Incomplete deletion of very large files

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Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.file_system (More info?)

My problem is apparent failure to delete mammoth files, so my 120GB
drive is rapidly filling up.

I’m recording a VHS video to an avi. The app (QuickTV) creates monster
(~8-10 gig) files, uncompressed. I then compress with VirtualDub using
XvidMPEG4 codec, which gets the file down to about 1/6 its former
size, still really big. Then I delete the original uncompressed file.
It’s usually bigger than the Recycle Bin so the system says it will
delete it directly, without filing in the bin. I never had issues with
this sort of operation in the past.

Now I should have about 80 gig of free space on the drive, but my
Properties checker reads only 51. Over 90 were free a couple days ago
before I started this digital recording process. I’ve created 13gig
worth of new files now on the drive. So around 30 gigabytes of
invisible deleted files are still assigned space by Win 2000.

How can I pull these weeds so I free up space? Thanks.

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Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.file_system (More info?)

Consider that every file and directory listing (no matter what size) takes
up at least one cluster. Slack space is the area between the end of the file
and the end of the cluster. It can be calculated roughly by taking 1/2 of
the drive's allocation unit (cluster size) times the number of files, this
is the average wasted space. If you have a lot of small files then the
wasted space figure could be larger.

From a command prompt at the root of the drive in question;
chkdsk
to find out your cluster size (allocation unit)

If you find you have damage clusters then after backup you can also run;
chkdsk /r
from the recovery console command line. (/r implies /f ) then the damaged
fragments will be converted to *.chk files so you can delete them.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%

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Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"renlute" wrote:
| My problem is apparent failure to delete mammoth files, so my 120GB
| drive is rapidly filling up.
|
| I'm recording a VHS video to an avi. The app (QuickTV) creates monster
| (~8-10 gig) files, uncompressed. I then compress with VirtualDub using
| XvidMPEG4 codec, which gets the file down to about 1/6 its former
| size, still really big. Then I delete the original uncompressed file.
| It's usually bigger than the Recycle Bin so the system says it will
| delete it directly, without filing in the bin. I never had issues with
| this sort of operation in the past.
|
| Now I should have about 80 gig of free space on the drive, but my
| Properties checker reads only 51. Over 90 were free a couple days ago
| before I started this digital recording process. I've created 13gig
| worth of new files now on the drive. So around 30 gigabytes of
| invisible deleted files are still assigned space by Win 2000.
|
| How can I pull these weeds so I free up space? Thanks.
|
| --
| Posted using the http://www.windowsforumz.com interface, at author's
request
| Articles individually checked for conformance to usenet standards
| Topic URL:
http://www.windowsforumz.com/File-System-Incomplete-deletion-large-ftopict544442.html
| Visit Topic URL to contact author (reg. req'd). Report abuse:
http://www.windowsforumz.com/eform.php?p=1718276