unknown file using a lot of space

[lartomar2002]

according to WinDirStat there is an unknown file using 21% of my "C" drive. how can i find out what it is, so that i might be able to clean it up?

 

[Arc]

It may be temp folder . Press Win +R simultaneously to open the run box , and type %temp% in it and hit enter ... you would be able to see the temp folder .

 

[WindowsStar]

according to WinDirStat there is an unknown file using 21% of my "C" drive. how can i find out what it is, so that i might be able to clean it up?

In WinDirStat click on the large file and it will tell you were it is. -WS

 

[lartomar2002]

checked temp file, it only totaled about 10mb. i have run windows disk cleanup but it did not include this unknown file. in WinDirStat the file is the next file under free space and like free space it is blacked out. it is using 194gb. my total usage out of 920gb is 329gb. of the 329gb i know what 135gb is being used for because i have a lot of video and music files. WinDirStat will not let me open it up. i am attaching a snippet of the WinDirStat window.

 

[mpcrsc562]

I just ran WinDirStat...

When you click on an object in the file tree in the left column, the program automatically highlights the file type in the right column. According to your screenshot, the file that appears as "Unknown" on the right side is highlighted as "VLC Media File (AVI)" on the right side.

Do you in fact have a rather large .avi file residing on your drive?

 

[lartomar2002]

yes all of my video file are .avi. but, when i check properties for the video folder it says i am only using 92gb. maybe i am not understanding. is the VLC video file separate from from the video files? could it be that it has copies of the video files plus any meta data? i am not really all that familar with VLC and what it does. i basic use it because it can transcode videos on the fly.

 

[mpcrsc562]

So, you have your video files in their own folder?

In WinDirStat, when you right click the unknown file and select properties, where does the dialog box state that the file is located?

Also, on the status bar at the bottom of WinDirStat, it should show you the file path when you select a file from the left column. I don't see that on your screenshot.

 

[WindowsStar]

Opps, too many software options in my head. I meant: Right Click on the picture and "Explorer here.." the software will jump right to the file.

 

[lartomar2002]

i have taken another snippet of WinDirSat with only only the unknown file highlighted and with the treemap option on. where do i go from here?

 

[mpcrsc562]

From the looks of your latest screenshot, it looks like the file is in C:\. Besides the normal folders Windows installs to C:\, do you have any other files there?

 

[lartomar2002]

yes that is where everything is. when i check C:\ it says used space 329gb and i know that the unknown file 194.3gb is a part of that. i just would like to know what is in that file so i could possibly clean it up. i know that my video and music approx. 91gb is under the user file which is 103.7 gb. which seems normal because that leaves approx. 12.7gb for misc. stuff. this is of course if i am reading the data correctly. i mean the "user" file is not included in the total for the unknown file, correct?

 

[mpcrsc562]

I'm at a loss as to what the file could be...

On your second screenshot, you have the file highlighted in the left column but it doesn't highlight any file type in the right column.

Do you by chance have any benchmarking programs or do any of your video / audio apps write temp files to your disk during transcoding or editing? Try looking at the date when the file was created and see if that date corresponds to any transcoding / editing you were doing on that date. I understand that you don't want to just delete files willy-nilly, but it may turn out to be just an innocent temp file.

 

[lartomar2002]

i wonder why there are no file highlighted on the right side could i have windirsat configured wrong. as for looking for those video temp files i think you may be on to something. could you suggest how or where to start looking?

 

[mpcrsc562]

Well, without knowing what you use, you might begin with those programs and look into the preferences or options to see how the program handles transcoding or writing files and see where those files are written to. Also, see if the program clears the temp cache after transcoding or writing files.

 

[Tepid]

I am only guessing
It is possible that it is not a single file, but several files and or folders of unknown type.

Could be System Restore files?

Since they do take up drive space, but the files are inside a locked hidden folder "System Volume Information" but still be read as taking space.

and/Or Shadow Copy?

 

[lartomar2002]

please explain shadow copy

 

[whs]

Shadow Copies (restore points) are not shown in WinDirStat. If you want to see the shadowstorage, open an elevated command prompt and type (or paste) vssadmin list shadowstorage, then hit Enter. Look for C and Allocated. That is what the restore points (shadows) currently occupy.

But there could be also other shadowcopies on other disks/partitions (if you have enabled it - which is always a good idea for data recovery).

 

[lartomar2002]

so i should delete all restore points except last one?

 

[whs]

so i should delete all restore points except last one?

No reason to delete them unless you need the space. The more restore points you have, the better.

 

[lartomar2002]

i do not know i can not find it.