Hard disk shrinking problem

Two weeks ago I discovered that my hard disk is shrinking a few Gb each day although I didn't install anything. Disk cleanup and defragmentation didn't solve this problem. I tried to ask around but nobody seems to have this problem. Soon I will run out of hard disk!!! So I did a search online. And my suspicion is real... Vista is the villain. Luckily, I found some great advice at PCSTATS.com. >Beginner guide: Stopping Vista from thrashing hard disk to death.

First of all, I go to Windows search and disable "indexing". I did notice it makes the search for files and folders much slower. Well, I guess I just need to manage my files better and remember which folder it is. Basically, I did almost everything the website suggested: disk defragmetation and advanced disk cleanup. I can still see the hard disk space reducing each day.

Now I'm only left with the option of editing system restore. Messing around with system restore is the last resort. Back when I'm still using Windows XP, system restore is a life-saver when my software/hardware crashes or computer infected with virus (I find it helpful sometimes in reverting back to the stage before virus infection). I really don't want to go through all that trouble to re-format Vista. I have a feeling installing Vista is much more time-consuming than installing XP.

So I followed the instructions to disable system restore and enable it again.Ta da...I lose at least 80Gb of hard disk! Windows Vista and XP has shadow copy function used for making and storing backups of system files. System restore files usually take up 15% of your hard disk although each system restore point is only ~300Mb. While this solve the shrinking problem, I can't possibly repeat it every two weeks. I have to limit the max size of shadow storage to 10Gb following the instructions given by the website. Go to cmd>run as admin> type the command line. But it didn't work for me. After trying a few times, I realized the line given by the website is not accurate. Make sure MB and GB is in capital letters and specify which hard disk (C: or D:). Here's the correct line:


I still wonder why others don't have this problem.