Something keeps writing to my boot drive!

MS and many other software companies insist on installing everything on our C:-Drive. I've already removed all the apps and program files that can be moved, but something keeps adding to the drive. I've used Disk Ckeaner until it can't find anything else to clean. I've moved System Resore to another drive, and don't understand why I keep getting those disk full messages. Any idea what's still dumping MBs of stuff in my boot drive?

My disk Hog shows two very large folders in my WINDOWS (XP Pro) directory. these folder are named DOWNLOAD INSTALLATION and DOWNLOAD PROGRAM FILES not to be confused with the Program Files folder in the C:-directory. Examining them, they are full of large files with gobble-d-gook names many of which are dated in 2004 and 2005. Dare I just delete thse folders?

I also found in my WINDOWS directory a couple of good sized folders named $hf_mig$ and $hxpsp1hfm$ with a bunch of nonsense files inside. What are these stupid things and can they be removed?

I badly need to get some space on my boot drive and do whatever is necessary to keep it from filling up again. HELP!!! bobhjon

 

I had a similar problem, but with 1000's of zip drives being piled into my computer's "Shared Folder".

I ended up having to delete the folder itself. I took all the programs i knew were not corrupted out, deleted the folder, and then made an identical folder and put the programs back in.

That may not be the answer for you, but i figure i'd say just in case.

 

If you reinstall XP, you can select another drive. But you can't move it when it's already installed on C:. Most programs use the %systemdrive% variable to determine the location of XP and default the installation to %systemdrive%\Program Files.

The two folders you specified:
C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations stores downloaded installers. These installers are put there by other, smaller installers which download the actual installer to this directory. (This is called a web installation). You can safely delete the contents of this folder.
C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files stores internet explorer's ActiveX controls. These should not be deleted. If you want them gone, uninstall them through the software item on the Control Panel.