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General discussion

My Vista D drive is full, folders properties list 0 bytes

Feb 11, 2009 9:31AM PST

Hi Folks, I am running a Vista Acer laptop. My 111GB D drive is full. From what I understand, this drive is for backups. It has three forlders, two of which are empty and the third has a few MB. I expanded the tree and deleted most of my backups. I kept about 15. All folders are unhidden. Deleting the old backups didn't get me any space back even after reboot. In the properties of each backup it the files are listed as having 0 bytes. What is going on? What is filling up my D drive, 111GB in 6 months. I changed the backup frequency from daily to monthly, this will help in the future but how do I get my space back. I am afraid to reformat the drive but if I cant figure out how to delete what is taking up the space, I might have to. Anyone have a problem like this.

Discussion is locked

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Have you researched 'shadowstorage'?
Feb 11, 2009 9:40AM PST
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Still need help with full D drive
Feb 11, 2009 9:58AM PST

Thanks but this didn't help. Something, which I can't see, has already used the space. Show hidden files is already selected but everything I can see adds up to less then 11GB however the D drive itself is showing it only has a few MB of space left on 111GB drive. The backup files themselves properties list them as having "0 bytes". Weird?

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See "Error Reports." (Use help to find it)
Feb 11, 2009 10:26AM PST

What is it, "if" it's there? Post it here.

I would suggest keeping only 7 or so restore points. That's my opinion. You must come to your own concultion based on what you feel comfortable with.

A third solution might be registry repair. You might try registry repair software but this has risks.

http://www.download.com/1770-20_4-0.html?query=registry+repair&tag=srch&searchtype=downloads&filterName=platform%3DWindows&filter=platform%3DWindows

Should you decide to do the registry repair, you do so at your own risk.

See here for a few nightmarish examples:

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6138_102-0.html?forumID=31&threadID=169176&messageID=1871431&tag=forums06;forum-threads

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last possible cause
Feb 11, 2009 11:39AM PST

looping process in process manager that is creating a date store. If this is the problem re-install the OS. There is no solution to this problem to date. Cause ......... data corruption.

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Will reformatting the d drive work?
Feb 11, 2009 11:59AM PST

Will reformatting the d drive work? or will it just keep happening?

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WARNING
Feb 11, 2009 1:57PM PST

Do that and you loose all data on the D drive. You start over! You may have no choice but to start over. Unless it's very bad, do nothing until others have made further suggestions. If nothing works, well then ........

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I think I might have the looping process error but not sure
Feb 15, 2009 12:31AM PST

How do I know if it is a "looping process" error? I copied just the last backup file from D: to C: and when I expand the tree in C: it reads backup files1.zip all the way down to backup files24.zip. Could this mean it duplicated the file 24 times? Is this the looping problem or is this normal? I don't know what a backup file should look like. Each of these files look like they have the same folders inside. When I expand the tree of the copied backup as far as I can, it looks like it copied the last file 17 times. Each is named the same but each one is larger than the next in size. I wish I could show you a screen shot. If this is the looping process error, do you know if it is typically confined to one drive or could it be system wide? -Melissa

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First off,
Feb 15, 2009 6:40AM PST

these are two different things. An error can cause a large volume of needless data and so can a looping process.

To check for errors go to "help and support" and type in "error reports". There you may fine a repetitive error. List it here, maybe we can fix it. This error will be reported far more then all the rest, perhaps in the 1,000s or more, on a daily basis.

To check for that looping process use help and support again. This time enter this sentence ....... "What do the Task Manager memory columns mean?". Read this then open process manager. Look for a large volume process in process manager. We are looking for a processes that is using a huge amount of processor resources. It's using lots of resources because it's try to or can not read a file that has become unreadable/corrupt. It is reacting to this by creating a report. It goes through this serious of steps endlessly and very quickly. It's looping. It's stuck in one place doing the same thing over and over again. If you find it, list it here.

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The point being
Feb 15, 2009 7:12AM PST

data becomes corrupt. I viewed this video over six months ago it was crystal clear, nearly high definition. (yes, I realize some shots where made with a frosted lenses. See the musician while sitting and singing in the studio, even here the image quality has begun to regrade. Also note the introductory screen with production data posted on it.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBmAUlF7Woo&feature=channel_page

This video has been viewed now over 2,000,000 times and has become fuzzy. 2,000,000 more views and it may not be clearly visible at all. I believe the cause is hardware memory leakage. YouTube has millions of these gradually degrading video files. Each pass through the hardware make them worse. Those that are viewed the most are the most effected. All of them go through various scans periodically so all will become corrupted over time. Try it for yourself, find a new popular video and check back on it from time to time.

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Here is the error report:
Feb 15, 2009 7:40AM PST

Microsoft Office Diagnostic report

Description
NIL.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: OffDiag12
Problem Signature 01: c103f452-9f16-404e-abf8-be0c666465d6face4d38-3b24-4705-8e18-b2b7edf06c7e
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Files that help describe the problem
46627544.od
CrashHangs.log
DiskErrors.log
od.cvr
OfficeDiagnostics.log
OfficeSessions.log
SetupDiagnostics.xml
smart.xml
systemaudit.log
SystemRestore.wql
WindowsInstaller.log

View a temporary copy of these files
Warning: If a virus or other security threat caused the problem, opening a copy of the files could harm your computer.

Extra information about the problem
LCID: 1033

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See this
Feb 15, 2009 3:19PM PST
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What I found in task manager
Feb 15, 2009 7:57AM PST

The process using the greatest memmory: ieplore.exe 194,352K

process using greatest cpu:
system idle process 84
taskmgr.exe 7
virtual pc.exe 2

I have several programs running and cpu performance is 14% or less
physical memmory is steady at 1.38GB


I don't see anything abnormal but I'm not that confident I would see a problem anyway. I can't thank you enough for helping me.

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Have you...
Feb 11, 2009 11:11AM PST

Have you also enabled the viewing of protected system files/folders in addition to hidden files/folders? It is a separate option in the same location.

John

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still can only see less than 11GB of files taking up space
Feb 11, 2009 11:21AM PST

Hi John, Yes I have. I just used c cleaner and cleaned the system and registry errors. I now have 7GB free now but still can only see less than 11GB of files taking up space. What I would really like to know is why in the properties box of the backup files would it read 0 bytes. Does that make any sense?

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D drive issue
Jun 19, 2010 8:36AM PDT

I had the same problem. Apparently a failed backup can cause the problem. I copied all important files (backup and restore files) to C drive and then formatted the D drive. Moved the important stuff back to D and everything OK.

Hope this helps.

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Acer D Drive is full, but folder properties list 0 bytes . .
Feb 27, 2009 1:21AM PST

Melbaround, did you ever find a solution to your problem? I am having the exact same problem. No matter where I click in D Drive, there is very little data there. I've performed cleanups and defrags, and D Drive still shows a full. I can no longer backup my data. I followed some advice given here, in particular, looking at the Windows Task Manager Processes, and I can't tell if anything is out of order. My iexplore.exe was similar to yours. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but I don't know if I'd recognize something amiss.

I'd like to start using the backup again and would appreciate help.

Thanks.

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Is that IE process running whether your on line or off?
Feb 27, 2009 7:31AM PST
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Still having problems
Feb 27, 2009 8:07AM PST

Unfortunatly I am still having the problem. I believe I ran chkdsk.exe from the command line and freed up about 10GB. I also ran Ccleaner (free download from cnet) and it freed up a small amount of space. I have not given up and will let you know if I find a better solution; just haven't had time to work on it. I am considering reformatting the D drive but holding off as a last resort. I think I might have the same problem with the C drive as well but still have 40GB left so not so concerned yet. Do you have an Acer? Let me know if I can help or if you find a solution. -Melissa

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D Drive is full
Feb 27, 2009 9:48AM PST

I have an Acer and my D Drive was full even though the files were nearly empty. I finally fixed the problem by right clicking on the D Drive. I clicked on "Format," then I clicked the "Restore Device Defalt" button. I did backup important files beforehand. Now, D Drive is empty. I don't know if the automatic backup will work tomorrow morning because files are not set up in D Drive. I'll know tomorrow. But, I did clean up the D Drive, finally . . .
Kit

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Compaq Laptop
May 18, 2010 7:23PM PDT

Hi there, I am having exactly the same problem, My laptop is the same. I havnt been able to figure it out so unable to help but its interesting to hear someone else is having the same problems. Please advise if you are able to give me any ideas, thanks

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Not much to figure out.
May 18, 2010 10:18PM PDT

D drive is usually marked to not show/report low disk space. However many will run a registry cleaner or something else that removes this setting.

Next thing you know the owner thinks there is a problem. Sorry but for the restore drive you set it to ignore low space or just ignore that message.
Bob

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Have you done a ...
Jun 21, 2010 5:39PM PDT

...chkdsk /r on the drive ?