Solved Formatting HDD

[PaulElmes]

That's what I was gonna ask you! lol

I'm viewing it now and under the $Recycle.Bin folder there are 3 sub folders. Each begins with S-1-5-21, and then loads of numbers afterwards. Only one of the folders holds all of the 80-odd Gig.

You know how every sub folder in your WER folder has like 2 word docs, and then some other stuff as well? Well, looking at it in WinDirStat it almost seems exactly the same, only it's in a different folder.

I'm gonna look into it, but if anyone knows anything about $Recycle.Bin S-1-5-21 then please let me know

 

[PaulElmes]

Top left hand corner on the Desktop screen is a waste paper Basket. Right click on it then chose explore. Everything you have ever deleted is in there. At the top of the page it says Empty recyle bin! Click on that if your sure that you need nothing in that bin. If you need to keep something right click on it and click on restore you will then find it where it originally was.

After you have emptied Recycle bin you will definitly have enough space to re-install or restore windows. Good luck and click on my scales next to my name at the top thanks...

I know how to empty my recycle bin!

But this isn't my Recycle Bin, it's empty, but WinDirStat says there's a folder on my laptop called $Recycle.Bin that has all these folders in.

 

[Barman58]

Helllo Paul,

Do you have any shared users on this PC - The S..... numbers are Security Identifiers (SID) for other users. they may also be remnants of your previous ID on previous installs

To remove them you will possibly have to take ownership of the folder or maybe even boot into safe mode as the Hidden administrator

 

[Tarka Dal]

Sorry!

 

[PaulElmes]

Helllo Paul,

Do you have any shared users on this PC - The S..... numbers are Security Identifiers (SID) for other users. they may also be remnants of your previous ID on previous installs

To remove them you will possibly have to take ownership of the folder or maybe even boot into safe mode as the Hidden administrator

I looked it up on Google and have noticed that sometimes it has something to with previous accounts on the system. I have only ever had one user this laptop throughout it's life.

Do you think it is safe to delete these? When I view the $Recycle.Bin folder it says it's empty (But under properties it says it takes up over 80gb), but I view each individual folder without a problem

 

[PaulElmes]

Sorry!

I appreciate your help, I really do. I've been so used to having a serious lack of help on some Vista forums, it's nice that some people actually care enough to take time out and help. I really do appreciate it.

 

[SIW2]

Hi Paul,

See if this does it,

Type cmd in start search box - when it pops up, rt click and run as Admin.

At the prompt, type:

rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin {enter}

close cmd prompt.

 

[PaulElmes]

The first time I done it nothing happened (although I seem to have freed up about 2GB doing this?)

I didn't think it had done anything, so I done it again, and it just said Access Denied for loads of different things.

Just done another WinDirStat scan and it's still coming up with the same stats.

The $Recycle.Bin folder is taking up over 80GB on my laptop!

[EDIT] Just seen that it's deleted all but one of the sub folders within the $Recycle.Bin, the only folder left is S-1-5-21-3136249861-3845900593-2404512697-1000, which occupies the 80GB

 

[PaulElmes]

Are you able to empty it?

If not, on your C drive, find "$Recycle.bin" folder and delete it with rt click Shift + Delete. Vista will make a fresh one on reboot.

Hope it helps

SIW2

Sorry I never saw the last but of this post, the over excitement of finding the folder blinded me slightly:D

So you reckon it's safe to delete it? It doesn't seem neccesary to keep it otherwise everyone would have a file of that size wouldn't they?

 

[SIW2]

It's perfectly safe to do that. You may get the Access denied you got when you tried the commands.

Otherwise, make sure you have your Vista product key and copy anything you want to keep off the drive.

D/l this

SourceForge.net: GParted: Downloading ...

Burn to recordable cd with this

View attachment Burn CDCC.zip


Boot from cd - it loads into RAM - stops 3 times asking about keyboard , language, etc. - press Enter each time - the defaults are fine.

You see a window with your drive, Rt click the drive, select Delete, click Apply

All gone. Exit the program and remove cd.

Should be able to do a clean install with Vista dvd now.

Hope it helps

SIW2

 

[PaulElmes]

I'm so happy I could cry. I really could. Sad, I know, but I could

I deleted the folder.

I started the day with a 103GB HDD with a mere 7GB of free space.

I end the day with a 103GB HDD with 91.4GB of free space.

The folder occupied pathetic amounts of HDD space. You seriously can't understand how much hell this problem has been putting me through, you really can't. For a whole year I was watching my laptop die.

Thank you to everyone. Thank you for the help, the time and the effort. Thank you for explaining things simply and offering 100% advice no matter what. You have genuinely made my year.

Thank you all.

On a less emotional note, anyone know why this occupied so much space on just MY system?!

 

[SIW2]

Hi Paul,

Glad it worked for you.

Suggest you try a System file check, in case it can fix what was causing the problem in the first place.

http://www.vistax64.com/attachments...1222351195-system-file-check-tool-sfctool.exe

Click Start System Repair

Hope it helps

SIW2:D

 

[PaulElmes]

Thanks for the link, just running the scan now.

Just one more thing, back to my initial problem. Even though I've freed up every bit of my HDD that had dissapeared, I'm still thinking about reinstalling Vista (because I've had the system for about 2-3 years now)

But I'm still having the same problem; when I boot from startup, once it gets past the initial stage ("Windows is loading files...") the screen goes blank and does nothing.

I thought it was something to do with the fact I didn't have enough HDD space left, but that's obviously not the case because I tried to reinstall this morning.

My only option left is the click Computer> CD Drive, and click "Install" when prompted. Will that perform a clean install or what?

Thanks again.

 

[SIW2]

Hi Paul,

If you run setup from the dvd after you have booted into your existing installation , you will get an upgrade install ( sometimes called a repair install ).

To do a clean install, you need to boot from the dvd.

It is not impossible you have a hardware problem, but it's unlikely as you can get into your existing system ok, you just can't install from the dvd.

My guess is the dvd is damaged- even slight damage can cause it to fail.

You might try the Repair/upgrade install and see how far you can get with that - if it messes up, you might not be able to use the o/s at all.

I would borrow a Vista dvd (correct bit version-either 32 or 64 bit, whatever you have. The files for all Editions are on the dvd's - the product key you enter determines which Edition is installed).

Otherwise, get hold of a Vista .iso file and burn it to a dvd using an isoburner - (do not format the dvd - if autoplay pops up-just close it).

http://www.vistax64.com/attachments/general-discussion/10459-formatting-hdd-burn-cdcc.zip

Then try a clean install with the second dvd.

Hope it helps

SIW2

 

[PaulElmes]

Hi fear not I managed to get it done in the end. Thanks for all the help

 

[SIW2]

You're welcome.

What did you end up doing?

SIW2

 

[PaulElmes]

I ran the install within Windows byt double clicking the disk icon in My Computer.

I followed the instructions on the MS website. It left the old Windows files behind but I deleted them with Disk Cleaner so all is good.

Just delighted I've managed to reclaim my laptop back!