unused space erasing failed to erase some undeleted files?

P

pli

Member
When I tried out the erase of unused space (eraser 5.8.8 ). It went great except 2 things. One is that I got some out of free space error on writing to disk, I guess that it is probably due to that eraser would create files on the free space and then overwrite those files, so it could potentially use all the free disk space. Is my guess right? Any way to avoid this?

Second, it is failed with protected files and I exported the result and here are some of files which it could not erase, I guess my question is why it would list some files which are not deleted for failure reason?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Code: 
  Failed: C:\Boot\BCD
  Failed: C:\Boot\BCD.LOG
  Failed: C:\Boot\cs-CZ\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\da-DK\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\de-DE\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\de-DE\memtest.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\el-GR\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\en-US\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\en-US\memtest.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\es-ES\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\es-ES\memtest.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\fi-FI\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\Fonts\chs_boot.ttf
  Failed: C:\Boot\Fonts\cht_boot.ttf
  Failed: C:\Boot\Fonts\jpn_boot.ttf
  Failed: C:\Boot\Fonts\kor_boot.ttf
  Failed: C:\Boot\Fonts\wgl4_boot.ttf
  Failed: C:\Boot\fr-FR\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\hu-HU\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\it-IT\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\ja-JP\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\ja-JP\memtest.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\ko-KR\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\memtest.exe
  Failed: C:\Boot\nb-NO\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\nl-NL\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\nl-NL\memtest.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\pl-PL\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\pt-BR\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\pt-PT\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\ru-RU\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\sv-SE\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\tr-TR\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\zh-CN\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\zh-CN\memtest.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\zh-HK\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\zh-HK\memtest.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\Boot\zh-TW\bootmgr.exe.mui
  Failed: C:\bootmgr
  Failed: C:\Documents and Settings (Reparse point)
  Failed: C:\pagefile.sys
  Failed: C:\pli\Eraser.dll
  Failed: C:\pli\eraser2.log
  Failed: C:\pli\eraser2.log.out
  Failed: C:\pli\eraser2.log.prgs
  Failed: C:\pli\Eraserl.exe
  Failed: C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7-zip.dll
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\Alphabet.xml (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\ar-SA\tipresx.dll.mui (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\bg-BG\tipresx.dll.mui (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chsac2.lex.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chslm.lex.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chslm.wdic2.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chsvir.lex.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chs_alist.lex.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chtac2.lex.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chtlm.lex.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chtlm.wdic2.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\chtvir.lex.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\cht_alist.lex.bin (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\Content.xml (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\ConvertInkStore.exe (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\cs-CZ\tipresx.dll.mui (Protected File)
  Failed: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ink\da-DK\tipresx.dll.mui (Protected File)
 
Re: unused space erasing failed to erase some undeleted file

pli said:
... I got some out of free space error on writing to disk, I guess that it is probably due to that eraser would create files on the free space and then overwrite those files, so it could potentially use all the free disk space. Is my guess right? Any way to avoid this?
Click to expand...
Your understanding is correct. If Eraser did not complete the erase, you may still have undeleted erasing files on your system. The identification and deletion (not erasure) of these files is extensively described in the FAQ (link in my signature), so I won't go over that ground here.

Preventing Windows (particularly Win 7 and Vista) from halting a free space erase when disk space gets low has been a recurrent theme in the development of Eraser 6. I would expect Eraser 5 to have problems in this regard when running under the newer OSs. The issue is complex (i.e. it does not have one single cause), and Joel has put a lot of work into successive versions of Eraser 6 to make the free space erase more reliable. So far, I have found the current stable release (6.0.9) and the 6.1 beta builds to be more reliable than their predecessors when erasing free space.

That doesn't help you with the portable version of Eraser 5, unsupported as it is. The best I can suggest is to keep the drive as free from errors and as little fragmented as possible. In those conditions, it is sometimes possible to 'surprise' Windows into allowing a free space erase to complete, but this is nowhere near a 100% fix for the problem.

The sad truth here is that you are trying to use obsolete software on OSs and also (I guess) in a context for which it was not designed. This is going to face you with challenges on which we will not always be able to help you.

pli said:
Second, it is failed with protected files
Click to expand...
A free space erase does not erase actual files. I had forgotten how unhelpful error messages in Eraser 5 could sometimes be, and can only assume that the messages refer to the erasing of cluster tips. Again, this extensively discussed in the FAQ and elsewhere on the forum. If you are using Eraser 5 (or even Eraser 6.0.x), I would disable the erasure of cluster tips on the system drive, to stop the program generating vast numbers of error messages about which neither it nor the user can do anything. The extent to which not erasing cluster tips might compromise user privacy or security is a matter for discussion, but, as cluster tips are both small and inaccessible through the file system, not erasing them is clearly less of a problem than not erasing complete deleted files.

David
 
Re: unused space erasing failed to erase some undeleted file

Thanks a lot, David.

I looked at the FAQ, from what I read, the issue is that there is reduced free space after the free space erasing due to some files created by eraser to erase was not been able to be deleted by eraser afterwards. It is good to know the information. Actually it is a little different from my cases if I understand your post correctly. My case is that I got out of free disk error when eraser is running for erasing free space. However I guess that the reason is that eraser is creating files to erase.

The sad truth here is that you are trying to use obsolete software on OSs and also (I guess) in a context for which it was not designed. This is going to face you with challenges on which we will not always be able to help you.
Click to expand...

That got me to into thinking about how to get a portable version of 6.x and try to understand how much I would need to change some code to integrate with our solution.

I would disable the erasure of cluster tips on the system drive
Click to expand...

Actually I did not see such options on Eraser 5.8.8. However it is good to understand why I got those failed files.
 
Re: unused space erasing failed to erase some undeleted file

pli said:
I looked at the FAQ, from what I read, the issue is that there is reduced free space after the free space erasing due to some files created by eraser to erase was not been able to be deleted by eraser afterwards. It is good to know the information. Actually it is a little different from my cases if I understand your post correctly. My case is that I got out of free disk error when eraser is running for erasing free space. However I guess that the reason is that eraser is creating files to erase.
Click to expand...
If the free space erase fails, and Eraser stops working, there is always the possibility that erasing files are not deleted. It all depends on when and how the crash happens.

pli said:
That got me to into thinking about how to get a portable version of 6.x and try to understand how much I would need to change some code to integrate with our solution.
Click to expand...
If Joel regards it as a significant task, I am sure that you will, too. That said, Joel could do with some help, and, given agreement about where it would be best to branch the code for the portable version, that might be a good project for another programmer. There is of course the .NET dependency, but my recollection is that Joel did not see that as an insuperable obstacle.

pli said:
I would disable the erasure of cluster tips on the system drive
Click to expand...
Actually I did not see such options on Eraser 5.8.8. However it is good to understand why I got those failed files.
Click to expand...
Oh. I must be misremembering 5.8.8; I thought that it had that option, though it may have been in the settings rather than in the task setup. Unfortunately, I can't look, as all my machines have Eraser 6 installed.

David
 
Re: unused space erasing failed to erase some undeleted file

Yup, erasing cluster tips is a global option in Eraser 5.
 
Re: unused space erasing failed to erase some undeleted file

Thanks a lot David.

As I reported on another post, I just copied some of files over for Eraser 6.x, I am able to run it. Joel said that there would be some Security exception which I might get which I have yet to see.
 
Re: unused space erasing failed to erase some undeleted file

I am using windows 7 to try and delete unused space on C:\ but it wont do it, it says i dont have enough rights, i have given user full admin rights and ran eraser as administrator, it still wont work any ideas why not?
 
Re: unused space erasing failed to erase some undeleted file

Use the link in my signature to go to the FAQ, and read the post on Getting to know Eraser 6, which has a section on running Eraser as Administrator.

Microsoft clearly perpetrated a major communications failure when, from Vista on, they changed the way administrative privileges work. Five years or so on, users are still unaware that they you may have the privileges, but that they won't be using them unless they invoke them specifically by running a program 'elevated'.

David
 
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