Missing hard disk space ... again

I know you guys are probably tired of hearing about hard drives on new laptops that keeping getting full. But I just wanted to mention one more source of disk usage that does not get much play and is also a very annoying new "feature" of Vista (Some versions).

Quick summary of the 100 GB HD:

Actually 93 GB due to current conventions (marketing games)
6.5 GB in hidden partition.
21 GB in RRbackups folder. This is the Rescue and Recovery folder where the backups are stored. I had two points created. Each took up 10.5 GB (wow!!) This on a new machine with the Lenovo applications only.

After adding everything up, I was still missing about 9 GB. More searching and then I ran across Windows "Shadow Copy" This was the final culprit in allocating disk space. To find out how much of your HD is being used up by this service, run the following command in an administrator level DOS window:

C:\Windows\system32\VSSAdmin list ShadowStorage
.
.
.
Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 8.385 GB
Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 8.822 GB
Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 12.999 GB


Great - mystery solved. But wait - the most annoying part of this great feature ... Vista will still make copies of your files and store them on your hard drive - *but* you won't be able to access them because the Shadow Copy feature is disabled for the cheaper Vista versions (this includes Home "Premium")

Imagine - older versions of your files stored on your HD, but you can't get to them even as admin.

Apparently there is a way to decrease the allocation, but it is also tied to system restore points and so I'm afraid to set it to zero - System Restore is definitely something MS did right and I want to be able to use that.

More info. here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/09/Backup/


I am most interested in everyones thoughts!

 

Here is a thread that explains/discusses shadow copy.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=167983

 

Welcome to NotebookReview.com, RSV.

This seems to be a fairly common affliction, as evidenced by the number of recent threads on the subject.

 

Thanks for those links - there was some great info. there.

 

My own missing drive-space mystery involved a brand new T-61 ThinkPad, (with Win XP Professional installed as a matter of preference) and a 60 GB hard-drive that somehow ended up with 25% free space in a few month's worth of minimal use. Hopefully my experience will help someone else attempting to resolve this issue. From what I've read, the results are similar between XP & Vista users, but as an XP user, of course I can't personally vouch for the results on Vista (or XP for that matter.)

After trying many times unsuccessfully to locate and purge the elusive Rescue & Restore backup folder(s), I created a new restore point (for just in case) with the Windows Backup program and then uninstalled Lenovo's "Rescue & Recovery" via Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. Due to the time it took for the uninstall process to complete, I suspected (and hoped) those inaccessible backup folders were being flushed along with the R&R program itself. Upon restarting the comp the first time after the uninstall, the desktop froze up. Notably the system tray wasn't loading, all of which didn't seem like a good sign. -However rebooting one more time did the trick. Everything loaded as normal. I then checked properties on my hard-drive and discovered ALL of the previously 'missing' 31 GB was restored. I regained over *half* of my disk space. That's a LOT of disk space and sadly, what a hassle to get it back!

From what I've read, ThinkPad users are having many different experiences (some good, some bad) trying to resolve this issue on their own, but woefully it isn't being addressed whatsoever by Lenovo. What's the point of installing a backup system that by itself, *without warning* eats up over half of a hard-drive and doesn't permit access to the backup folders? Lots of folks don't have the time to research and repair nonsense like this. I've been loyal to ThinkPad but Lenovo seriously needs to get a handle on this crap, pronto!

 

Hello,

If you want to DISABLE the R&R Backups in a ThinkPad notebook, here is a way to do it easily:

1. Click on the ThinkVantage Productivity Center in the Start Menu
2. Select Data Protection & Recovery and then select Back up my data
3. In the lower left hand corner click the ADVANCED button
4. Under Back up your system, you can View all Backups
5. Under Manage Settings, you can Set Schedule and Preferences
6. Also under Manage Settings, you can select files to exclude
7. Be sure to click Apply

I would not turn off the System Restore feature of Windows - this can really save you if you install a bad driver, etc. You can though, reduce the size of the shadowstorage using VSSADMIN through the command prompt - just enter VSSADMIN and it will show you all the options.

Hope this helps,
CLM