the system drive is beginning to full up to where i, from time to time, dump all unwanted accumulated files. my difficulty is this:
documents and settings properties shows a capacity of 8.73gb.
opening that to it's components shows:
administraor capacity, this being the focus of concern, shows at 7.24gb.
opening administraor to it's components, selecting all, checking properties reveals capacity at 1.78gb
- so -
administrator far exceeds the sum of it's components. where should i look for these gb eating files / folders ?

your attention to this inquirey is most appreciated

I only beta tested 2003 for a few weeks, do you have any hidden files?

Never seen any that big tho?

WHEN I SELECT ALL IN THE ADMINISTRATOR COMPONTNTS SECTION, I AM ASKED IF I WISH TO INCLUDE ALL HIDDEN FILES, I DO AND GET THE RESULTS I HAVE INDICATED. THIS IS, BY THE WAY, WINDOWS 2000 ADVANCED AERVER.

all caps is universally considered poor etiquette in internet forums, it's the equivalent of shouting
it never bothered me much

the properties include the hidden files, but they may still be hidden from viewing?

have you enabled show hidden file system wide

First of all, sorry about the caps. makes things easier to see. Hidden files are shown, system wide. Stlll nothing turned up , still looking
Found it - temp file bulging at the seams thanks a ton for the help Chewy