Used drive space too high

[Ron]

In the past 24 hours my C drive used space went from 45 gigs to 111 gigs.
The difference is roughly the equivalent of some very large video files I
generated (from NeroVision), but I have deleted them. I have also emptied
the (Norton protected) recycle bin, done a search for very large files
created/modified in the last 24 hours, allowing system files to be exposed,
rebooted, run various Norton diagnostics, etc. I can't find any recently
created huge files, and the system behaves normally, yet Windows (and
Norton) continue to report this inordinately high used disk space.

Running WinXPHome SP2. The drive in question is IDE, NTFS, 120 gig.

I have a feeling this has something to do with Norton unerease protection,
but so far haven't figured it out. I'd appreciate any advice or explanation
of this phenomenon. Thx, Ron

 

[Ron]

Doh. I just realized that right clicking on the trash bin provides the
option for deleting Norton protected files, which, when done, yields back
(most of) the space I expected. I'm still wondering, though, about these
"protected" files. Where are they stored and how come the OS knows about
the space they take up but Windows Explorer does not "see" them? Will they
be automatically replaced as their space becomes necessary to my apps? Thx,
Ron

 

[FeMaster]

According to what I have read, Norton Protected Recycle Bin holds the files
for so many days (settable via the Properties) option when you right-click
on the recycle bin, or until the space is needed by another application.

As far as the days go, if you have never changed it, the default is 7-days.
After 7-days, the files will automatically be removed from the protected
recycle bin. Change the number of days by going into properties as stated
above...

 

[Ron]

Yes, thanks. I see how to change the protection duration. What I'm
wondering is that if, during that time, an app needs space allocated to
those "deleted-yet-protected" files, does the OS (or Norton?) know enough to
relinquish the space automatically, or do I need to keep track manually?
Also, where are those "deleted-yet-protected" files? Why don't they appear
in explorer?

 

[Richard Urban]

If you are using Norton Protected Recycle Bin you have to empty the recycle
bin under two different locations to have it be completely emptied. Doing
just one of them is not enough. They are
1. Empty Recycle Bin
2. Empty Norton Protected Files

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Ron

Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings and
verify that the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is checked
and "Hide protected operating system files " is unchecked. You may need
to scroll down to see the second item.

Even so you probably aren't seeing the contents of the Volume
Information folder, which contains the System Restore points. If you
select Start, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore to remove all
but the latest restore point you will see a significant increase in free
space.

Note in the Symantec Knowledge Base you need to search on "Norton
Protected Recycle Bin" to get relevant articles.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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[Ron]

Thanks Gerry, comments below.

Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings and
verify that the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is checked and
"Hide protected operating system files " is unchecked. You may need to
scroll down to see the second item.

Yes, I had done this.

Even so you probably aren't seeing the contents of the Volume Information
folder, which contains the System Restore points.

Correct; a few odd things in there, but not the restore points.

If you

select Start, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore to remove all but
the latest restore point you will see a significant increase in free
space.

Right. That button has an ellipsis "..." implying there'd be a menu of
options, but it merely produces what appears to be a confirmation dialog
asking if you really want to delete *all* prior restore points except the
latest. Apparently there's no option to leave any more than the latest, so
I'm leaving that alone.

Note in the Symantec Knowledge Base you need to search on "Norton
Protected Recycle Bin" to get relevant articles.

Yup. I found this: " This feature can quickly fill the Norton Protected
Recycle Bin, which holds a maximum of 1500 files. Once this limit is
reached, Norton Protection makes room for new files by deleting the oldest
files, which may actually be important to you. " So it appears there is an
"auto-purging", athough it also appears it's based on having reached a
*number* limit rather than a *space* limit.

Hope this helps.

It did. Thank you. -Ron

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Ron

How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309531

Before you do that what do you mean by "a few odd things in there"?

What you are seeing regarding System Restore in Disk CleanUp is how it
is. System Restore is useful if you need to undo a disaster in the last
few days but keeping restore points for any longer is a waste of disk
space. Also don't forget it only system files / registry entries. It
does not cover programmes and data files.

I do not know much about the Norton Protected Recycle Bin so it is
difficult to comment further at this time.

This link may help - sorry if it breaks
http://groups-beta.google.com/group...xd=12&as_maxm=3&as_maxy=2005&lr=lang_en&hl=en

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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[Ron]

How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309531

Gerry, yes, thanks, this is what I had done. I just did it again, and have
the System Volume Information folder exposed.

Before you do that what do you mean by "a few odd things in there"?

There are four lines: 1) MountPointManager which appears to be an empty
file. 2) TrackingLog, which appears to be a 20KB text file, but is actually
binary. 3) a folder called _restore(long hex string), and 4) a folder
called catalog.wci . When I looked before, the two folders had not
apppeared in the left pane directory tree, so I dismissed them as "odd
things." Now I see if I explicitly attempt to *explore* them, they do open
(they also suddenly show up in the left pane tree), and the _restore folder
*does* have a large series of folders in it, each named RPnnn, with a
date/time corresponding to restore points in System Restore. (I'm
wondering if I can selectively delete some of them, but will not touch
anything in this folder without understanding it better. Random sampling of
several restore point folders shows them to be on the order of 50 - 60 megs
in size, and there are >120 of them, so I understand what you mean about
gaining back space.)

What you are seeing regarding System Restore in Disk CleanUp is how it is.
System Restore is useful if you need to undo a disaster in the last few
days but keeping restore points for any longer is a waste of disk space.
Also don't forget it only system files / registry entries. It does not
cover programmes and data files.

Understood. But my system auto-generates a restore point once every 24
hours (assuming one has not been generated by my own activity, either
directly or via a program install), and I'm not comfortable deleting all but
one created only 24 hours ago. (I forget if this frequency is
user-configurable. I don't see that setting in the SystemRestore tab of
System Properties. But, if so, I'll lengthen it later on, after I'm out of
my current period of greater-than-average program installation activity.)

I do not know much about the Norton Protected Recycle Bin so it is
difficult to comment further at this time.

I explored further - something I should have done in first place, sorry -
and now realize I had the bin configured to behave like the classic XP bin.
After reconfiguring it so that a double click shows "all protected files,"
I can now expose them and selectively delete the ones I want. (I can also
prevent selective file types, like .avi and .mpg, from being protected in
the first place.)

Where these protected files are actually stored is still a mystery to me,
since they never appear in Windows Explorer. Maybe the answer will show up
in your compilation below, which I will study. Many thanks! -Ron

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Ron

Right click on the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select,
Properties, System Restore, Settings. This will give you the amount of
Disk Space allocated to System Restore in terms of % of size of Drive
and megabytes or gigabytes. The maximum is 12%, which is often
excessive. You van move the slider to the left to reduce the size of the
allocation. Once the allocated space is fully taken the oldest restore
point is removed when a new restore point is created ( or it should
be ).

Next right click on your Volume Information Folder and select
Properties. Is the size of the folder and contents less that the space
allocated to System Restore? It should be but there have been cases
where it is not.

All but the latest restore points will be in a blue type meaning that
they are compressed files. If you check Properties you can see the files
original size and it's compressed size.

You should not selectively delete any files in the Volume Information
Folder as these files are logged and you will corrupt the system. You
should either turn System Restore off and then turn it back on. This
removes all restore points. This is a good idea if you have a virus
infection and the restore points are infected. When you turn System
Restore back on the system will start to create new restore points. The
other option is to select System Restore on the More Options tab in Disk
CleanUp to remove all but the latest restore point.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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