Fixed: Disappearing Disk Space

[Haden]

Try to find wich directory grows that big (at boot take a loot at c:\ root directory sizes, after no space left check which one holds it, probably c:\windows. reboot and go deeper...) not much of advice but might help locate problem.

 

[MrMilney]

Originally posted by: Haden
Try to find wich directory grows that big (at boot take a loot at c:\ root directory sizes, after no space left check which one holds it, probably c:\windows. reboot and go deeper...) not much of advice but might help locate problem.

I've been doing exactly this and like I've said none of my directories ever change size (except the recycle bin and not by gigabytes per day!).

 

[MrMilney]

Originally posted by: kursplat
could be your page file is just growing untill it eats all your free space. you could try setting a max size for it.
good luck

Like I said above, my pagefile is fixed at 1GB.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: MrMilney

Originally posted by: kursplat
could be your page file is just growing untill it eats all your free space. you could try setting a max size for it.
good luck

Like I said above, my pagefile is fixed at 1GB.

Are you sure? Windows can possibly be dynamically re-allocating it. Go to the command prompt (go to run, and type "cmd" (without quotes)) and type "systeminfo" (without quotes). This will print out a bunch of stuff. Look at the memory sizes and check back.

 

[Bleep]

Mist:

Do I know you? does your last name start with a C?

Bleep

 

[MrMilney]

Originally posted by: KraziKid

Originally posted by: MrMilney

Originally posted by: kursplat
could be your page file is just growing untill it eats all your free space. you could try setting a max size for it.
good luck

Like I said above, my pagefile is fixed at 1GB.

Are you sure? Windows can possibly be dynamically re-allocating it. Go to the command prompt (go to run, and type "cmd" (without quotes)) and type "systeminfo" (without quotes). This will print out a bunch of stuff. Look at the memory sizes and check back.

If I right-click on My Computer, select Properties, go to the Advanced tab, click the Performance Settings button, go to the Advanced tab, and click on the Virtual Memory Change button I see that I have set the initial and maximum size for my page file on drive C: to be 1024MB.

However, when I run systeminfo as you suggested I see the following:

Total Physical Memory: 511 MB
Available Physical Memory: 297 MB
Virtual Memory: Max Size: 2,018 MB
Virtual Memory: Available: 1,648 MB
Virtual Memory: In Use: 370 MB
Page File Location(s): C:\pagefile.sys

I have tracked the size of the page file itself (pagefile.sys) and it never changes.

 

[crisp82]

Do you check the size of the root folders after you restart? If so, try checking them before you shuttwon (if you can). I get the feeling this is a file ecountering an error and reproducing itself over an over til you have no HD space left. Have you snagged all the updates from Windows Update?

Run a virus check, sounds like it could be a virus as well...

 

[prosaic]

I suppose malicious software could be at fault, but the only thing I've seen eat up hard drive space this quickly was a debug or monitoring process that writes all of its 'observations' to a log file.

Do you have any debug or aggressive logging processes running? A typical scenario that I've seen is that someone uses a program like Bootvis but give in inappropriate settings so that it runs constantly instead of just analyzing the initial boot-to-desktop sequences. A process like that can fill any hard drive in a matter of hours. The fact that it is cleaning up after itself (e.g. the space is freed by a reboot) is highly suggestive.

- prosaic

 

[MrMilney]

Originally posted by: crisp82
Do you check the size of the root folders after you restart? If so, try checking them before you shuttwon (if you can). I get the feeling this is a file ecountering an error and reproducing itself over an over til you have no HD space left. Have you snagged all the updates from Windows Update?

Run a virus check, sounds like it could be a virus as well...

I've already run a couple virus checks (using the lates definitions a la Norton). I have logged (on paper) the size of all the root folders and, like I said, none of them change no matter how mush disk space goes missing on me. Nor do any of the files sitting in the root directory (specifically pagefile.sys). And, yes, I am running all the latest updates.

 

[MrMilney]

Originally posted by: prosaic
I suppose malicious software could be at fault, but the only thing I've seen eat up hard drive space this quickly was a debug or monitoring process that writes all of its 'observations' to a log file.

Do you have any debug or aggressive logging processes running? A typical scenario that I've seen is that someone uses a program like Bootvis but give in inappropriate settings so that it runs constantly instead of just analyzing the initial boot-to-desktop sequences. A process like that can fill any hard drive in a matter of hours. The fact that it is cleaning up after itself (e.g. the space is freed by a reboot) is highly suggestive.

- prosaic

I've suspected a misbehaving logger too, but I don't actually actively log anything on my system. I did run Bootvis a while back and it didn't seem to work too well for me. However, I don't even have it on my system any more. With the executable gone, is it possible that it's still logging somehow?

 

[crisp82]

If it was still running it would show up in the processes column of the task manager. This is a very baffling problem....really got me stumped! How long does it take to fill the HD. Does the time vary if you are running programs? Does it happen more quickly under certain programs? Have you un-installed all the programs that you installed before it happened?

 

[MrMilney]

Originally posted by: crisp82
If it was still running it would show up in the processes column of the task manager. This is a very baffling problem....really got me stumped! How long does it take to fill the HD. Does the time vary if you are running programs? Does it happen more quickly under certain programs? Have you un-installed all the programs that you installed before it happened?

I've checked the running processes for anything I didn?t recognize and nothing there stood out. The couple I didn't immediately know I was able to track down. It takes about a day to fill the free 20GB on drive C: and it doesn't seem to matter what, if anything, I run during that time. It is extremely weird and I am ready to go the scorched earth approach and just format.

 

[crisp82]

Have you installed any drivers or hardware before it happened. Can you post your specs?

 

[Haden]

What is really strange is that you can't find where free space goes.
Just to be sure, you take into account hidden/system files? Maybe try FAR or some other commander.

 

[crisp82]

Online WD drive test. Take it. Try downloading the other utilities too, wrth a try, but I still suspect foul coding is behind this.

 

[prosaic]

Well, yes, I think it is possible. You see, some tools like Bootvis make use of the operating system's built-in performance monitoring / trace debugging cabilities to gather the data that gets written to log files. I have also seen people use the performance monitoring system directly in inappropriate ways that can result in the accumulation of huge log files, too. If someone uses a tool like Bootvis or the Performance Monitors and if the registry entries were left set to continue gathering data continuously then you might well see such behavior -- especially if there is a misbehaving device driver on the system that is causing data to be accumulated in a trace.log at a high rate. Most such files, IME, are named <such-and-such>trace.log, usually with a date incorporated into the file name.

I believe that you said that you have looked for large files while the system is in operation, but you wouldn't see these using the Windows Search tool, at least not if you're using the default settings for Windows Explorer which control the viewing of system folders and their contents and the viewing of critical system files.

Other things besides the deliberate use of diagnostic tools or utilities like Bootvis might trigger rapidly accumulating log files. Various error conditions in system operation can the creation of logs, for instance.

The possibilities are numerous. Maybe you can find something if you go looking with these things in mind.

- prosaic

 

[crisp82]

Is anything overclocked?

 

[MrMilney]

Originally posted by: crisp82
Is anything overclocked?

Nothing's overclocked. My complete system specs can be seen by following the "My Space Heaters" link on my sig (this system's name is Picard).

 

[MrMilney]

Originally posted by: prosaic
Well, yes, I think it is possible. You see, some tools like Bootvis make use of the operating system's built-in performance monitoring / trace debugging cabilities to gather the data that gets written to log files. I have also seen people use the performance monitoring system directly in inappropriate ways that can result in the accumulation of huge log files, too. If someone uses a tool like Bootvis or the Performance Monitors and if the registry entries were left set to continue gathering data continuously then you might well see such behavior -- especially if there is a misbehaving device driver on the system that is causing data to be accumulated in a trace.log at a high rate. Most such files, IME, are named <such-and-such>trace.log, usually with a date incorporated into the file name.

I believe that you said that you have looked for large files while the system is in operation, but you wouldn't see these using the Windows Search tool, at least not if you're using the default settings for Windows Explorer which control the viewing of system folders and their contents and the viewing of critical system files.

Other things besides the deliberate use of diagnostic tools or utilities like Bootvis might trigger rapidly accumulating log files. Various error conditions in system operation can the creation of logs, for instance.

The possibilities are numerous. Maybe you can find something if you go looking with these things in mind.

- prosaic

I didn't have much luck with Bootvis the first time I tried using it and deleted it from my system. Today I figured I had nothing to lose so I re-installed it, re-read the directions for using it (turns out I was doing something wrong the first time) and let it run its course. That was a few hours ago and in the mean time I haven't lost any space on my hard drive at all! It makes sense, in retrospect, that Bootvis would use built-in logging and measuring features of WinXP to do its work. It seems that by not allowing it to finish its job the right way the first time I tired it I set myself up for some interesting problems down the road.

Thank you crisp82, and especially you prosaic for all your help! It seems that we tracked down the problem, and my system boots faster now too!

 

[Mist]

No, I don't think you know me, Bleep.

Mist is derived from my name, Michael, which gives the first two letters, Mi

St is the first two letters of my surname.

Michael.

 

[prosaic]

I didn't have much luck with Bootvis the first time I tried using it and deleted it from my system. Today I figured I had nothing to lose so I re-installed it, re-read the directions for using it (turns out I was doing something wrong the first time) and let it run its course. That was a few hours ago and in the mean time I haven't lost any space on my hard drive at all! It makes sense, in retrospect, that Bootvis would use built-in logging and measuring features of WinXP to do its work. It seems that by not allowing it to finish its job the right way the first time I tired it I set myself up for some interesting problems down the road.

Thank you crisp82, and especially you prosaic for all your help! It seems that we tracked down the problem, and my system boots faster now too!

I'm glad you were able to track down the problem. This isn't an unusual happening with respect to Bootvis. If you don't know what to expect from it it can appear to have wandered off into la-la land. But, as many people have learned, it is best not to interrupt it while it's doing its thing. It's cool that it helped you get faster boot times. It's a nice tool, but Microsoft should probably take some more obvious steps to make the user aware of what to expect when the utility is doing its reboot / optimization thing.

- prosaic

 

[crisp82]

Sweet system Btw . Glad you fixed it.