Disk Cleanup will not compress old files?

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Disk Cleanup will not compress old files? by Mike on 10-06-2005 at 08:03 PM

Hello.

I have used disk cleanup to compress old files before.
Now I needed it, so I right clicked my C: drive, went to propeties and clicked "Disk Cleanup".
So, I waited for more than 10 minutes and then the window that says what I would like to clean up.
I checked what I wanted to clean up, and I also checked to compress old files.
[Image: attachment.php?pid=547230]
And the disk cleanup started.
But after waiting more 10 minutes, it seems that the old files would not get compressed!
So, I ran it again 2-3 times...
But it still doesn't work...

I even tried restarting the computer!

But still, nothing...

I don't know, I have used compressing the old files before...

I wonder if it has anything to do with Norton Antivirus appearing while it was compressing the old files (i'm not really sure if it was doing that, since i wasn't here) it said that it found a trojan and it deleted it.
Some disk space was freed (about 200 MBs)
I also recently installed GMail drive, but I doubt that that it has something to do with it...

Disk cleanup does not freeze while "compressing" old files.
After some minutes (about 10) it will get to the next thing it has to clean up...

But, no disk space is freed...

Any help please?

Thanks

Oh, and I tried google, but, it only has solutions if the disk cleanup utility freezes.
It doesn't freeze on me, it just won't do anything... :-/

RE: Disk Cleanup will not compress old files? by kittymew on 10-06-2005 at 09:04 PM

and sorry if you know this ..but did you have all other programmes switched of when you started Disk cleanup?..it helps if you have...makes the programme respond quicker...
another idea is do a repair on your windows..with your repair option when you insert your windows disk..

RE: Disk Cleanup will not compress old files? by Mike on 10-07-2005 at 04:43 AM

quote:
Originally posted by beamykitty

and sorry if you know this ..but did you have all other programmes switched of when you started Disk cleanup?..it helps if you have...makes the programme respond quicker...

Yes...
All the programs were closed.
I even tried doing a restart, and after restarting, I went to the disk cleanup without opening something...

quote:
Originally posted by beamykitty
another idea is do a repair on your windows..with your repair option when you insert your windows disk..

Well, I don't really trust repair...
And I don't feel like installing a SP again...

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Do you know if there is any program that will do the same (compress old files) as disk cleanup does?

Thanks

RE: Disk Cleanup will not compress old files? by DragonX on 10-07-2005 at 04:57 AM

That seems to be 1.6 Gigs, give it time, it'll work it'll just be slow, but i'll work.

That is a known bug with Win2k and WinXP. Disk Cleanup is freezing because it is searching for old files that should be compressed but that aren't.

Try this...

1. Run Regedit
2. Click on My Computer (in Regedit)
3. Go to Edit -> Find
4. Type in "Compress Old" (less the quotation marks)
5. Click Find Next
6. Regedit will find the Compress Old Files key
7. Press Delete (and click 'yes' to the 'are you sure?' prompt)
8. Reboot

Disk Cleanup shoudl now run like a breeze.

RE: Disk Cleanup will not compress old files? by Mike on 10-07-2005 at 05:06 AM

quote:
Originally posted by DragonX
That seems to be 1.6 Gigs, give it time, it'll work it'll just be slow, but i'll work.

Actually, I wait, and it does finish!
However, it won't change anything...

I'll take picks when i get ome...

I'll also try safe mode, who knows...? :-/

Oh, and I can compress old files manually, so there isn't a problem with the compress feature...

RE: Disk Cleanup will not compress old files? by DragonX on 10-07-2005 at 05:16 AM

From M$ themselves...

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. Type regedit in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
3. Locate, and then click the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches
4. On the File menu, click Export, and then click Desktop, type VolumeCaches in the File name box, and then click Save.

Note This step creates a backup of the VolumeCaches registry key. If you experience any problems after you complete the steps that are listed in this procedure, you can use this backup to restore the VolumeCaches key to its original state. To restore the key, double-click the VolumeCaches.reg file on your desktop, and then click Yes.
5. Expand the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches
6. Delete the Compress old files registry key.
7. Quit Registry Editor.

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=812248

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Btw, i dunno if u noticed the update in my previous post

RE: Disk Cleanup will not compress old files? by Mike on 10-07-2005 at 10:54 AM

No, it doesn't freeze!

It just takes looong time to finish, but it does finish.
But, when it finishes, it seems that it has not compressed the old files...
I have used this feature in the past, and it worked very well, but now it just won't work...
But, the other features work... :-/

Oh, and I already tried that solution from Microsoft, what it does, is removing the "Compress Old Files" feature from disk cleanup...

I will try running it from safe mode when I get home...