Re: Files deleted but free space doesn't increase

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Sure. I apologize for doubting you; it's just that Explorer didn't show any
folders "blue" anymore, so I assumed the files had been decompressed already.

What I'm planning to do is re-enable compression on the larger (and
less-used) folders to see if that helps my situation. Otherwise, am I correct
in assuming that I'd have to delete 2TB of data before I saw my free space
start to increase again??

Thanks for all your help.

Jim

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

You write "When I look at TreeSize, it tells me I have nearly 7TB of
file data on the drive, even though it's only a 4.77TB drive." This is
exactly the phenomenon I predicted when I guessed that you were
dealing with a compressed file issue. I think you're on the right path
now - you just need to dig a little deeper.


"JaimeZX" <JaimeZX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:F24F016B-F50E-469C-83C3-79DA4A65AF4B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have a new working theory, please tell me if this makes sense?

* When I began this project, the 4.77TB drive was only about half full and
several directories were compressed. I wanted to speed things up so I
unchecked "Compress files in this folder" and let it work for a while. I
didn't notice much change in the free space and that made sense to me
because
as I mentioned before, most of these files aren't particularly
compressible
to start with.

When I copied the files from one place to another, it may have
decompressed
them, such that while file 01CYEE2B.I42 was 284kb in /1/ and /2/, in fact
in
/1/ it was semi-compressed and in /2/ it was not, so the files in /2/ took
up
more space on the drive.

What I still don't get is why as I delete hundreds of GB out of /1/, the
free space doesn't increase much at all? Is it "expanding" previously
compressed files to fill up the available room? If so, why doesn't it take
up
the last available (now) 1.10GB?

When I look at TreeSize, it tells me I have nearly 7TB of file data on the
drive, even though it's only a 4.77TB drive. Several folders that I have
previously un-checked "compress files in this folder" do not show up
"blue"
in Explorer but show up "blue" in TreeSize, and indeed if I right-click ->
properties them, they appear to be still compressed by about 1/3.

So is my problem that although I'm deleting hundreds of GB, the remaining
2.5TB "overage" is decompressing to fill up the space?

Thanks again, this is very interesting but frustrating at the same time.

Jim

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

All of this can be explained if the two following conditions are met:
- Drive F: is an NTFS volume with file compression enabled.
- Your files are highly compressible.

You can test their compressibility by zipping up one of them and
comparing
its uncompressed with its zipped-up size.

You could confirm my suspicion by running this command:
dir f:\ /s | find /i "bytes"
It will probably show a final figure that exceeds your partition
capacity.


"JaimeZX" <JaimeZX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:37F7A4B9-4198-46D8-ACEC-F317A6E5FE6D@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Prepare for further baffling:
-------------------------------------------------

Wed 10/08/2008 17:04:02.14
Before emptying "F:\PFPS\NGA\3\rpf\cib1\X"
Volume in drive F is GPLDisk
Volume Serial Number is 30A9-7549

Directory of F:\PFPS\NGA\3\rpf\cib1\X

10/08/2008 04:32 PM <DIR> .
10/08/2008 04:32 PM <DIR> ..
05/22/2006 06:01 AM 290,080 01CYEE2B.I42
05/22/2006 06:01 AM 290,080 01CYEF2B.I42
05/22/2006 06:01 AM 290,080 01CYEG2B.I42
05/22/2006 06:01 AM 290,080 01CYEH2B.I42
(snip)
10/21/2005 08:48 AM 290,823 021GXN1B.I42
10/21/2005 08:48 AM 290,823 021GXP1B.I42
93830 File(s) 27,216,271,166 bytes
2 Dir(s) 1,140,289,536 bytes free
Total # of free bytes : 1140293632
Total # of bytes : 5247106805760
Total # of avail free bytes : 1140293632

After emptying "F:\PFPS\NGA\3\rpf\cib1\X"
Volume in drive F is GPLDisk
Volume Serial Number is 30A9-7549

Directory of F:\PFPS\NGA\3\rpf\cib1\X

10/08/2008 05:05 PM <DIR> .
10/08/2008 05:05 PM <DIR> ..
0 File(s) 0 bytes
2 Dir(s) 1,164,267,520 bytes free
Total # of free bytes : 1164267520
Total # of bytes : 5247106805760
Total # of avail free bytes : 1164267520

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

How the heck does that work? According to calc.exe I should now have
28,356,564,798 free bytes.

:p

Jim

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

The strange thing is that when I give you a self-logging batch file to
create and delete a big file then things work out exactly as expected.
On
the other hand, when you do things manually then they don't. It seems
necessary to repeat the deletion exercise, but this time with
***your***
files and with the process documenting itself. Try this batch file:

@echo off
set Active=no
set Drive=F:
set Folder=%Drive%\Some Folder Name

echo %date% %time% > c:\test.txt
echo.
echo Before emptying "%folder%" >> c:\test.txt
dir "%folder%" >> c:\test.txt
fsutil volume diskfree %Drive% >> c:\test.txt

if /i %Active%==yes (
del /q "%folder%\*.*" 1>>c:\test.txt 2>>&1
) else (
echo del /q "%folder%\*.*"
)
echo. >> c:\test.txt
echo After emptying "%folder%" >> c:\test.txt
dir "%folder%" >> c:\test.txt
fsutil volume diskfree %Drive% >> c:\test.txt

notepad c:\test.txt

Adjust lines 3 and 4 to suit your environment. Do not add any double
quotes
to the folder name and leave the "Set active=no" line as it is. Now
run
the
batch file from the Command Prompt. It will show you the "delete"
command
used if it was active. If you're happy that the command is correct,
modify
Line 2 like so:
set Active=yes
Do not add any spaces other than between "set" and "Active". Now run
the
batch file and examine the evidence.


"JaimeZX" <JaimeZX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ACD9CBF6-2DAD-4614-88E5-EBACCA84EE4E@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I can certainly understand why you would say that, but here's what
confuses
me:
Let's say I want to delete f:\1\*.*, which as I said is 100,000
files
for
28GB. I determine this two ways: first, in the window status bar it
says
"100,000 files 28GB" and second, if I right click -> properties on
the
folder
for "1," it says "100,000 files, 28GB."

So if I right-click -> delete the directory numbered 1, OR if I go
into
the
command prompt to do that, the directory goes away. But as I say,
the
free
space doesn't increase. I've been doing some further research and
have
read
that UNIX occasionally stores files in more than one location, but I
haven't
seen anything along those lines for NTFS. How else would you go
about
deleting the files?

(I guess what I'm saying is that I'm 99% sure I am not deleting a
shortcut.)

Thanks for all of your help, I *do* appreciate your thoughts!

Jim

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

The test you ran shows clearly that the amount of free space
decreased
when
you created a large file and it increased when you deleted this
same
file.
Conclusions:
- File deletion does work as expected.
- When you think you're deleting one of your own big files
then you're deleting something other than that file.

I suspect you deleted a link. The file behind the link is still
there.


"JaimeZX" <JaimeZX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9C044B7D-CE03-49E1-A7A8-BDD09CD095C5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Well that seems to have run okay.
--------------------------------
Wed 10/08/2008 12:30:15.73
Before creating the big test file
Total # of free bytes : 1145970688
Total # of bytes : 5247106805760
Total # of avail free bytes : 1145970688

After creating the big test file
Total # of free bytes : 1045966848
Total # of bytes : 5247106805760
Total # of avail free bytes : 1045966848

After deleting the big test file
Total # of free bytes : 1145970688
Total # of bytes : 5247106805760
Total # of avail free bytes : 1145970688

One minute later . . .
Total # of free bytes : 1145970688
Total # of bytes : 5247106805760
Total # of avail free bytes : 1145970688
--------------------------------

So why would that work and clear up space when
del f:\1\*.*
(28GB in 100,000 files) does nothing?

Jim


"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

This is getting a little bizarre. Let's put your machine on the
lie
detector
by running a set of non-GUI commands. Copy the lines below into
c:\test.bat, then run c:\test.bat from a Command Prompt:
@echo off
set size=100000000
if exist c:\big.bin del c:\big.bin

echo %date% %time% > c:\test.txt
echo.
echo Before creating the big test file >> c:\test.txt
fsutil volume diskfree c: >> c:\test.txt

fsutil file createnew c:\big.bin %size%
echo. >> c:\test.txt
echo After creating the big test file >> c:\test.txt
fsutil volume diskfree c: >> c:\test.txt

del c:\big.bin
echo. >> c:\test.txt
echo After deleting the big test file >> c:\test.txt
fsutil volume diskfree c: >> c:\test.txt

echo Pausing for a minute . . .
ping localhost -n 60 > nul
echo. >> c:\test.txt
echo One minute later . . . >> c:\test.txt
fsutil volume diskfree c: >> c:\test.txt
notepad c:\test.txt

The batch file will create and delete a 100 MByte file while
monitoring
the
amount of free disk space. Post the contents of the notepad
screen
you
see
at the end.


"JaimeZX" <JaimeZX@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:52CC23F7-AC72-4A3B-89FC-A3082E5ABCD0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry for the delay, I had to wait for chkdisk to finish and
then
last-minute
trip out of town.

.

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