Windows 10: Storage leak on NTFS system drive in Windows 10 (huge system files?)

Hi - I'm an IT professional with a baffling Windows 10 problem (Pro 1809 10.0.17763.615/semi-annual channel).


Recently over 300 GB of space has mysteriously gone missing on an NTFS system drive, and none of the tools I've found can tell me why. It's unclear exactly when the problem began, because the missing space wasn't noticed until the drive reached capacity during normal operation. Windows Storage settings reports a whopping 347 GB for "System Files", but I suspect this is a display glitch as the space doesn't seem to actually exist in any files on the file system.

I've tried all the obvious things, and scoured the internet and tried all the less obvious non-destructive suggestions I can find (screenshots below). Things I've tried include:

1. Searching the entire file system (including hidden folders) using WinDirStat, SpaceSniffer, Cygwin du, and others running with administrative access
2. Repeated on-line and off-line chkdsk (no errors)
3. vssadmin list commands to audit shadow copies
4. dism scans (no problems)
5. Unprivileged and Administrative Disk Cleanup (nothing useful)
6. Full virus scans with Windows Defender and AVG (installed after the problem began) are clean, and I've noticed no other virus-like activity.
7. Drive-level diagnostics: SeaTools and Samsung Magician (all clean)

This system is a server with a large investment in configuration, so reformatting or resetting windows is not really an option.

Can anyone provide suggestions on what else to try for tracking down and reclaiming my missing space?

Thanks,
-Dan




:)

 

Microsoft Announces Windows 10 Operating System

reFS rundown for those that talked about it:

note: as of now you can't boot off a reFS volume. reFS is primarily for server storage arrays and not the actual OS itself yet.

Also not to be used on DOMAIN CONTROLLERS.

I have server 2012 and it has support for it. I can't try it tho, as I need to keep NTFS for compatibility and portability reasons. However, once I build a storage array I will prolly switch to reFS and try it out... IF I FIND A GOOD RAID CONTROLLER.

Code: Removed features Some NTFS features were removed and unsupported in the initial versions of ReFS. These included named streams, object IDs, 8.3 filename, NTFS compression, Encrypting File System (EFS), transactional NTFS, hard links, extended attributes, and disk quotas.[10][3] ReFS does not itself offer data deduplication.[10] In addition, Windows cannot be booted from a ReFS volume.[10] Dynamic disks with mirrored or striped volumes are replaced with mirrored or striped storage pools provided by Storage Spaces, however, automated error-correction is only supported on mirrored spaces. Features initially removed include:[14] File-based compression Disk quotas Object identifiers Encrypting File System Named stream Transactions Hard links Extended file attributes Windows 8.1 (only in the 64 bit version) is the first client operating system to provide some support for ReFS. ReFS was initially unsuitable for Microsoft SQL Server instance allocation due to the absence of alternate data streams.[15] However, in Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 R2, ReFS reacquired alternate data streams and automatic correction of corruption when integrity streams are used on parity spaces.[16] Stability and known issues Adding thin-provisioned ReFS on top of Storage Spaces (according to a 2012 pre-release article) can fail in a non-graceful manner, in which the volume without warning becomes inaccessible or unmanageable.[7] This can happen, for example, if the physical disks underlying a storage space becomes too full. Smallnetbuilder comments that in such cases, recovery could be "prohibitive" as a "breakthrough in theory" is needed to identify storage space layouts and recover them, which is required before any ReFS recovery of file system contents can be started; therefore it recommends using backups as well.[7] Other issues identified or suggested for ReFS running on Storage Spaces (its intended design[9]) include: Because ReFS was designed not to fail, if failure does occur there are no tools provided to repair it. Third party tools are dependent on reverse engineering the system and (as of 2014) few of these exist.[9][/quote]
oh and the features I like about Server 2012/8:

• Improved file explorer UI with more options
• Improved file transfer dialog with speed graph
• Proper multimonitor taskbar and wallpaper support
• Built in .iso mounting and burning
• Better task manager with more info
• OSD volume controls/display
• Built in Hyper-V (previously only avalible in server releases) Please note: however it is a bit stripped down

 

How to reformat hard drive with "ext3/ext4" file system to "ntfs" file system!

Today I formated my hard drive SSD 120 GB by the program "GParted" (this was the only program I had) to file system "ntfs" because I wanted to install my "Windows 10 OS Home" clean. After that I tried to install it but it failed! It could not recognise the
formated hard drive with "ntfs" file system made by "GParted" as its own "windows ntfs" file system!

I would like to know which program I can use to reformat the HDD into real (windows) file system "ntfs"?

***Post moved by the moderator to the appropriate forum category.***

 

Windows 10 installation file system

Hello I installed windows 10 on pendrive 3,75 gb with ntfs system file using ultraISO. I read on internet that it is required to use fat32 if you have uefi mobo which I do (msi b85m-g43). So far my system is working just fine except after boot screen the background doesnt dissapear, insted windows 10 loading circle on little black background appears and then it goes to welcome screen. Everythings else is fine so far. May this problem be caused by file system ? Or could it done any other problems I dont see?

Well Nevermind. It seems like program formatted pendrive to fat32 and I didnt see it.