My HDD keeps losing space?

spat55

Senior member
Jul 2, 2013
539
5
76
So this is just a spare drive I keep for extra space which I never really use, now I know SMART shows 5 reallocated sectors which is why I haven't used it much but it's still alive 6 months later.

I've done a full format of the drive but it appears to keep losing space, I can do a quick format and the space returns but then it starts going missing again, any ideas on what is causing it?

FOUND THE FIX SO I'VE POSTED IT ON POST NUMBER #15
 
Last edited:

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
126
Not enough information.
What do you mean it loses space exactly? How are you determining this?
Are system files that are hidden involved (page / hibernation / ...)?
 

spat55

Senior member
Jul 2, 2013
539
5
76
Not enough information.
What do you mean it loses space exactly? How are you determining this?
Are system files that are hidden involved (page / hibernation / ...)?

No system files that I am aware off as it is just a 4th drive with no installation data on it, like I said I've done a quick format 4+ times and a full one once, I have no hidden files on it so I know they have nothing to do with it along with the fact Hibernation is disabled.

The only thing I can think of is bad sectors but it comes back clean when I run WIndow disk check on it and SMART is fine except for the 5 reallocated sectors.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
126
Bad sectors don't lower your free space count, at least, not the way windows shows free space.
Check disk wouldn't tell you anything either.
How much space is being lost?
 

spat55

Senior member
Jul 2, 2013
539
5
76
Bad sectors don't lower your free space count, at least, not the way windows shows free space.
Check disk wouldn't tell you anything either.
How much space is being lost?

It varies from a few MB then over 50+GBs, formatting fixes it. As I see no files on it the only thing I can think of is bad sectors.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
126
It varies from a few MB then over 50+GBs, formatting fixes it. As I see no files on it the only thing I can think of is bad sectors.
50GB? That is a ton of data, something fishy is going on.
For bad sectors, those get remapped by the HD itself on the next write operation, so, windows would never see or know that.
Even if you did have a ton of bad sectors all of a sudden, your SMART data would show a huge spike in the data.
Can you download and install the portable version of Crystaldiskinfo (free) and post a screen shot of the SMART data it shows?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Have you tried opening an Administrative Command Prompt, and navigating to the root directory on that drive, and doing a DIR /X /S ?

Or whatever command gives recursive directories of all files, including SYSTEM, HIDDEN, and READONLY.

Something is taking up that space.

Also, try running VSSADMIN.EXE, and displaying info about that drive.

It could be shadow copies / system restore. Or maybe you have a rootkit / trojan.
 

spat55

Senior member
Jul 2, 2013
539
5
76
50GB? That is a ton of data, something fishy is going on.
For bad sectors, those get remapped by the HD itself on the next write operation, so, windows would never see or know that.
Even if you did have a ton of bad sectors all of a sudden, your SMART data would show a huge spike in the data.
Can you download and install the portable version of Crystaldiskinfo (free) and post a screen shot of the SMART data it shows?

I use Crystal Disk for SMART so sure I'll upload a screenshot in a moment.

Here you go
MiNVIdJ.png


Have you tried opening an Administrative Command Prompt, and navigating to the root directory on that drive, and doing a DIR /X /S ?

Or whatever command gives recursive directories of all files, including SYSTEM, HIDDEN, and READONLY.

Something is taking up that space.

Also, try running VSSADMIN.EXE, and displaying info about that drive.

It could be shadow copies / system restore. Or maybe you have a rootkit / trojan.

I thought about Rootkit or Trojan but the drive has had a full format, at least 4 quick formats and I have 3 other drives on the system. I can see any shadow copies or system restore on it and have system restore deactivated. I haven't tried Administrative Command Prompt on it though. I will try the VSSASMIN.EXE though.

ATM I have 220mb gone and nothing on it.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
126
With the command prompt open as Admin, type in:
CD F:
then
dir /S /A:HS
That should list all system & hidden files on that drive.

Thanks for the screenshot, with only 5 re-allocated sectors in total, the HD just re-mapped them from the reserved pool of sectors, so non space is lost at all there.
 

spat55

Senior member
Jul 2, 2013
539
5
76
With the command prompt open as Admin, type in:
CD F:
then
dir /S /A:HS
That should list all system & hidden files on that drive.

Thanks for the screenshot, with only 5 re-allocated sectors in total, the HD just re-mapped them from the reserved pool of sectors, so non space is lost at all there.

Tried the command but it only shows my C: drive (EVO 120gb OS) files.
 

spat55

Senior member
Jul 2, 2013
539
5
76
Erm, right. Do what VirtualLarry said, or do this:
dir F: /S /A:HS

It says the the recycle bin is taking 129 bytes, but the HDD has 220mb of used space? TBF I haven't had any issues with much space being taken up since last format so is what I'll do is leave it and start using it, if I see some space used that shouldn't be I'll run the command again.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
126
It says the the recycle bin is taking 129 bytes, but the HDD has 220mb of used space? TBF I haven't had any issues with much space being taken up since last format so is what I'll do is leave it and start using it, if I see some space used that shouldn't be I'll run the command again.
220MB is more sane, that is just the NTFS stuff, nothing to worry about there, but, if it goes to GB, then run that command again, and see what is using the space.
 

spat55

Senior member
Jul 2, 2013
539
5
76
Okay I've found the fix it was VSS making over 135+GB of unknown space on my HDD, I noticed I had this issue on another drive that I have lots of data on so I googled it and came up with a result. I used WinDirStat to find what the issue was and used this command, I've copy and pasted the post that helped me from another forum.

LKSnow, the situation you are experiencing may be related to your System Restore space allocation not having a maximum set value. I have included steps below on how to check this, and adjust it's options if necessary.

Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box.

Right-click cmd in the Programs list, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password or click Continue

At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

This will list the following System Restore space allocation:

Used Shadow Copy Storage space

Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space

Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space

Review each, and if the used amount is too high (accounting for your "unknown" space usage), you should change the Maximum option to meet your needs. To change the Maximum space allotment, use the following command at the prompt:

vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=[place a value higher then 300MB here]

(The above assumes this adjustment is to your C: drive, change it if this is not the case, 300MB might be too low, choose a comfortable option, maybe 2GB or higher)

--------------------------

Resizing the storage association may cause shadow copies to disappear. If MaxSizeSpec is not specified, there no limit to the amount of space it may use. As certain shadow copies are deleted, the shadow copy storage space will then shrink. MaxSizeSpec must be 300MB or greater and accepts the following

suffixes: KB, MB, GB, TB, PB and EB. Also, B, K, M, G, T, P, and E are acceptable suffixes. If a suffix is not supplied, MaxSizeSpec is in bytes.

--------------------------

If you wish to include the information generated by these commands in your post, then click on the icon at the top left portion of the window, click Edit, then click Select All, press Enter key.

Paste the content into your reply by pressing CTRL+V on your Keyboard.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
126
That only makes sense on a drive with data, not a freshly formatted HD, unless you specifically told VSS to use that drive as a spare?

Also, try running VSSADMIN.EXE, and displaying info about that drive.

It could be shadow copies / system restore. Or maybe you have a rootkit / trojan.
Seems VirtualLarry called it. :)
 

spat55

Senior member
Jul 2, 2013
539
5
76
That only makes sense on a drive with data, not a freshly formatted HD, unless you specifically told VSS to use that drive as a spare?


Seems VirtualLarry called it. :)

Yeah it seems so (10 points to VirtualLarry) :), I've limited VSS to 2GB now so shouldn't see this issue pop up again. What I'm more annoyed about is the fact I turned off system restore but I guess I must of missed VSS.
 
Last edited: