Using Jv16, WinXP, 512memory; used disc wipe to clean only free space on my 30 gig "C" drive. I now find out my drive is full. It had only 10 Gigs of programs before I ran the disk wipe. I looked for a large file in the giga byte range but found nothing of that size. Where did my 20 gigs go to. The instructions on Disk Wipe are not clear on this point.


Help. :( :(

This topic might help.


A full drive File Finder search for JV16_PT*.dat with all the "Options" boxes unchecked could find the file(s) taking up the free space. The free space could be in a subdirectory if that's where you told DW to start ...


My assumption is Disk Wiper did not complete normally and delete the files used to wipe the free space.


If none of the above helps, post the Properties for the C drive as shown by a right click on the drive in a win explorer window ...

When I check the properties of C drive it shows 28 gigs in use and only 120 megs free. No additional files are showing up in explorer except my regular programs. These add up to 10 gigs. When i try to run disk cleanup's analyze it shows 20 gigs of fragmented files in red, but there is no identification that these are files. I think disk wipe created these fragmented files with no name or record when I ran the program. It also messed up some of my regular files like Quicken which advised me that it was corrupted and I would need to reinstall. This I did and that program is now OK. Just how can I delete all these fragmented files with no identification?

You may have to use explorer's Tools...Folder Options...View and change options so less is hidden (*). I am assuming some of the hide options are active. Perhaps explorer will then show the files.


If explorer still doesn't reveal what is taking the free space, post your observations so the developer can ask some questions ...


(*) I originally had "Display the contents of system folders" checked, "Show hidden files and folders" checked, and "Hide protected operating system files" unchecked. When I reversed those settings, the right pane properties with all items on C selected showed 6 GB less than with the original settings. The left pane (C drive) properties did not change (that is, it showed 6 GB more :|).


BTW, did you try the File Finder suggestion? PT sees more than explorer shows.

grob367 has tried about everything reasonable to find and recover his free space (except possibly chkdsk).


A PM from him has been sent to jv16 to bump this topic's priority ...

How did the Disk Wiper end? Did it end properly, or did you abort it?


If the wiping operation is interrupted, something like this could happen. Please try to run the error checker on the drive (My computer > Right click the drive in question > Tools > "Check now").

Using a combination of DeFrag, MS Search, and PT File Finder, grob367 found his free space in something called "|RECYCLER\PROTECT\..." -- about 200 files adding up to 20 GB ...


He will post his findings and results here, and answer jv16's question, after he finishes removing them ...

I finally got back nearly 20 Gigs and there is more to come. I also discovered the culprit. Seems I had Norton System Works on my computeer. I deleted it about 4 months ago when I signed up for Microsoft live one care, but the programs delete action in Control panel did not delete Norton Protect. When I ran the PC disk wipe Norton evidently tried to protect all the files I was overwriting (roughly, a thousand.) Through DeFrag, Explorer and PC File Finder I was able to locate all the files, but they had no identity except RECYCLER\NPROTECT. Files ranged is size from 1K to 300MB. I tried to delete them by selecting all and pressing Delete but NO GO. Windows said "Cannot delete files, cannot read from source file or disk". So I started deleting them one at a time using right click and delete. I quickly learned a faster was by forgetting about the mouse and just hit the delete with my left hand and Enter with the right hand to confirm the delete. Naturally I started with the largest files to be sure it would show up as recovered space in my C drive. It did. I am now down to the last 500 bad files which are all 1 or 4KB. There are about six other larger files that will not delete with the same explanation given when I tried multiple deletions: "UNABLE TO READ FROM DISK, CANNOT DELETE". I will have to figure another way for this, perhaps go into DOS, but that is a small problem. I also have a few applications that I need to repair by inserting the original installation disks, but all my saved data is intact. I do have an external backup for my documents, etc but they would be useless if I could not delete the NPROTECT files that filled the hard drive.


I also went into the PC Registery to clean it. It would not make a backup as it stated cannot identify file name, but I took a chance and it deleted or repaired 594 registery entries


I had a compatabiltiy problem with Norton some time ago when I installed another application, I had to uninstall Norton, install my new program and then reinstall Norton.


I think this winds up my bizarre tale. Thanks for your patience and help.


George

Where you wrote "PC disk wipe", "PC File Finder", PC Registery", may I assume that you mean "PT disk wipe" "PT File Finder" and "PT Registry Cleaner", where "PT" stands naturally for "PowerTools"? :

4 months later

grob367 said:

"I finally got back nearly 20 Gigs and there is more to come. I also discovered the culprit. Seems I had Norton System Works on my computeer. I deleted it about 4 months ago..."


Hi grob367:

Sorry I didn't see your post sooner, but I'm glad to hear you finally solved it. I went through the same nightmare with NPROTECT.


Norton Places a folder called “NPROTECT” in the C:\RECYCLER folder. The NPROTECT folder can contain several hundred mega bites worth of files. Often, the NPROTECT folder is not removed when Norton System Works is uninstalled, and it can not be removed by most methods.


After trying many things to delete this folder and its contents, I discovered the solution below. It works quick and clean. Hope this may be of help if the same problem arises again.


To check if “NPROTECT” remains:

Go to, Start/My Computer/Tools/Folder Options/View, and uncheck; “Hide protected operating system files”. Click Apply and OK.


Open Explorer and scan down to C:\Recycler. Click to open folder and see if NPROTECT is in it.

If it is not there, you have no problem.

If it is still there, you can use the following method to remove it:


To delete "NPROTECT":


1. Go to, Start/All Programs/Accessories, and select The Command Prompt.


2. Copy and paste the following text at the “C:\...>” Prompt, and press the “ENTER” key.


Rmdir /s \\?\C:\RECYCLER\NPROTECT


Recheck C:\Recycler to verify NPROTECT folder is no longer there. Don't forget to rehide Protected operating system files.