14Gb Freed after PC Crash

[Cyanide89]

I recently had my computer crash on me during some simple web browsing. I had been using After Effects for several hours before this as well.

Prior to the crash my SSD said I had 2GB free... after the crash I had 16GB free.

I've looked through all my personal files, games, videos etc. but cannot figure out how SO much data could be lost without it affecting my files.

What could be the reason? Were these files important? Any explanation would be great.

 

[dugdiamond]

it could be several things:

• system temp files cleaned
  
• temp internet files flushed
  
• swap and hibernation files reset
  
• windows installation files wiped (from updates)
  
• windows malicious file detection deleting warez (lol)
  
• upon a reboot, after a BSOD crash, windows performed defragging!!!
  
• .. and many other reasons!
  

does your system run faster since you've gained the extra space?

 

[Cyanide89]

it could be several things:

• system temp files cleaned
  
• temp internet files flushed
  
• swap and hibernation files reset
  
• windows installation files wiped (from updates)
  
• windows malicious file detection deleting warez (lol)
  
• upon a reboot, after a BSOD crash, windows performed defragging!!!
  
• .. and many other reasons!
  

does your system run faster since you've gained the extra space?

I always clean temp files so there wouldn't be much to clean up, already disabled hibernate, still have all my updates, computer is as clean as a whistle, defragging a 64gb SSD wouldn't free that much

And with the hardware I have in my computer, it's hard to tell if there is a speed difference. It's always fast.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

Sounds like your swap file has been deleted or moved ? I had 2GB free on a 60GB SSD unitl I moved my swap file to a different drive. Now have just over 16GB free..

 

[Ya93sin]

Maybe use Space Sniffer and see if anything glaring is missing?

 

[Cyanide89]

Sounds like your swap file has been deleted or moved ? I had 2GB free on a 60GB SSD unitl I moved my swap file to a different drive. Now have just over 16GB free..

Sorry, but whats a swap file?

 

[KaraMurat]

Sorry, but whats a swap file?

page file i.e. virtual memory.

 

[Cyanide89]

I just check my page file settings, it seems to be that Windows was managing the file size as needed. When I went to set it manually, the settings defaulted to "No paging file"... is this normal? And are page files necessary?

 

[MOOGLEYS]

I just check my page file settings, it seems to be that Windows was managing the file size as needed. When I went to set it manually, the settings defaulted to "No paging file"... is this normal? And are page files necessary?

I would have a page file even if you have a lot of ram as some programs will try to use it regardless. To save space on my SSD I set the page file to be windows managed but on one of my mechanical drives that have plenty of space. You should notice no performance loss doing this and it free's up SSD space.

 

[KaraMurat]

I just check my page file settings, it seems to be that Windows was managing the file size as needed. When I went to set it manually, the settings defaulted to "No paging file"... is this normal? And are page files necessary?

Having a page file is important and it's best to set it manually. It essentially is virtual memory like ram on your hdd.

The general rule of thumb is to set the initial size to 1.5x your total ram and maximum size to 3x your total amount of ram.

But tbh, i just the initial size as windows recommends and then 1.5x the initial size and set the maximum size.

Also, it needs to be set where your os is installed.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

Also, it needs to be set where your os is installed.

I have had mine on a separate drive for quite some time and have not experienced any issues. Any reason why it should be on the same drive ?

 

[KaraMurat]

I have had mine on a separate drive for quite some time and have not experienced any issues. Any reason why it should be on the same drive ?

Windows requires a certain amount of page file on the os drive to dump error logs and let some system applications access the page file.

A page file on a different drive with the minimal amount where the os is based is fine, but having a page file on a different partition on the same drive doesn't have any improvements and more than speeding up things just strains the the hdd as the reader has to read information further out on the platter.

It's not really a set thing with page file, i mean you could turn it off and not notice anything with sufficient amount of ram, but it's better to leave it in place and just let it do it's job.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

Windows requires a certain amount of page file on the os drive to dump error logs and let some system applications access the page file.

A page file on a different drive with the minimal amount where the os is based is fine, but having a page file on a different partition on the same drive doesn't have any improvements and more than speeding up things just strains the the hdd as the reader has to read information further out on the platter.

It's not really a set thing with page file, i mean you could turn it off and not notice anything with sufficient amount of ram, but it's better to leave it in place and just let it do it's job.

So would I be best having say a small 1GB page file on my SSD with the operating system then the rest on the mechanical drive ?

 

[KaraMurat]

So would I be best having say a small 1GB page file on my SSD with the operating system then the rest on the mechanical drive ?

The performance jump would be minimal seeing as SSDs are lighting fast anyway but i can understand you wanting to have as much space as you can on your SSD.

Anywho, yes on your os drive make it something like 512mb initial and 1024 maximum.

on your secondary drive set the initial as recommended then 1.5x the initial for the maximum size.

---

Also a little fun game: run "dxdiag" to see how much page file your system is using and how much is available.

 

[S_I_N]

So would I be best having say a small 1GB page file on my SSD with the operating system then the rest on the mechanical drive ?

page files can be on any drive with ssd's its recommended to either do away with it or place it on another drive as those small read/writes over time degrade ssd performance.

 

[Cyanide89]

page files can be on any drive with ssd's its recommended to either do away with it or place it on another drive as those small read/writes over time degrade ssd performance.

Oh that makes sense.

Thank you everyone for your info... still not sure where that space came from but I don't think it was anything important. I just don't get why it was freed up after the crash.