How do I 'undo' Diskcleanup's compression?

[Bub Norm]

Hi to all...

I used Diskcleanup on my Windows XP Pro machine and took the option of
compressing files to save disk space. However, I now want to 'undo' this
compression. How is this done please???

Thanks in advance...

 

[purplehaz]

It's not done(at least not manually). When you access the file it auto
de-compresses. Why would you need to have the old and barely used files
uncompress?

 

[Bub Norm]

Hi
Thanks for reply to my question. I have noticed a considerable decrease in
speed, particularly with (for some reason) Windows Media Player, and have
noticed that the compression has affected parts of programs like Adobe
Photoshop etc. I am aware of this by the 'colouring' of the newly
compressed files, and there are quite a few!
I just wanted the option of reverting back to the uncompressed state, I
understand that the XP way is 'on the fly' and unlike the old days of
'DriveSpace', however I would have thought that there may be a way.
Thanks for you help again!
;-)

 

[purplehaz]

You're welcome and sorry I couldn't help more. There is a tweak that stops
disk cleanup from compressing files. It's available on this site(sorry not
direct link to the fix but it on the site in the tweaks section I think)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm

 

[Sarge]

I just wanted the option of reverting back to the uncompressed state, I
understand that the XP way is 'on the fly' and unlike the old days of
'DriveSpace', however I would have thought that there may be a way.

AFAIK there's no way to selectively decompress *only* the files that were
compressed with the disk cleanup tool, because I don't know that XP
maintains a log of those filenames. You can however decompress individual
files, folders or an entire volume from a command prompt. Search the Help
and Support Center for the "compact" command.

 

[Bub Norm]

Hi,
Thanks for replies The trouble is exactly that, the Diskcleanup has
compressed literally hundreds if not thousands of files, all over the place!
And I would have thought that there *MUST* be a way to undo this, obviously
not in the way I'm thinking

Thanks again

 

[MaryL]

Just a guess, but have you tried System Restore? Be sure to create a new
one before you try it, but I think this should make it possible for you to
revert to the previous condition.

MaryL