Everytime I defragment with Defraggler, I find that I have less space. I use Vista Business.
Why is this?
Is there a way of fixing this?
Thanks for your time.
Take care,
RedStarYellowSun
I have the same issue. I just downloaded Defraggler yesterday and ran it on my entire hard drive. I have a 465 GB hard drive. Before I started Defraggler I had about 220GB free. After running it I suddenly have only 89GB free. What happened? Why did it suddenly eat 130GB of my drive space?
- Seth
By the way, I have XP SP3. I also just ran a disk space analyzer, and it says I'm only using 195GB of my disk - not the 375GB that Windows thinks I am using after I ran Defraggler. What did this program do to my computer?
Really?
In my case, there is this "System Volume Information" that keeps consuming more and more of my space and I cannot defrag that data.
How about you guys?
Take care,
RedStarYellowSun
I don't know what happened, but I ran regular disk defragmenter for awhile, and all my lost free space came back. Weird stuff. I could never find that lost space anywhere. Two separate disk space analyzers said I only had 195GB on my hard drive.
I don't know what happened, but I ran regular disk defragmenter for awhile, and all my lost free space came back. Weird stuff. I could never find that lost space anywhere. Two separate disk space analyzers said I only had 195GB on my hard drive.
Wow, that's weird.
I have an idea, though. Is there some undefragmentable files there that are entitled "System Volume Information"?
I hear that when a non-Windows defragger program modifies the disk, Windows saves information for backup. I heard that there is a way of shutting this of, but I don't remember how.
same thing happen to me too, it keep changing my total hdd space from 150>160>170>160>150>140>150gb after i save/delete/defragger my file...
RedStarYellowSun >> System Volume Information is the folder where system Restore Points (and Shadow Copies on Vista / Seven) are stored.
SethMcC >> Maybe try a Chkdsk..
What you are seeing is completely "normal". Normal in a sence that it isn't Defragglers fault, but "" as it is caused by the slightly stupid way the shadow copy system in Windows discover changes to the files. The issue is that not only deletes or changes to files make Windows store a shadow copy for recovery, but also changes to where on disk things are. The idea is probably that it should be possible to go back to exactly the way the system were before. Meaning not only restoring the files, but also having the same information in the exact same location on the disk. I cannot for the life of me see why it is necessary to implement the system to work like this...
Anyway, turn it off before defragging and back on again when done. Be aware of that turning it off deletes all restore points so be sure you have no settings you want restored, files you have deleted that you might want back or have changes you might want to undo. This ensures you have more free space when defragging, less unfragmentable space locked by the restore points and Windows doesn't go bananas during your defrag session by creating a heap of huge restore points.
To turn it off in Vista go to Control Panel->System and Maintenance->System->System Protection. Uncheck the checkbox next to the drive you want to defrag.
Regarding the posts in this thread about Free Space Allocation on Vista machine Hard Drives;
I have put together a 'Help Sheet' gleaned over time, I find it has been useful to some folk
who are constantly monitoring their 'Free Space'
By setting a Max size to the 'Shadow Storage and System Restore file, and then clearing out all the old restore points except
the last new one will give you a truer reading of space free.
Some or all of the elements may be of use,
Please note although these items work on 'My machine' I cannot guarantee they will work on others, use is at own risk.
Instructions to Control Vista Used Space problems
Using the CMD prompt in 'Administrator Mode'.
1 Open Cmd Prompt as Administrator.
2.Type in vssadmin(sp)list(sp)shadowstorage Enter. NB!...(sp) Space
3.Note Sizes. (If excessively above 5GB use formula below)
To resize Shadow Storage and System Restore Space.
1 Type in....
vssadmin(sp)resize(sp)shadowstorage(sp)/on=C(sp)/for=C(sp)/maxsize=5GB
Enter. NB!...(sp) Space
Start...Programs...Accessories...System Tools...SystemRestore...Open
Disable System Restore. Close Reboot PC
After Rebooting....back into System Restore...Enable System Restore...OK Close
Reboot.
Then...
Create a new System Restore point.
Click Start Menu > Run > type... (or copy and paste)
%SystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe (Note No spaces.)
Press OK. Choose Create a Restore Point then click Next. Name it and click Create, when the confirmation screen shows the restore point has been created click Close.
Next go to Start Menu > Run > type...
cleanmgr
Click OK, Disk Cleanup will open and start calculating the amount of space that can be freed, Once that's finished it will open the Disk Cleanup options screen, click the More Options tab then click Clean up on the system restore area and choose Yes at the confirmation window which will remove all the restore points except the one just created.
To close Disk Cleanup and remove the Temporary Internet Files detected in the initial scan click OK then choose Yes on the confirmation window.
Regards