Shadow Copy Service and Disk Usage
RafaelFR
Posted messages
11
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Member
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Manstein -
Manstein -
Hello,
On my system partition C:\ (Velociraptor 150 GB HDD), I have a recent installation of Windows 7 Ultimate 64. To date, this corresponds to about 175,000 files and 55 GB of data.
In order to back up files, I installed the freeware Cobian Backup. During the installation, it offers to install Microsoft's Shadow Copy service. However, since this installation, my system disk has only 4 GB free out of the 139 available.
Despite uninstalling the Shadow Copy service, the Cobian Backup software, and performing a complete cleanup with CCleaner, I still can't recover any free space.
I've uploaded a screenshot that shows the discrepancy of about 80 GB between the file size on the disk (as indicated by WinDirStat) and the free space displayed by Windows Explorer: https://twitpic.com
If you have any ideas, I would appreciate your help.
Rafael.
On my system partition C:\ (Velociraptor 150 GB HDD), I have a recent installation of Windows 7 Ultimate 64. To date, this corresponds to about 175,000 files and 55 GB of data.
In order to back up files, I installed the freeware Cobian Backup. During the installation, it offers to install Microsoft's Shadow Copy service. However, since this installation, my system disk has only 4 GB free out of the 139 available.
Despite uninstalling the Shadow Copy service, the Cobian Backup software, and performing a complete cleanup with CCleaner, I still can't recover any free space.
I've uploaded a screenshot that shows the discrepancy of about 80 GB between the file size on the disk (as indicated by WinDirStat) and the free space displayed by Windows Explorer: https://twitpic.com
If you have any ideas, I would appreciate your help.
Rafael.
11 answers
Run the vssadmin command in administrator mode:
Start -> All Programs Accessories, right-click on
Command Prompt -> Run as administrator.
Start -> All Programs Accessories, right-click on
Command Prompt -> Run as administrator.
Hello.
There must be hidden files, do this:
Start -> Run, type cmd.exe
In the command prompt window, enter
cd c:\users
dir /a:hs /s /p
There must be hidden files, do this:
Start -> Run, type cmd.exe
In the command prompt window, enter
cd c:\users
dir /a:hs /s /p
Hello Morganch,
The list is too long for the command prompt and for me to reproduce it here.
Is there anything specific I should look at in the listing?
Additionally, I am adding to my question with supplementary elements obtained from the site https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/166102-shadow-copies-delete.html, an article explaining how to delete instances of shadow copies for Windows 7 and Vista.
When using the command [code]vssadmin Delete Shadows /For=C: /All[/code], I receive the following message:
"Error: Snapshots were detected but they were outside of your allowed context. Try deleting them with the backup application that created them."
No mention of this on the Cobian site/forum.
Any idea?
Thank you for your help.
Rafael.
The list is too long for the command prompt and for me to reproduce it here.
Is there anything specific I should look at in the listing?
Additionally, I am adding to my question with supplementary elements obtained from the site https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/166102-shadow-copies-delete.html, an article explaining how to delete instances of shadow copies for Windows 7 and Vista.
When using the command [code]vssadmin Delete Shadows /For=C: /All[/code], I receive the following message:
"Error: Snapshots were detected but they were outside of your allowed context. Try deleting them with the backup application that created them."
No mention of this on the Cobian site/forum.
Any idea?
Thank you for your help.
Rafael.
I have indeed executed these commands as an admin.
However, the message indicated was obtained via the command:
and not
as I mentioned above.
{ef064cbb-e76d-461c-b8ed-3b3577968132} refers to the ID of the snapshot I am trying to delete, an ID obtained using the command
However, the message indicated was obtained via the command:
vssadmin Delete Shadows /shadow={ef064cbb-e76d-461c-b8ed-3b3577968132} and not
vssadmin Delete Shadows /For=C: /All
as I mentioned above.
{ef064cbb-e76d-461c-b8ed-3b3577968132} refers to the ID of the snapshot I am trying to delete, an ID obtained using the command
vssadmin list shadows
I checked, the service is started and set to manual.
I restarted it and relaunched my deletion command: same result.
I restarted it and relaunched my deletion command: same result.
Just don't start it, because it will continue to make backups incessantly; you might as well disable it.
With the command dir /a:hs /s /p, can you locate where this folder
{ef064cbb-e76d-461c-b8ed-3b3577968132} is?
With the command dir /a:hs /s /p, can you locate where this folder
{ef064cbb-e76d-461c-b8ed-3b3577968132} is?
Thank you for the time you are spending on my problem.
I just disabled the two services: "Volume Shadow Copy" and "Windows Software Shadow Copy Provider".
I'll reboot and let you know if it allowed me to recover some disk space.
I just disabled the two services: "Volume Shadow Copy" and "Windows Software Shadow Copy Provider".
I'll reboot and let you know if it allowed me to recover some disk space.
First of all, there is no reference to "ef064cbb-e76d-461c-b8ed-3b3577968132" either among the files and folders on the disk (unhidden system files) or in the registry.
Furthermore, the key ef064cbb-e76d-461c-b8ed-3b3577968132 is not constant over time. Indeed, if I stop the "Volume Shadow Copy" service, the ID of the shadow copy is updated after restarting.
So I looked for the current ID, but after re-enabling the two services "Volume Shadow Copy" and "Windows Software Shadow Copy Provider," the command
"There are no items corresponding to the request."
I have lost visibility of the instance to delete without having found the trace of the missing 80 GB ://
Furthermore, the key ef064cbb-e76d-461c-b8ed-3b3577968132 is not constant over time. Indeed, if I stop the "Volume Shadow Copy" service, the ID of the shadow copy is updated after restarting.
So I looked for the current ID, but after re-enabling the two services "Volume Shadow Copy" and "Windows Software Shadow Copy Provider," the command
"vssadmin list shadows"returns the following result:
"There are no items corresponding to the request."
I have lost visibility of the instance to delete without having found the trace of the missing 80 GB ://