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HUGE Mystery System file... How Can I find IT???

X

XedDT

Member
I just installed diskeeper so I'ld have a better defragger than the standard windows one. When it looks at my d: drive there is a HUGE section that is a contiguous system file located at the very end of the partition. I can't tell if it's one file or a ton but when I try to defrag it doesn't move so I'm sure it's a single file. This thing is a monster file. It must be at least 40 gigs. no kidding.

Here's the problem... I can't find the damn thing.

I have explorer set to show all hidden/system files, don't hide extensions etc.

When I do a search for all file above 'x' in size the big system file doesn't show up. My virtual memory only exists on the z: drive (set to 1 gig) so I know it's not some autoexpanding vmem file.

Any ideas? How can I find this thing? I don't have another drive where I could offload the contents of d: and then blow it away and copy back.


Single drive system, 4 partitions
XPpro on partition 1 (c: )
Apps on partition 2 (d: )
Storage on partition 3 (e: )
VirtualMemory on partition 4 (z: )
 
chances are its the system restore volume on each drive.
turn off system restore and make the available system restore space available to 0.
 
Originally posted by: sao123
chances are its the system restore volume on each drive.
turn off system restore and make the available system restore space available to 0.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt totally disable it, it does come in use sometimes. Just reduce it to something you'd prefer.
 
Originally posted by: txxxx
Originally posted by: sao123
chances are its the system restore volume on each drive.
turn off system restore and make the available system restore space available to 0.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt totally disable it, it does come in use sometimes. Just reduce it to something you'd prefer.
Click to expand...
 
Are you sure it is 40 gigs? Check to see how much your hard disk is holding by selecting everything and going to properties. Oh yes, and don't forget to make sure that your System Restore folder can be accessed by your account.
 
I have system restore turned off on all partitions except for the c: drive but I did do a fresh XPpro reinstall the other day.

Maybe it's the "old" system restore section from the previous install. If so....any ideas?
 
Nope, no Dr.Divx for me.

I've made space on my APPS partition d: and am copying everything from e: onto it one directory at a time and then checking the defrag report. If I see the monster file suddenly show up then I know that it was a part of the last directory I copied. If I make it to the end and it still hasn't shown then I'm going to blow away my e: partition and then copy everything back.

This sucks that I can't just find the file and delete it. where's grep when you need it.
 
Originally posted by: XedDT
Nope, no Dr.Divx for me.

I've made space on my APPS partition d: and am copying everything from e: onto it one directory at a time and then checking the defrag report. If I see the monster file suddenly show up then I know that it was a part of the last directory I copied. If I make it to the end and it still hasn't shown then I'm going to blow away my e: partition and then copy everything back.

This sucks that I can't just find the file and delete it. where's grep when you need it.
Click to expand...

Check the Disk Defragmenter report... it usually shows the full path of all files it can't defragment.
 
Sequoia View - lovely program (a few minor bugs concerning its window placement on the screen, but nothing crippling) that shows you, in graphic format, where all your space is being used up.
 
I had a problem with 2 gigs missing from my computer. I identified that it was in my windows account folder but the folder it was in was empty (showing all files of course). I had to delete the account to get rid of it. I think theres a bug in network transfer or ftp or something like that which was causing it but I'm not sure.
 
Are you sure you aren't looking at the free space on the drive?
Other than that, open Total Commander (or download it if you don't have it) and press Alt-Shift-Enter and it'll show how much space each directory is taking up. If there's any that's 40G larger than it should be, go into the directory and repeat, and do so until you find it.
 
It looks like I'm fine now. I moved everything off to the other partiton and the mystery file didn't come with what I copied so I blew away the partition and then copied everything back. What's freaky is that I wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't had been for the gui display in the defrag utility.

btw, that Sequoia View is seriously cool.
 
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