Skip to main content

Try & Decide creates large unknown file

Thread needs solution

This is the sequence I followed that created the problem:

Restore an disk image
Check properties of C: drive - size is 49GB
Run Try & Decide
Make small change by making a copy of a tiny file
Close Try & Decide and choose to save the changes with a reboot
Check properties of C: drive again. Size is now 61GB

Run WinDirStat to see the sizes of all files on the C: drive. I find a section marked "Unknown" which is 12GB. It may be a coincidence but that is also the size of my Hiberfil.Sys file.

How can I a) delete this unknown file/section and b) how can I stop Try & Decide from doing it again?

0 Users found this helpful

Where did you store the T&D data (specified when you start it)?

I did not change the default setting so the Storage for virtual changes was set to C:

What are the implications, advantages/disadvantages of using a separate drive for the stgorage?

I don't know how it happened or what can be done to prevent it happening again, but to delete the file, you need to stop the T&D service in Windows Services. Once stopped you will be able to delete the file (assuming it is being locked by T&D and not some other process), then restart the service.

The service is AFCDP

Thanks Colin for your reply. The issue is that it isn't a file in the conventional sense that is created, rather an area that WinDirStat marks as "unknown"; it just cannot identify what has been created.

I was unable to identify the service you mentioned in the list of services; what is its full name, please?

I have disabled Hibernation because the size of the problem is just too close to the size of my hiberfil.sys to be a coincidence I feel. I have uninstalled Acronis completely and reinstalled it - I do this four or five times a week because Try & Decide keeps reporting that it failed to start - and I see if the removal of hibernation improves things.

As a by the way, any idea why Revo Uninstaller does not list Acronis when it's installed? Is there something special about the way Acronis installs on Windows 8 64 bit?

T&D is supposed to work wherever your store the "buffer" data. I don't use T&D personally, but when I try it I always use another disk to store that data. I have no indication that it really matters.

I am not even sure that the data is T&D's.

A couple of posts related to a similar issue/symptom:
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/20985
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/33075