[v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser?

Joel

Joel

Active Member
If you have used the wipe free space option in Eraser and subsequently noticed that your "free space" has dramatically reduced then delete the folder which contains a randomly-named name, containing random filenames (quite a few dozen) with most of them either <1KB or all of a constant size in the root of the drive you just erased unused space. The size of the folder is the space you've lost.

Alternatively, go to the Task Log and search for the path which raised the error that the directory cannot be deleted. That's the path that requires deletion.
 
I am new to version 6 and am having the same problems. I have a 320Gb hard drive and the free space before erasing the unused space was at 230Gb. Now that I am erasing the unused space, I noticed that the unused size was slowly growing smaller. The smaller it got, the slower eraser worked. I have been running it for about 18 hours now and it has reduced the unused space to 8.03Gb. Eight hours ago, it was at 8.13Gb, so it's obviously slowing down a great deal. Should I wait further, or is there a problem? I had used eraser 5.3 in the past and never had this problem, it would slow down as it neared "full", but never like this. My computer and other apps are working okay (except IE8 won;'t load). I experienced this with IE before, and would work once rebooted. I am running a Dell XPS, Windows XP, and a quad core processor.

What should I do at this point, qait or not? I've read in other posts that an erroneous file exist somewhere that can be deleted, but I don't know what it is/how to find it. Please advise me what to do.........
 
Wait for it to complete. If you really cant then cancel the task, but the remaining 8gb or so won't have free space erased. I'll look into this in future.
 
I'll wait and see how it works. Also, while we are on the topic of unused space erasure, how come my IE8 won't work? Everytime I open it, it closes and I get the imfamous "error reporting" window. Firefox and Safari both work, any my speed is excellent, just IE8 is messed up. I can only assume that it will work once I finish erasing, shut down and restart????
 
Probably IE requires locking particular files that Eraser may have gotten rid of. It's proprietary code so we can't go in and see what's locking up, well -- it's possible but tedious.
 
I just had the same problem, only I am down to a few megabytes of memory left, and I do not really know how to find the files to delete you mentioned at the beginning of the thread. In fact the eraser couldnt finish because it ran out of disk space. Can you tell me what to do in some detail? Thank you.
 
"free space" has dramatically reduced then delete the folder which contains a randomly-named name, containing random filenames (quite a few dozen) with most of them either <1KB or all of a constant size in the root of the drive you just erased unused space. The size of the folder is the space you've lost.
Click to expand...
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

Where are these files? Your answer doesn't specify. Meaning, do we have to go into the registry? Windows explorer? Just saying that Eraser puts them in a file with random names that are <1K doesn't help. Not being rude here, just frustrated.
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

They are randomly named files, probably in one or more randomly named folders in the root folder of the target drive and containing nothing but random (or, to be technically correct, pseudorandom) data. These files are written to the free space on the drive, until the drive is full, and then deleted. In this way, the free space on the drive contains only random (=rubbish) data, and not the remains of files you might want to be permanently and irrecoverably deleted.

The Eraser manual explains this. As this thread is about getting rid of these files when Eraser does not delete them for some reason and thereby reduces the amount of free space available on the drive, the actual content of the files is less relevant to this discussion than the means of consigning them to oblivion.

David
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

Some users report problems with Windows Explorer finding difficulty in accessing the Eraser files and folders when the drive is full, in particular when the machine has limited free resources. In such circumstances, deleting from the Command prompt may provide a workaround.

Thank you to member rich1696, who has posted the following procedure for doing this:

CAUTION: This will delete all files in a folder. Be sure you know what you are doing before proceeding. This process may take 2 hours or more on a very large folder with many files.

- Locate the folder name you want to delete files from & write down the folder name exactly as displayed including spaces, etc.
- Click START
- Click RUN
- Type CMD.EXE
- Click OK
- NOTE -- A DOS window will pop up
- Type CD\
- Press ENTER key (returns you to the root directory on your default drive)
- Type DEL "C:\FOLDERNAME\**" (including the quote marks)
- NOTE -- Substitute C with your desired drive letter
- NOTE -- Substitute FOLDERNAME with the name of the folder exactly as displayed including spaces, etc.

- Press ENTER key (the delete process will begin immediately)
- NOTE -- Pressing CTRL + BREAK should halt the process at any time prior to completing the process
- When process completes, type EXIT at the DOS prompt
- Press ENTER key (to close DOS window)

These instructions are for Windows XP. Vista and Windows 7 users may find that they need to open an elevated command prompt; rich1696 has also kindly provided the following instructions and links.

Instructions for accessing the elevated command prompt in Windows Vista & Windows 7 are at the following links:

Windows Vista: Use Method 3 at the link below
http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/158/1/How-to-open-an-elevated-Command-Prompt-in-Windows-Vista.html

Windows 7: Use Option Two at the link below
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3718-elevated-command-prompt-shortcut.html

I think both are actually the same. Continue with the previous instructions after "NOTE -- A DOS window will pop up"

Rich and I hope this will be useful.

David
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

I wiped my unused space awhile ago and then ended up getting rid of eraser after I wiped the unused space and noticed that I lost 13 gigs or so.

I'm a computer noob and don't know how to use commands and such. How can I located the file that needs to be deleted so that I may get back an extra 12 gigs or so??? Do I just have to hit file and delete and then suddenly get it back??

I'm really new to this so I may need to we walked through it like a child.
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

You just need to find the folder consuming the lost space and delete them, see the first post on where to find the folder. Hitting delete should be sufficient.
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

Joel said:
You just need to find the folder consuming the lost space and delete them, see the first post on where to find the folder. Hitting delete should be sufficient.
Click to expand...


how do I find that folder? Is there a certain name given to it or a certain file extension?
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

Right-click on the task that failed with errors, near the end there should be an error message which says something to the effect of "The folder X cannot be deleted because Y"
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

Joel said:
Right-click on the task that failed with errors, near the end there should be an error message which says something to the effect of "The folder X cannot be deleted because Y"
Click to expand...


I'm not sure what you are saying but I noticed a folder titled ZU[L9PCDD and a bunch of other stuff and in that folder are about 50 or so items with a bunch of random file names and the File type is just named file. Also all of the files are exactly 221,184KB large each.

are these the files that I should delete?
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

yeah, sounds like it.
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

I'm having the same problem too except this topic is unhelpful in locating the files. What do I need to look for? If it says there was an error in C:/windows/mike/sample then I should look there for the files to delete?
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

It depends on what you are looking for. In the case of v6, it'll be the case of having very little space on your drive you did the erase, less than 1GB. The task log's last entry, if it reads something to the effect of a file or folder could not be deleted due to a permissions error or having access denied, you should look for that file. Otherwise, it's most likely a cluster tip informative message and can be ignored. The folder is always in the root directory of the drive being erased.
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

Tried following your suggestions, but without success. Is there a program to correct this reduced free space problem? This is a huge waste of my VALUABLE time.
 
Re: [v6] Why do I have reduced Free Space After Using Eraser

I know of no other free program that does what Eraser does as thoroughly as it does it.

I'd need to know what you did and precisely what then happened before advising further. Normally the recovery of free space, though admittedly an irritation, is a moment's work.

David
 
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