Tech-eee-ness again !!

Recovered 60GB of HDD space

I have always seen that my R61 thinkpad HDD occupied more space than it should be but I could not figure out which files or folders are eating up the HDD storage space.
Here's a few steps to locate and solve the same.

1. Go to download.com. Download WinDirStat. This has got high editors' rating. I found this software pretty useful. This gives you the list of all the folders and files with their sizes. (The "details" views don't give the folder sizes)

2. Via WinDirStat, I got a folder "Unknown" taking up 61GB of my HDD space. However this could not be located on HDD as no path was enlisted.

3. Through some internet search, I found out that this could be taken up by the files stored in C:\RRBackups folder (a hidden system file).So what's this folder? IBM Lenovo Thinkpads have a utility named Rescue &
recovery. This one takes scheduled backups of your system.

4. Open the utility through: Start> All Programs> Thinkvantage> Rescue & recovery. I have R&R 4.0. In the UI, you can see a tab " View all Backups". When clicked i found I had 5 backups, 4 of them dated back to 2007 and 2008 and each one eating up > 10GB HDD space.

5. In the menu of the UI, there's one Advanced tab. You have an option: Delete Backups. If you try to delete the backups, you might get an error message after some time: "Not enough memory space to perform the action." Two things should be done in this situation:
a. Check whether you have a set scheduled backup ( from "Set schedule and preferences"). Disable it.
b. Delete the backup files in bottom-up fashion.

As for me, all the backup files were deleted within minutes and I recovered 60GB of HDD space. Even more important, the speed of various running applications improved a lot.

6. Some useful links in this regard:
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkVantage-Technologies/bd-p/Special_Interest_Utilities
http://www.lenovo.com/in/en/index.html

I also called up Lenovo Support center for the same. They said it is recommended that I keep a data backup. However I am not too sure how much help will this provide me as there is already a Windows restore program and Windows backup utility. If someone can throw some light on this, it would be of great help.
I am anyways taking up a manual backup through R&R (not scheduled as I have already disabled the
scheduled option) just to see how much space it's taking up and whether I can afford to keep it.

I advise you to have a chat with them before you proceed to Step 5. Following are the details:
1800-425-2666 or +91-80-2535-9182
9AM - 6PM Monday - Friday (Except Holidays)
Keep your Thinkpad type, Serial no and series name ready.

A little bit of Tech-eee-ness !

Useful Softwares:

Some really useful softwares I am using:

1. Revo Uninstaller - This uninstalls not only the programs but also cleans up all the related registry entries which might not be cleaned by Windows Add/Remove utility
URL: http://www.revouninstaller.com/

2. Everything - A great search utility; it loads all the files and the folders in your system while booting and searches as you type.
URL: http://www.voidtools.com/download.php

3. WinDirStat - This gives all the necessary details of every files and folders in your system. So you can see which file/folder is eating up how much space.
URL: Download Here

4. CCleaner - Restore disc space through deleting all the unwanted temporary files (Temporary internet files, cookies, etc.)
URL: Download Here

5. Windows Defender - Check for unwanted or harmful softwares.
URL: Microsoft Download

6. Foxit reader - Much less bulky than Adobe Acrobat Reader. Also you can highlight, underline and many more - makes your reading easier.
URL: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

7. Antivirus
a. Avira - Found this useful while surfing and downloading. It has given me the necessary warnings while
downloading freewares from the internet (those with trojan horses in particular)
URL: Download Here

b. AVG Freeware - I don't think I need to write anything about this one.
URL: Download Here

Top influences in my life

1. My Parents – For everything what I am today. I love you mom-dad.
2. Pritha – You have made me calmer, more composed, compassionate…………Love you
   
3. Shantanu, Sayan (Ghosh & Chat), Argha, Barun – friendship is what you taught me. The wonderful adda sessions we have spent for 6 continuous years…they were unadulterated fun. Miss it very much now. Hope someday we will all be in the same city again!
4. Jalu – Well, this is what we call our engineering college…Jalpaiguri Government Engineering College – a place I would never like to go again. But it taught me people skills – be it understanding people, dealing with ‘em, dodging their back-stabbings or mixing with ‘em even if not your friends and so on..
5. Arnab Mukherjee – Although we are not in touch now but this guy introduced me to Pink Floyd which made my college days so memorable. Arnab, a great quizzer, avid traveler but could not bond much with the peers with his urban charm and hence faced with many problems in those 4 years – a learning in itself.
6. Infosys – Despite certain shortcomings, Infy is arguably the best work place I have seen till date. The corporate etiquette, the numerous training sessions, the campuses, the respect you draw as an Infoscion..the list goes on – it transformed me from a college graduate to a professional.
7. IIM Bangalore – It is my first big college where I came to meet some of the best minds in India…Made me more ambitious, focused and aggressive
8. Prof. Trilochan Shastri – He enlightened us about the social sector. The way he taught, the things he taught was something…
9. Mumbai – I never thought I will fall in love with a city in such a short time. Before I visited Mumbai, I never liked it because it was expensive. But after staying there, the cost of living became a non-issue given so many things the city has to offer in its lifestyle, soul and people. I treasure Calcutta and I love Mumbai.
10. Friends, Boston Legal (US sitcoms) – Makes me laugh when I am alone.