Member Avatar for influence

Ok... Let me start from the beginning..

I was trying to back-up some of my files in from my computer by creating a backup file.
I had the info copying into a drive dedicated for backup.. Approximately 15 gig drive.
Well, during the process it stopped and told me that there wasnt enough space on the drive to complete the process. So, I canceled it.
Then I proceeded to delete every file off of the back-up drive.
Now this drive should be completely empty... I see no files.
But the drives capacity is only 13.3now..
I seemed to have lost 1.7 gigs of space on this drive and I dont know what is eating it up.
I even tried to do a error-check in properties of the drive and Windows found issues and supposedly cleaned them up... But I am still missing the 1.7 Gig of space taken up by nothing that I can see..
Also when I click on properties it shows 1.7 gigs being "used".

Please help...
Thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by dlh6213

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A short diagnosis and practical checklist based on the thread so far (notes on , , and ): when Windows shows used space but Explorer shows nothing, the usual causes are hidden/system folders (Recycle Bin/RECYCLER), chkdsk recovery fragments (FOUND.000 / .CHK files), a pagefile placed on the backup volume, or file-system corruption/MFT bookkeeping. Since an error-check reported fixes but the space is still shown used, focus first on locating the invisible files before formatting.

Quick, safe checks (in roughly this order):

  • Inspect the volume from another environment (attach the disk to a different machine or boot a Linux live CD/USB / Windows PE). That avoids “drive in use” locks and lets you browse and format safely.
  • Use a disk-usage viewer (WinDirStat or TreeSize Free) run as administrator to show which folders hold the space — these tools reveal hidden and system folders visually and are the fastest way to find a large hidden folder.
  • If you must use the Command Prompt on the machine, make hidden/system files visible temporarily to inspect the root for RECYCLER, FOUND.*, System Volume Information or pagefile.sys. One supported way to unhide for inspection is:
    attrib -s -h D:\*.* /s /d

    (Replace D: with the drive letter. Back up first — this only reveals files.)

How to reclaim once you identify the culprit: empty the drive’s Recycle Bin (or remove its RECYCLER folder), verify and then delete .CHK files in any FOUND.* folder (they are recovered fragments), move or remove a pagefile if it was placed there via System → Advanced → Performance → Virtual Memory, or run a full chkdsk and then re-scan. If all else fails and you have a verified backup, format the partition from another machine or boot media to avoid “in use” errors.

Caution: always back up before deleting system files or formatting. If uncertain about .CHK contents, copy them off before deleting.

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Member Avatar for alc6379

Is this drive set up as the drive where the paging file resides?

That could account for the space consumption. Otherwise, you might want to reformat the drive to regain the space. If you cannot format the drive because it says it's in use, I'd seriously suspect your paging file is on that drive.

Member Avatar for influence

Is this drive set up as the drive where the paging file resides?

That could account for the space consumption. Otherwise, you might want to reformat the drive to regain the space. If you cannot format the drive because it says it's in use, I'd seriously suspect your paging file is on that drive.

It will not let me format the drive.
How do I find out if my paging files are on it?
How did they get on it if they werent there before?

It says: "Windows cannor format this drive. Quit any disk utilities or other programs that are using this drive, and make sure that no window is displaying the contents of the drive. Then try formatting again."

I see nothing in the drive and nothing else is running.

Im lost...

Member Avatar for caperjack

Open the drive in mycomputer and go to tool/folder options/view to check to see it its set to show hidden files and folders .
Also i would right click on mycomputer/properties /system restore /and make sure system restore is not checked on this drive .

Member Avatar for influence

Open the drive in mycomputer and go to tool/folder options/view to check to see it its set to show hidden files and folders .
Also i would right click on mycomputer/properties /system restore /and make sure system restore is not checked on this drive .

I clicked show hidden files and it shows nothing.
Sytem restore is not checked....
Thank you both for your help so far, It still gives me hope.

Member Avatar for dlh6213

To see what's there, you need to also uncheck 'Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)' Then you will be able to see Page files, Swap files, Recycle Bin, and anything else in there. You should remember to 'recheck' it when you're done.

I had a similar problem back in November, and alc6379 suggested this (and it worked):

Try booting to the recovery console on your Windows XP CD. If you can get into it that way, you won't be using any swap space, and should be able to format it.

Thanks Alex!

Member Avatar for dlh6213

To see what's there, you need to also uncheck 'Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)' Then you will be able to see Page files, Swap files, Recycle Bin, and anything else in there. You should remember to 'recheck' it when you're done.

I had a similar problem back in November, and alc6379 suggested this (and it worked):

Try booting to the recovery console on your Windows XP CD. If you can get into it that way, you won't be using any swap space, and should be able to format it.

Thanks Alex!

Some words of caution on my last post:

First, make sure you have everything important to you backed up on some media outside of the computer (CD's, flash drive, external hard drive, etc.); you never know what could go wrong.

I don't know how many drives/partitions you have on this computer, but when you use the Recovery Console to format, your drive letters will most likely be off by one letter. For instance, if you choose e:\, that will probably be what you commonly know as your 'f' drive. Before you format any drive, use the dir (Directory) command to be sure the drive you are about to format is indeed the one you want formatted.

The Directory command would look like this:
e:\>dir Then, when you hit Enter, the contents of the drive will be listed. The one you are looking to format should only have a couple of small files listed.

<I hope this isn't too 'wordy' and makes some sense :)>

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