my ? is I was told by the guy who sold this tower to me that it had a 80 GB harddrive. I have now after 2 mo. of use 43.1 GB of used space and 26.6 GB free space. since i don't know the inner workings of a computer, i want to know why the space on this tower is being used up so quick. i am not downloading anything, i'm not adding new files or am i storing anything on it. Tom was perplexed as to why this is happening. now IBM where it came from won't issue me a new tower or will they give me a new harddrive cause i'm past the 30 day warranty limit. this was not a cheap tower. can anyone explain to me if this is normal or is the driver infurior. thank-you.

Mine is 'supposed' to be 80GB I think; part of that  (7.7GB) is 'reserved' for the System Recovery. So I've only actually got 66.7 GB for USE. Have no idea how they figure these things, cause it never did add up right.    

How many programs have you added?  If you've got a lot of different programs added in, then you are using up your space quickly.   If you look in your 'add/remove programs' section, it'll tell you how much space each one uses.  I think my 'biggest' is my Print Shop 22. But that's only 689MB.  Even at my MOST, I never used more than 26% of available space. It sounds like you've added a LOT of programs.  

hi... thanks for answering so soon. i went on my add/remove  programs and most of what i have on there has to do with the computer, Microsoft, etc. i removed Adobe Reader. i have another reader on there suggested by Cloudeight so i don't need Adobe Reader. my biggest file is  2007 Microsoft Office System and has 499 MB. that i my biggest file and i didn't add that. it was already in there. most of what i have on the add/remove programs were already there. i heard when you get a new computer there are things added that you didn't add. so i don't know what i need or what i don't need. i'm not computer savy but i'm getting educated with what has happened here. have you heard of a  IBM Levono/ThinkCentre/Intel Pentium/dual core inside. that is what i have. i will come to the end of this. if you can help me more, i would appreciate it. donna

80 is actually a very small hard drive. I was just at Sam's club and see 250gb internals for around $50,and external 300 gig for around $100, so you might want to do this: If this is a new computer, I would find out why a small drive like that would be put on a computer this day and age.. its nearly obsolete. If it is not a new computer, I would ask the guy to install a 2nd drive. It will take all of 2 minutes once the cover is off, so it is not something that takes very long. It takes longer to take the cover off and put it back on then it takes to install a hard drive. Or, go get yourself an external drive (USB), plug it into your USB port.

If you opt for the 2nd drive, you can install programs right to the 2nd drive, you can set up My Documents to be stored on the 2nd drive, you can save all your photos and images to the 2nd drive, and you can set up Outlook Express/Windows Mail to save to the 2nd drive. That way your primary "C" drive won't run too low on hard drive space.

I hope that you did not pay much for this; you can get a brand new Dell tower with a 320 Gig hard drive, 2 gigs of ram, a DVD RW and more for $279. click here - and no, I am not making anything off this link, it is just an FYI for you. I would be interested to hear more.. I hope you did not get ripped off by this guy?

hi eightball..... i paid $680 for it. i have friends who have the same computer as i do and they own a business and as far as i know today don't have any problems. Tom(computer tech) who sold it to me, tells me this and that of which i don't know how much hype is mixed in with it to cover him. i can't prove that what he has told me thus far is faulty. my brother in Arizona (computer tech) told me thatTom just knows the basics. i do feel in part that i was taken but hoping soon i will know if he has scammed me. He told me it is a new computer. this is what i have, an IBM/l Lenovo/Think"Centre/Intel Pentium dual core inside/WindowsVista basic. have you ever heard of this type. i haven't . i know now i was to hasty and bought quicky without being accountable to those i know who have more experience than i do. i know i will have to add to what i have now but since i'm not computer savy, i will ask my son-in-law to help me.we don't have a Sams club here. i thank you for answering my post. i am enjoying being on the Hill. i have made friends all over the country and in other countries that would have never happen if i had not signed up. i value your honesty with those who trust you. we are in chaotic times in the world which are not going to get better. i'm not a fatalist but a realist. i will close now and again, thank-you. donna

If you paid that much, in my opinion he has scammed you and you can tell him I said so, if that is all you have (80gig hard drive). You cannot even buy an 80 gig anymore; they are pretty much obsolete. At the very least, I would demand he put a 300 gig in and replace the 80 gig. It really upsets me that people take advantage of others like this. Do you know what you could have got from dell for $680? ALOT. Go look at the link I gave you, print out what a $279 machine tower comes with, then find one close to $700 and print out what that comes with. Bring it with you and go see this guy, have a friend or family member with you, and let him know you feel you have been grossly overcharged and at least put a decent drive in and insist it is a SATA. Make sure you have the copy of windows (on CDROM) he put in so that you are not using a pirated copy, and so that you will have it in case you format.

Also, make sure you have at least 2 gig of RAM MINIMUM. If there is any less, demand he upgrade you to 2 gig. If he is a friend, you can ask.. and he will not hesitate.

There was a time that a home built computer was cheaper, but now days it costs much more to build then to buy and you can now customize (ie., Dell). Unfortunately, self proclaimed "computer experts/builders/pros" don't tell you that.

Here are some prices from WalMart (you can order online): Click Here  they have a 500 gig internal for $136, and a 160 Gig external for $79, and many more. Hard drives are very cheap thsee days.

8

PS Print this response out too..and bring it with you. Let me add that all of this is my opinion based on my understanding of the situation as explained by you.  (legal stuff ya know!)

i have printed off the info you sent me. he told me he will think about what he can do for me this weekend. if it sounds like more money than i care to spend i will not do it.  i will act accordingly to the info i received from you and present it to my son-in-law. i know i can trust him.

you and TC are a huge blessing .

donna

Every time I hear from the friends that they are taken by these so called Comp. Techs I am so glad that I have two wonderful techs. in my home town. I have a foster boy that had autism and he loves to play world of war craft. now to us older unless you are a game player means nothing, but to anyone that plays games knows that it takes a lot of extras. when I was in with my computer one day I had Forrest with me he got to talking with the techs about gaming as they had been playing WOWar at breaks. Before leaving the one tech. told me that he would build a PC for Forrest for 350.00 that he could game on.  Going to Dell that computer would cost around 1100. Sure it was built with used parts but they warranty the PC and he can take it in anytime. I know that these type of people are few and far in between and I went thru a lot before finding them, but I am so grateful to them. I agree with 8 STAND your ground. Suzan

Hi Donna,

I assume your Operating System is Vista, that and Windows Office 7 programs take up quite a bit of drive space. 

I did a search on Google and Cloud Eight Info Ave... of what I thought could be the problem with loosing so much hard drive space.  

Vista System Restore (from Microsoft)- click on Frequently Asked Questions.  System Restore can take up 15% of your hard drive.

Vista Search Indexing (from Microsoft) You might want to limit the search index to only 'my documents'.

Cloud Eight Info Ave~  all about Windows XP.. but not too much on Vista yet.... mostly on page 5.

You are right, that computers come with added junk programs installed.  Check out this list:   http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/crapplications 

I hope that helps a little .........
Sunny

hi sunny.... i was out today so now i'm reading your reply. i will check it all out. i know there is a solution to this problem. there are some smart caring people on the Hill and i appreciate the help.  thanks again. i will let you know what helps. donna

hi sunny.... i clicked on the sites you sent and did a disk cleanup and a degrag. also i checked if i have any files i don't need (crap) and i had two Corel files. i deleted one but i wasn't sure of the other one which was Corel Photo 6 so i didn't delete it.  thanks again, donna