Got a problem on my computer wich is XP SP2, twin SATA drives, Raid 1 Mirror when deleting large files. They disappear from explorer but they don't release the space. I have reset Recycle Bin from Norton back to XP this week to see if that fixes it but it doesn't. Example - I copied a 8gb folder this morning to test it, delete came up too large to go to recycle bin so OK'd it and it has gone ( can't be seen ) but it's not freed the 8gb.

Was think of trying a defrag. but don't know it that works on SATA drives - especially when they are 200gb each and mirrored. It would probably take all day anyway.

Any ideas? I've tried google but can't find anythind

Defrag works on any drive including SATA but you shouldn't have to do that to free up space, certainly not on a large file.

Maybe you should check to see if there are any driver updates for your SATA controller.

I'd blame Norton - it has some kind of built in backup system I believe?

Have a Google for how to [i]fully[/i] uninstall Norton maybe?

Yeah like the guys said above make sure Norton is gone - the only tool that would check the file system integrity is as follows - open a DOS box / command prompt, change to the drive in question and do a:

chkdsk /f

That will check file system integrity - from the sounds of it something is still hooked into the OS and keeping the files - you could always turn on hidden files in explorer and check the size of \Recycle (think that's right, been a long time since I touched a Windows based PC )

Cheers - tried all the above and no change. Left it on defrag overnight and woke about 6:00 looked at alarm clock - off. Earth leakage had tripped and shut it down, down not what time. Powered it up and continued with defrag and all seems well. Still no change in free space though. Will have to do some further tests. There is an eraseprotextion in Norton but even if you configue it still says it's on. Hmmm that smelles. Nothing on the internet to show how to switch it off. May need, as suggested above, a full uninstall of Norton 2005. Then just put bits of it back. We'll see.

Did you check the size of the Recycle folder on the root of the affected partition mate?

I've sometimes seen Windows get confused and show an Empty recycle bin when that folder was chocka

Did the chkdsk show any partition probs?

Disk not partitiioned, tried looking for bin in explorer but it doesn't find it No problems with the disk.

I think it's marked as one of the special GUID / CLSID's in Windows so Explorer is probably still hiding it

If you drop to a DOS box you can do the following - guessing you've just got a large C partition then:

c:
cd \recycle
attrib (this will list all folders in there, assuming most folders and files will have the hidden attribute set - you need to unhide the folders, basically it would be something like a recursive attrib -h {foldername} so they're all visible then you could do

dir \recycle\* /s /a

That would then list everything in the folder including all subdirectories and give you a byte total at the end

What version of Norton do you use, I'll try and see if I can have a quick look how that works. Is the 2005 that systemworks thing?

Not sureif you have the diruse program on your machine - that's very good for problems like this as it totals up the total size of each folder from root and then you can work your way down to the problem folder!

Just tell me to ***** if I'm telling you how to suck eggs pal

Any help appreciated aido, the cd \recycle doesn't work ( can't find it ). I'm on Norton System Works 2005 Pro. I't not urgent as I still have 81gb left of 200gb but would be nice to sort it. Cheers for the help.

Can you try this please pal (it shopuld of been \recycler - told you it was a long time since I used a pc )

[url="http://symantec.atgnow.com/consumer/resultDisplay.do?gotoLink=3064&docType=1000&contextId=3864%3A3064.3171&clusterName=ConsumerCluster&contentId=fb0478c7-6988-436f-bf9d-4e56cb4dc1c5&responseId=ca5591d14505ac90%3A1b1fbf4%3A106f6b3b7fa%3A614a&groupId=1&answerGroup=3&score=900&page=http%3A%2F%2Fservice1.symantec.com%2Fsupport%2Fnsw.nsf%2Fpfdocs%2F19979410721&result=2&excerpt=The+UnErase+Wizard+displays+all+files+in+both+the+Norton+Protected+Recycle+Bin+and+the+Windows+Recycle+Bin.&resultType=5000#"]http://symantec.atgnow.com/consumer/result...esultType=5000#[/url]

[quote]ou want to free up more disk space on the hard drive by emptying the Norton Protected Recycle Bin.

Solution:
Norton Utilities automatically monitors your drive's free disk space to ensure that the Norton Protected Recycle Bin always leaves room on the drive for normal activities. If the amount of free disk space decreases, the size of the Norton Protected Recycle Bin will also decrease. Additionally, the Norton Protected Recycle Bin purges any files that have been in it over seven days. With these defaults, you may find that you do not need to empty the bin.

To empty the Norton Protected Recycle Bin

  1. Right-click the Norton Protected Recycle Bin icon, and then click Empty Norton Protected Files.
  2. Follow the prompts.


To change how often files are purged

  1. Right-click the Norton Protected Recycle Bin icon, and then click Properties.
  2. On the Norton Protection tab, select the drive from the drop-down list.
  3. Check Purge Protected Files After.
  4. Change the figure to a new number of days.



Manually empty the Norton Protected Recycle Bin in Windows XP/2000
If the contents in the Norton Protected Recycle Bin are not completely deleted, follow these steps to manually the remaining files.

To manually empty the Norton Protected Recycle Bin in Windows XP/2000

  1. Restart the computer in Safe Mode. For information on how to start the computer in Safe Mode, read the document Starting your computer in Safe mode.
  2. On the Windows Task Bar, click Start > Run.
  3. In the dialog box, type command.
  4. Click OK.
  5. At the DOS prompt, type the following commands and then press the Enter key after each line.

      C:
      CD\
      CD RECYCLER\NPROTECT
      DEL *.*
      CD ..
      RD NPROTECT
  6. Repeat step 5 for each drive on the computer.
  7. When you are done, type exit, and then press the Enter key.
  8. Restart the computer. The NPROTECT folder(s) will be recreated upon reboot.



Checking the amount of free disk space
In Windows 98, Norton Utilities hides the space used by the Norton Protected Recycle Bin. For example, if Explorer indicates the drive has 120 MB of free disk space, and the Norton Protected Recycle Bin is using 12 MB, the actual free disk space is 120 less 12, or 108 MB.

Norton Protection will not use up your free disk space. It monitors computer activity to see when you are writing to the drive, and decreases the size of the Norton Protected Recycle Bin so that you will always have free space on the drive. Under normal activity, you do not need to purge the bins yourself, since they are purged automatically.

If you anticipate that your free disk space is about to become unusually low and you want to ensure that you have sufficient free space for saving new files or installing programs, you can purge the bins just before saving or installing.

Note: Double-clicking the Norton Protected Recycle Bin icon opens the UnErase Wizard, a program which can recover files that have been deleted. The UnErase Wizard displays all files in both the Norton Protected Recycle Bin and the Windows Recycle Bin. In Windows 95 and Windows 98, it may also display deleted files that are no longer in either of the bins. Although it may appear that these files are taking up space on the hard drive, the files in the bins will be purged as needed, and any files not in the bins have already been deleted.

In Windows 98, once you empty both the Norton Protected Recycle Bin and the Windows Recycle Bin, none of the files displayed in UnErase Wizard are taking up space on the hard drive. These are fragments of files which have not yet been overwritten by the operating system, but which have been marked as deleted.

If you cannot get into Windows 98, but you still need to delete the Norton Protected Files, perform the following procedure.

To empty the Norton Protected Recycle Bin when you cannot boot into Windows

  1. Click Start, then click Shut Down.
  2. In the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart, then click Yes.
      Windows will shut down and the computer will restart. As the computer restarts, press and hold down the Ctrl key until the Windows 98 Startup Menu appears.
  3. Select Command Prompt only to start Windows to a MS-DOS command prompt
  4. Delete the NPROTECT directory by typing the following commands (press Enter after each command):

      cd recycled
      deltree nprotect

  5. When the DELTREE command asks for confirmation, type Y and press Enter.
  6. Repeat steps 5 and 6 on any other hard drives you have.
  7. Restart the computer, and allow it to boot into Windows normally.[/quote]

Few different options in there mate

Ah OK, tied the dos thing and there are 16 files and only 2mb in there anf half of that is the log. In subfolder NPROTECT - well we all know what that is don't we NORTON.

I've read through the quote, done some of it and I'll now have a play with the rest.

Thanks Aido