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I'm trying to shrink my C: partition, and I'm following the advice in this question:

How to shrink Windows 7 boot partition with unmovable files

I have the same problem of unmovable files, and I've disabled already System Restore, Pagination, Hibernation... and still can't shrink anything my 350GB C: partition that actually only uses 80GB.

I'm following the Event Viewer method explained in that question, I use the shrink option in the Partition Manager and then check the Event Viewer -> event 259.

That event throws this message:

Diagnostic details:

  • The last unmovable file appears to be: \Users\Albert\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows \Temporary Internet Files\0AYu0utzFxpSlQ:cJa3UJYivVxT5eSKOsolvCA:$DATA
  • The last cluster of the file is: 0x56f8b5b
  • Shrink potential target (LCN address): 0x159fe49
  • The NTFS file flags are: ----D
  • Shrink phase:

The problem is that when I go to that folder (Temporary Internet Files) there's nothing there (I already deleted them from IE), but I have the folder options to show all hidden and system files.

Is it a super invisible file? If not, why do I get that message in the event viewer?

Any help would be much appreciated!

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Albert
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  • try unplugging your internet connection and restarting to make sure no programs attempt to build new temporary files. – Jeremy W Apr 04 '12 at 00:38
  • along with Jeremy's suggestion, perform a clean boot and then shrink while clean booted....http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/228/~/booting-clean-in-windows-7,-vista,-xp,-me-and-98#vista_7 – Moab Apr 04 '12 at 00:47
  • to Jeremy and @Moab thank you for your suggestions, I've tried both things without any success. When performing a clean boot, I can't perform a shrink command, I get an error. First it said that the Virtual Disk Service wan't available. I performed another clean boot activating that service, but when doing "shrink" I would get another error that the device is not available or something like that... any other thing I can try? – Albert Apr 04 '12 at 01:23
  • Good link there showing possible ramifications of shrinking, so i do not have to mention having a backup. I find that it is a waste of time to try and unlock, unhide, and defrag to be able to shift a partition around. Acronis disk director, and Easeus home version, will do these moves at boot before the files are locked. There can be files that are just wrong :-) charachters that basically cause failure, there are even protection schemes that I have seen purposfully create a corrupt filename to lock the file. There are files that the system simply will not show. Defrag at boot, move at boot – Psycogeek Apr 04 '12 at 02:04
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    Do not use Explorer to view system files - it lies endlessly. Use "dir" with the -force parameter in powershell, or the equiv. in cmd.exe. You may be surprised. Ditto using a boot-time app to move stuff as necessary. Some defrag apps can "compactify" the file system that way, then you can use Disk Manager to shrink. – kreemoweet Apr 04 '12 at 02:17
  • @Psycogeek yeah I've read about third party tools to do this, but I've also read of people having problems and getting errors, so I was trying to find a way using the tools that windows has. I guess that I can give one of those a try. And yeah, before trying anything I created earlier an image with windows of my C: drive, and a repair DVD to boot the windows tools and be able to restore that image. Hopefully I won't need those! – Albert Apr 04 '12 at 02:34
  • @kreemoweet when you say a boot-time app to move stuff, you mean like the ones mentioned by Psycogeek? Or something else? – Albert Apr 04 '12 at 02:35
  • @Albert you must have disabled some Microsoft Services by mistake. Clean boot done properly only disables non microsoft services and software. – Moab Apr 04 '12 at 03:19
  • @Moab I'm pretty sure I followed the directions in that link, but I can give it a try again in case I messed something up – Albert Apr 04 '12 at 03:45
  • @Moab you were right, I had missed one step and disabled services that I shouldn't have disabled. Anyways, I tried again and the problem was exactly the same as described in my original post, complaining about the same exact file. I guess I'll give EaseUs a try and hope for the best... – Albert Apr 04 '12 at 04:07
  • @Albert You still found a file, that "is not good" did you use the CMD prompt to see if it shows there? "Moving" the temporary net files sotrage location, can clear an "index.dat" (a locked file) , moving might discard that item, or show again a problem with it. Did you locate/view it with the CMDprompt methods? – Psycogeek Apr 04 '12 at 09:14
  • Be sure to make the Easeus boot media before you shrink the partition. – Moab Apr 04 '12 at 15:06
  • @Moab oops! I shrinked the partition already... luckily everything went fine. I had saved an image of my hard drive before and made a Windows repair DVD just in case anyways. Is there any benefit of making a boot media with Easus? I can still do it just in case if it's worth it... – Albert Apr 04 '12 at 15:18
  • @Psycogeek yeah I just used CMD and browsed to that Temporary Internet Files folder and voilà! The file is there, and some other files too (Content.IE5, Content.MSO, Content.Word, desktop.ini,iUeetmdW, Low and Virtualized). Now that I alreay used EaseUs to shrink my partition, should I do anything about them? – Albert Apr 04 '12 at 15:30
  • @Albert I did not find out any facts about the specific file, it could be a system item, I just dont have one, but there are things I do not use. The whole of contentIE5 is discardable , and also is in the normal cleanup routine. – Psycogeek Apr 04 '12 at 17:01
  • @Albert boot cd is just a way to use Easeus outside of windows, which can come in handy. – Moab Apr 04 '12 at 19:26

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I finally decided to forget about the Windows Partition Manager and go with EaseUs, and everything went actually really smooth and now I have my shrinked system partition and used the extra space to install Linux Mint 12. I have both on a dual boot and everything seems to work fine so far.

Thank you very much to all the people who gave me some advice, it was really helpful!

Albert
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