Issues with increasing space in Windows

Q

I periodically after updating and installing software check my free space available through explorer, and randomly twice on two different versions of Windows (7 & 8) extra HDD space has become free. Since this is the second time this has happened I am beginning to wonder why and how? I am somewhat concerned that this could be some kind of exploit on files being removed from the system files that protect my extensions, like I.E or maybe even deeper; because both times this has happened it has been while on Public Wi-Fi in a coffee shop (not the same coffee shop either). Today my hdd space went from 175 to 178gb of free space. Is there a way to detect uninstallations of system components and files? I did sfc/scannow and it came back okay. I imagine with enough skill you could delete all entries that this program references to avoid detection of the what might of been removed. I went through event viewer and this is the only clue I can find: event id 15 Hive\??\C:\Users\User\*my_account_name_here*\AppData\Local\Windows\UsrClass.dat was reorganized with a starting size of 3723264 bytes and an ending size of 1970176 bytes. For some reason bold won't uncheck now... anyways, what this event reads to me is that a portion reserved for my profile has been changed from roughly 3.7gb to 2.0gb. If that is what is happening that would then free the other space for use, hence where the extra space on my HDD came from, correct? Or is my other assumption a likely scenario of a could be hack on the operating system? Can someone with expertise and definite understanding or one who is experienced with a scenario like this explain and help me rule out what caused this?

✍: Guest

A

The Kernel issues would not have been detected by SFC Scan only, you may to perform a Check Disk and see if that helps.

Run check disk to find and fix errors on the drive.
a) Click Start, type cmd, right click on cmd and click run as administrator.
b) On the prompt, type chkdsk /f /r and hit enter.
c) Try to test the issue.

For more information on "Check a drive for errors" check this link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Check-a-drive-for-errors

Important: While performing chkdsk on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found on the hard drive when chkdsk tries to repair that sector if any data available on that might be lost.

Also, I would need the event logs where the Kernel error occur,to help you fix other issues in the computer.

Open the link and follow the instructions in to get the event logs so that we can see which application is faulty.

a) Open Control Panel, Go to System and Security, Click Administrative Tools and select View Event Logs.
b) Select Windows Logs on the left side of the window.
c) You will see a number of sub-categories. Selecting any of these categories will bring up a series of event logs in the center of the screen.
d) Any entries listed as “Error”.
e) Double click any found errors to investigate.
f) Here you will be presented with any relevant information regarding your errors. Often this will simply display the error code reported by the error. However, other errors or warnings could provide clues to cause of the issue.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-information-appears-in-event-logs-Event-Viewer

2014-10-13, 2780🔥, 0💬