Finding hidden files on Windows
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I needed a lot of free space to do a project on my machine so I started cleaning up my machine, moving things I wanted to keep off to my NAS, etc.
As I moved things, I was noticing that I was not getting back all the space I was expecting. So I ran Windirstat (as admin) to see what was using all the space.
Here's my post cleanup, pre-found missing space, Windirstat output.
https://i.imgur.com/fYBgeMY.pngNotice how it says that the drive is only using 55.8 GB
https://i.imgur.com/GCtn34d.pngBut Windows Explorer showed I was using 100 GB
https://i.imgur.com/zDjkgil.pngWhere is my missing 45 GB?
Some Googling later I found another tool that shows disk usage similar to Windirstat called Spacesniffer.
https://i.imgur.com/wb75Wr1.png
Spacesniffer (ran as admin) shown here with low detail for posting purposes.Well, like Windirstat, it was showing 60 GB of used space - while the value where different, I wasn't specifically caring about that just yet, I'm more interested in the 40+ GB that's not being reported.
More Googling led me to the ghost icon in Spacesniffer.
https://i.imgur.com/HjQzj5r.pngNow I see this.
https://i.imgur.com/TYMdhS2.pngOK, now we're getting somewhere. Spacesniffer can see my missing listings, but can't tell me anything about it.
At this point I tried without success to run Windirstat and Spacesniffer as the system account.
More Googling about the Unaccessible space listing in Spacesniffer lead me to Wiztree (ran as admin).
https://i.imgur.com/W1xA8bj.pngFinally, something that showed me the whole drive from the get go.
As we see below, Wiztree showed me the full amount of used space, but even more, it showed that the c:\users folder was the largest folder on the system, something Windirstat didn't indicate.
https://i.imgur.com/fGqYOp3.pngDigging into the folder it showed that my OneDrive folder was the culprit of my missing space.
There is/was no issue with OneDrive - it's doing it's job.. I just wish my other tools would have told me that sooner so I would know how to resolve my situation.
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Unfortunately, Wiztree isn't in Chocolatey, but Spacesniffer is.
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@dashrender said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
/was no issue with OneDrive - it's doing it's job.. I just wish my other tools would have told me that sooner so I would know how to resolve my situation.
So did you also check also the VSS Snapshots if anything?
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WizTree will always be more accurate than those 2 due to how it discovers files, I can't remember enough to explain. It's also incredible quick at scanning compared to those 2 so always my preferred.
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@dbeato said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
@dashrender said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
/was no issue with OneDrive - it's doing it's job.. I just wish my other tools would have told me that sooner so I would know how to resolve my situation.
So did you also check also the VSS Snapshots if anything?
On a desktop? I'm not running any software that would cause VSS snaps - but I did check restore points - that was using like 1 GB.
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@jackcpickup said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
WizTree will always be more accurate than those 2 due to how it discovers files, I can't remember enough to explain. It's also incredible quick at scanning compared to those 2 so always my preferred.
You can say that again.. I've never heard of it before.. Now to burn it into my memory.
I need to write the author and ask them to post it to Chocolatey.
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@dashrender said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
@dbeato said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
@dashrender said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
/was no issue with OneDrive - it's doing it's job.. I just wish my other tools would have told me that sooner so I would know how to resolve my situation.
So did you also check also the VSS Snapshots if anything?
On a desktop? I'm not running any software that would cause VSS snaps - but I did check restore points - that was using like 1 GB.
Yes, restore point use VSS every WIndows Update.
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@dashrender said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
@jackcpickup said in Finding hidden files on Windows:
WizTree will always be more accurate than those 2 due to how it discovers files, I can't remember enough to explain. It's also incredible quick at scanning compared to those 2 so always my preferred.
You can say that again.. I've never heard of it before.. Now to burn it into my memory.
I need to write the author and ask them to post it to Chocolatey.
Good idea.
