.File System Errors
When there is something wrong with file system, Windows may report wrong space. To fix this error, you can take the following operations:
Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard, launch the program to get its main interface, select the partition where incorrect space is reported, choose “Check File System”, and check the option “Check & fix detected errors” to start checking and fixing errors.
If this doesn’t work, try this solution (take Windows 7 for example): right click C drive in Windows Explorer, choose Properties, select Check Now under Tools menu, and select Automatically Fix File System Errors. Tip: users need to restart computer to complete the operation.
Steps to delete page file, hibernation file, and Windows restore points can be found from the post Hard Drive Is Missing? Take These Ways to Find It out.
No matter Windows reports incorrect space or not, we can find corresponding solutions. But what if C drive or certain partition is really running in low disk space? At this time, it’s very necessary to enlarge the drive. For detailed steps, please see Extend Partition.
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