Wipe Free Space glitched

[Adammy661]

Can't complete the process. Numbers go crazy and i don't know how to properly describe it other than show a video of it happening

Also note that while the Wipe Free Space box in unselected, i started the process manually. Just ignore the menu

 

https://streamable.com/y76w48

[redwolfe_98]

you just shouldn't be concerned about the numbers. they are just an estimate of how long the process will take to complete. nothing unusual about it. you will see the same type of thing when running your antivirus program, where the estimated time for the process to complete will flunctuate.

that said, my advice would be not to use an app to wipe free space because something might be erased that shouldn't be erased.

if your "c:" drive is a SSD, with SSDs, wiping free space is not necessary. running "trim" on a SSD effectively "erases" everything in "free space." that is, everything that has been deleted and so is no longer needed.

[nukecad]

Is the drive that you are trying to wipe an SSD?
Trying to wipe an SSD can give problems.

But more than that - Your video shows that you are using 'Wipe Free Space' in the Custom clean options.

I would untick that, and the Settings for it, and do not use it, (see below for what you should be using now - but only when needed for doing the correct job).
It's a bit of an ancient leftover there in those settings and has been replaced, mainly because you shouldn't run a wipe with every clean anyway.
(There is a technical reason why it wasn't removed altogether).
Running a free space wipe with every clean will simply slow every cleaning right down while it wipes the free space for no good reason.

Wiping the free space on a drive will not 'clean' or 'speed up' the drive in the slightest, and it can't give you any more storage space, the space is already free.

You shouldn't need to be wiping the Free space regularly anyway, - especially don't do it if you have a SSD.
With a spinning HDD then wiping the Free Space is something you only might want to do if you are giving/selling the computer (or the drive) to someone else.
You delete all your own files off it, then wipe the free space so that the new owner cannot recover those deleted files.

That's the only reason for wiping a drive, - to prevent file recovery from it.
Again - Wiping the free space on a drive will not speed up the drive in the slightest, and it can't give you any more space, the space is already free.

If you do want to wipe the free space of a HDD at any particular time then I suggest that you use Tools>Drive Wiper instead:
(And I wouldn't do it on the drive shown here because that drive is an SSD. CCleaner will let you wipe an SSD if you realy want to but will warn you first).

[Adammy661]

20 hours ago, redwolfe_98 said:

you just shouldn't be concerned about the numbers. they are just an estimate of how long the process will take to complete. nothing unusual about it. you will see the same type of thing when running your antivirus program, where the estimated time for the process to complete will flunctuate.

that said, my advice would be not to use an app to wipe free space because something might be erased that shouldn't be erased.

if your "c:" drive is a SSD, with SSDs, wiping free space is not necessary. running "trim" on a SSD effectively "erases" everything in "free space." that is, everything that has been deleted and so is no longer needed.

 

4 hours ago, nukecad said:

Is the drive that you are trying to wipe an SSD?
Trying to wipe an SSD can give problems.

But more than that - Your video shows that you are using 'Wipe Free Space' in the Custom clean options.

I would untick that, and the Settings for it, and do not use it, (see below for what you should be using now - but only when needed for doing the correct job).
It's a bit of an ancient leftover there in those settings and has been replaced, mainly because you shouldn't run a wipe with every clean anyway.
(There is a technical reason why it wasn't removed altogether).
Running a free space wipe with every clean will simply slow every cleaning right down while it wipes the free space for no good reason.

Wiping the free space on a drive will not 'clean' or 'speed up' the drive in the slightest, and it can't give you any more storage space, the space is already free.

You shouldn't need to be wiping the Free space regularly anyway, - especially don't do it if you have a SSD.
With a spinning HDD then wiping the Free Space is something you only might want to do if you are giving/selling the computer (or the drive) to someone else.
You delete all your own files off it, then wipe the free space so that the new owner cannot recover those deleted files.

That's the only reason for wiping a drive, - to prevent file recovery from it.
Again - Wiping the free space on a drive will not speed up the drive in the slightest, and it can't give you any more space, the space is already free.

If you do want to wipe the free space of a HDD at any particular time then I suggest that you use Tools>Drive Wiper instead:
(And I wouldn't do it on the drive shown here because that drive is an SSD. CCleaner will let you wipe an SSD if you realy want to but will warn you first).

 

 

Thanks both of you for the time. It's a HDD and i was indeed intending to wipe free space to prevent Recuva etc. I actually decided to restart the laptop and begin the process again and go to sleep at it went fine

[nukecad]

Good to hear that you got it done to your satisfaction.

If you do want to ever wipe free space again, or a whole drive, then I'd suggest that Drive Wiper is the tool you should use and not the Custom Clean option.