Most Windows and PC troubles fit into patterns, but every once in a while a truly weird, never-before-seen problem crops up. Reader John Willoughby titled his e-mail "A very unusual problem." He wasn't kidding.
Paid content (cheap! <g>):
"My desktop PC, which has two 360GB drives, began to slow down a few days ago, so much so that it seemed like it was going to seize up. 300GBs of drive space had been swallowed up, and I have no idea how. A search showed that, in one day, hundreds of 1GB temp files had been set up. I deleted these and got most of the lost drive space back. I have no idea how or why those files were created. I'd appreciate any suggestions."That's the opening item in my weekly WindowsSecrets column this week; we run through what might cause 300 one-gigabyte mystery files to show up within a short time; and look at how to prevent it from happening again. Other items this week:
- How to get your startup programs placed in their optimal load order
- Quieting down a noisy laptop
- The case of missing the RAM (when 4GB turns into 2.87GB...)
INTRODUCTION By Tracey Capen Taking our summer break — see you Sept. 9 Taking stock of WS and looking forward TOP STORY Woody Leonhard New analysis of stolen data brings surprises Who's stealing sensitive data? Surprise! How the bad guys get your personal information What companies must do to protect our data LOUNGE LIFE By Keely Dolan Perplexing print-preview problems with browsers Patch Watch update: Critical Adobe patches WACKY WEB WEEK By Keely Dolan No good dog goes unpunished in age-old melodrama |
Paid content (cheap! <g>):
A portion of your support helps children in developing countries Each month, we send a full year of sponsorship to a different child. Your contributions in August are helping us to sponsor Mathias, an 8-year-old boy from Zambia. Children International channels development aid from donors to Mathias and his community. We also sponsor kids through Save the Children and Plan USA. More info |
No comments:
Post a Comment