Solved Windows 8 Config Files Taking up 24GB

harddrive

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I've tried every hard drive cleaner with no luck.

Any idea what's happening?

Thanks,
Alex
 

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  • 2-20-2013 11-54-28 AM.jpg
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    CPU
    Intel i5- 2500K
    Memory
    8 GB
Is it Windows 8 ?

Is it a 32 bit ? *( If so why ?).

64 bit takes half as much.

It probably won't be much consolation to you but when I make the recovery discs I get around 17 GB. And I have seen some funny numbers thrown out too.

Make a recommended system recovery disc and see what you get.

To scrupulously check out your system use Dx Diag.

Run DirectX Diagnostic Tool
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP
the image is showing meg 's not gig's
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
64 bit takes half as much.

Hello wetibbie,

That wasn't the case when I did an install compare between Win 8 x64 vs x32 on my desktop. In fact, the x64 used about 3GB more space that the x32 installation. Specifically, I ended up with an installation of about 17.5 GB on Win 8 x64 and 14.5GB on Win 8 x32. Those totals included all Windows Updates and user program installations. I think the difference is that a Win 8 x64 installation must include much of the Win 8 x32 program files for compatibility purposes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
the image is showing meg 's not gig's
24,720.3 mb = 24 gb

Yes, it is indeed strange. My config folder is only 331 MB or 0.3 GB

Try: Win+X ->Run->cleanmgr then click on Clean up system files

Also download Temporary File Cleaner: http://oldtimer.geekstogo.com/TFC.exe


  1. run TFC.exe as Administrator
  2. Click the Start button to begin the process. The program should not take long to finish.
  3. Once finished it should reboot your PC, if not, do this yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Please report back the result

Capture.PNG
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
64 bit takes half as much.

Hello webtibbie,

That wasn't the case when I did an install compare between Win 8 x64 vs x32 on my desktop. In fact, the x64 bit used about 3GB more space that the x32 installation. Specifically, I ended up with an installation of about 17.5 GB on Win 8 x64 and 14.5GB on Win 8 x32. Those totals included all Windows Updates and user program installations. I think the difference is that a Win 8 x64 installation must include much of the Win 8 x32 program files for compatibility purposes.
Why are you running a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit system? If you have more than 3.2 gigs of ram then if will never be used because the 32 Bit OS (windows) only uses 3.2 gigs of memory whereas the 64 bit OS can use up to a great deal more, hence you are giving up performance for a few bit of HDD space. . .
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8, (VM win7, XP, Vista)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion p1423w
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 3330 Ivy Bridge
    Motherboard
    Foxconn - 2ADA Ivy Brige
    Memory
    16 GB 1066MHz DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    HD Realteck (Onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Mitsubishi LED TV/Montior HD, Dell 23 HD, Hanspree 25" HD
    Screen Resolution
    Mit. 1980-1080, Dell 2048-115, Hanspree 1920-10802
    Hard Drives
    1 SanDisk 240Gig SSD, 2 Samsung 512Gig SSDs
    Case
    Tower
    Cooling
    Original (Fans)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Keyboard 2000
    Mouse
    Microsoft Optical Mouse 5000
    Internet Speed
    1.3 (350 to 1024 if lucky)
    Browser
    Firefox 19.1
    Antivirus
    MSE-Defender
Hello Lee,

My answer had nothing to do with the virtues of Win 8 x64 vs Win 8 x32. It specifically addressed a comment that a win 8 x64 uses less (hard drive) memory than an x32 installation and I simply responded with my test comparison results. Now I will respond to your advice based on my System Specs:

I am well aware of the differences in RAM allocation and/or addressing capabilities in a comparison of a 32 bit OS vs a 64 bit OS but thank you for reiterating same. However, in some cases, depending on the age of the computer, and its inherent capabilities thereof, a 32 bit OS has more advantages (IMHO) that a 64 bit OS. Moreover, I have found that a 64 bit OS actually takes a bit longer than a 32 bit OS to execute 32 bit programs. I believe this is because the 64 bit OS considers the 32 bit programs to be an overhead situation and I have read that it actually has to go through 2 layers of execution to complete a 32 bit task. And, in summary, I can just tell you that my 32 bit installation was noticeably faster than my current 64 bit installation so I'm going back to x32 as soon as I get the time to do it. Just for the record, over 90% of my user programs are 32 bit.

Now, getting to my rig's specs:
I have a Dimension 8400 that runs just fine on either x64 or x32. However, I do have a limitation that stems from the Dell proprietary BIOS and the 925XE mobo chipset that limits my use of memory. Moreover, I cannot control the memory channel operation, which defaults to whatever is detected by the BIOS. So, in my case, I have 4x1GB modules that are detected as dual-channel interleave, and from a Dell BIOS perspective, that will only give me 3.0GBs of usable memory, whether I have x32 or x64 installed. Now, the only work around that I might have would be to insert a 512KB chip in any one of the mobo memory slots and that would force the bios to (possibly) run in single channel mode, and on an x64 system, I might get 3.5Gbs out of it. This would not be worth my time because I have adequate memory at 3GB (usable).

So, again, thank you for your response but I'm having some difficulty in connecting it with original my response.

Cheers
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
the image is showing meg 's not gig's
24,720.3 mb = 24 gb

Yes, it is indeed strange. My config folder is only 331 MB or 0.3 GB

Try: Win+X ->Run->cleanmgr then click on Clean up system files

Also download Temporary File Cleaner: http://oldtimer.geekstogo.com/TFC.exe


  1. run TFC.exe as Administrator
  2. Click the Start button to begin the process. The program should not take long to finish.
  3. Once finished it should reboot your PC, if not, do this yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Please report back the result

View attachment 17028

you know ,i knew that ,just had a senior moment lol
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
I had already run this.

My total windows install is taking up 45GB. Nothing I have tried seems to work.

This leads me to another question. I downloaded the Windows 8 upgrade. How would I go about doing a clean install?

I am assuming no one knows why my install is taking up so much space so I need to reinstall.

the image is showing meg 's not gig's
24,720.3 mb = 24 gb

Yes, it is indeed strange. My config folder is only 331 MB or 0.3 GB

Try: Win+X ->Run->cleanmgr then click on Clean up system files

Also download Temporary File Cleaner: http://oldtimer.geekstogo.com/TFC.exe


  1. run TFC.exe as Administrator
  2. Click the Start button to begin the process. The program should not take long to finish.
  3. Once finished it should reboot your PC, if not, do this yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Please report back the result

View attachment 17028
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    CPU
    Intel i5- 2500K
    Memory
    8 GB
Did you run TFC.exe as suggested above ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Under config, you have a folder or file (file I think) that indicates 24.462 GB. Is there a name associated with it that is not showing in what you posted?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Yes.

I had already run this.

My total windows install is taking up 45GB. Nothing I have tried seems to work.

This leads me to another question. I downloaded the Windows 8 upgrade. How would I go about doing a clean install?

I am assuming no one knows why my install is taking up so much space so I need to reinstall.

the image is showing meg 's not gig's
24,720.3 mb = 24 gb

Yes, it is indeed strange. My config folder is only 331 MB or 0.3 GB

Try: Win+X ->Run->cleanmgr then click on Clean up system files

Also download Temporary File Cleaner: http://oldtimer.geekstogo.com/TFC.exe


  1. run TFC.exe as Administrator
  2. Click the Start button to begin the process. The program should not take long to finish.
  3. Once finished it should reboot your PC, if not, do this yourself to ensure a complete clean.

Please report back the result

View attachment 17028
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro x64
    CPU
    Intel i5- 2500K
    Memory
    8 GB
Can you list the first 10 or 20 (screen shot)? Any clue in the names as to what they are?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
It would be easier just to do a clean install, however It would be interesting to find out where the problem is. Under config folder, there is a folder called TxR and all the files in it are hidden. Can you open the folder Options and set it to "show Hidden files, Folders, or Drives" and also uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" then open TxR folder, I have a hunch that you have tons of files in there. You might have some hidden drivers that continoustly create these files, one way to find out is to download the Process Explorer and monitor what cause it to constanly create these files.

Please report back what you found in this folder then we'll have something to go on. Thanks

Since I already made a backup image of my C drive. I went ahead and delete all the files under TxR folder, most of the files were deleted except some are locked because they are being used by Windows. Below is the screen shot and compare to the previous one where I had 238 Files, now it's down to 37 Files

Capture.PNG

FYI, In TxR folders, files with the extensions .regtrans-ms and prefixed with names of registry nodes. RegTrans files are registry transaction files to provide rollback in case you do a system restore so if you delete these files you’ll lose any rollbacking.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
It would be easier just to do a clean install, however It would be interesting to find out where the problem is. Under config folder, there is a folder called TxR and all the files in it are hidden. Can you open the folder Options and set it to "show HiddIen files, Folders, or Drives" and also uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" then open TxR folder, I have a hunch that you have tons of files in there. You might have some hidden drivers that continoustly create these files, one way to find out is to download the Process Explorer and monitor what cause it to constanly create these files.
_______________________________________________________________________________

I recall reading about this here not too long ago.

There were huge volumes of files stashed. The appropriate procedures were used and the files were cleaned out successfully.

I would have to take leave of the impression that no one knows what is wrong.

I think the solution is very close at hand soon.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP
does windows explorer show the same large files
maybe you tree file pro is giving wrong info, ,is it the demo or did you buy the program
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
Does "Disk Management" confirm the used size of the drive?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    n/a
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S23B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
    Case
    Tower
    Mouse
    Wired Optical
    Other Info
    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
    Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-11-13
    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
    RAM & Graphics Card Upgraded - 2013-01-13
    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
Before you decide to do a fresh install. Back up your important data and please try this:
  1. from folder Options, set it to show hidden files & protected hidden system files
  2. go to config folder and view with details and sort them by Types
  3. Delete all files with extension .regtrans-ms and extension .blf under Config folder and TxR folder (I've already explained what they are on previous post)
    This should free up about ~ 23GB which bring your C:\Windows folder size down.
  4. Download CCleaner to clean up your registry
  5. Reboot your PC and you'll see Windows will re-create a new set of regtrans-ms & .blf files.

Take a look at the screen shot below. I deleted those last night and now I have a total of 33 files under config folder compared to what you have ~ 68,000 files and Windows 8 still run without any glitches.

EDIT: here's more info on .regtrans-ms
Regtrans-ms files filling entire hard drive - Microsoft Community

Capture.PNG
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
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