Unknown file on C drive

imkvinayan · 10 Jul 2020

Ghot said:

I know a Linux Live bootable CD or USB can see other invisible files. Like the SAM files, where passwords are stored.

I am currently downloading the ISO, will report back as soon as I check

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Steve C said:

This is quite a mystery. I'm surprised TreeSize in admin mode doesn't identify it. MiniTool Partition Wizard is worth a try - I use the portable version to avoid issues with Defender if you use the normal installer.

Why is your Windows folder so small at 11GB? All my installations have a Windows folder c. 20GB.

Honestly no idea mate

Fabler2 · 10 Jul 2020

Wonder if WDS originally reported the size incorrectly? "No they aren't 19gigs apart, they were almost 7.5 gigs apart, so I ran WDS again and the file now shrank to 7.4 gigs" Could it be the Reserved storage?

Unknown file on C drive-screenshot_8.png

imkvinayan · 10 Jul 2020

Fabler2 said:

Wonder if WDS originally reported the size incorrectly? "No they aren't 19gigs apart, they were almost 7.5 gigs apart, so I ran WDS again and the file now shrank to 7.4 gigs" Could it be the Reserved storage?

I don't think so, reserved storage has been here for more than a year right?
This thing cropped up in the last week or so

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Ghot said:

I know a Linux Live bootable CD or USB can see other invisible files. Like the SAM files, where passwords are stored.

Booted into live Ubuntu 20.04 and it showed the filesystem just as windows showed it, even when mounted as r/w

mngerhold · 10 Jul 2020

Did you run chkdsk yet (suggested earlier)? Do you use virtual drives?

Secondly, the surprisingly small size of your Windows folder might suggest that something in there is now hidden from you, due to a permissions issue. Viewing a macrium Reflect image might reveal something - I think it can show everything, regardless of permissions.

Ghot · 10 Jul 2020

imkvinayan said:

Booted into live Ubuntu 20.04 and it showed the filesystem just as windows showed it, even when mounted as r/w

Well, you know what I think. I would use Macrium and a quick backup and restore to get rid of it.

Compumind · 10 Jul 2020

@imkvinayan -

See and follow my post #17 in this thread.
At this point it is the easiest thing to do.

Once the MR backup is made and verified you could delete that file (and if you encounter permission errors, I can help you get through that.)
Then we can analyze that the system is functioning normally or if that file was more important than we anticipated (doubtful.)

One more thing to try before doing the above:

The file name might be corrupted.

Is your Virtual Memory being managed by Windows 10 or is it a fixed size (swapfile?)

If fixed, let W10 manage it.

Here's a resource - just let W10 do the work.

How to increase Page File size or Virtual Memory in Windows 10

HTH,