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Recovery partition is full, can I delete un-needed files?
I have a Dell Inspiron 530 running Windows Vista Home Basic sharing the network with an HP laptop and a MacBook Pro. The Dell hardware is unchanged except that I added a video card last year. I added an Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive NAS to my network in Dec. The NAS came with backup software that appears to have inadvertantly copied backup files to the Recovery Partition (D: Drive) of the Dell which is now full. I tried to delete those added files thru Windows Explorer and it appeard to work; asked for confirmation, asked for an administrator password, showed the fancy gragphic depicting a moving file folder. When it was done the files were still on the D: drive and did not go to the Recycle Bin. I tried for 30 mins to delete the files from the GUI and logged in as administrator from the command line with no success. Is there a way I can delete the files not related to Recovery and regain the space on the D: drive so I no longer get the low space message?
Thanks,
arbiggs in Alexandria
osprey4
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February 23rd, 2011 17:00
Hi arbiggs,
This question is frequently asked and there is an answer in this thread.
Hope that helps!
arbiggs
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February 24th, 2011 06:00
Osprey4, I appreciate the answer, but the suggested thread did not help with my problem. I know there should not be any other files on the D: drive but I cannot remove the files that have been added there by the Iomega Quick Connect backup software. I have copied the files to the network drive so there is a backup, but no matter what I try I cannot delete them from the D: drive. It is like these files are protected from deletion.
Is there a possibility that there is some type of protection put on the files when they are on the Recovery Partition? Or is there any reason the OS or any other software would protect the files from deletion?
HELP?
arbiggs
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February 24th, 2011 17:00
I will give that a shot and let you know how it goes. I'm just baffled as to what is going on. After further attempts at deleting the files I discovered there are other files, on the C: drive, that I'm also unable to delete as well as certain program shortcut icons on the desktop. It's the darndest thing I've ever come across.
osprey4
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February 24th, 2011 17:00
If you used the Iomega software to create the files, then you should be able to delete them using the same software.
arbiggs
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February 25th, 2011 08:00
OK. I gave it a shot. The software in question is the Iomega QuikProtect backup that came with the Home Media Network Hard Drive. Try as I might, I could not find a way to use the software to access the D: drive and move or remove the files it put there during the backup. I'm starting to think there are many, many more issues since I also cannot switch users to log in as the Administrator or even restart and log in as the Administrator. I get a message that the profile is no longer valid. Huh! Although the admin password works for other necessary functions. I also tried the Datasafe restore option but that did nothing to solve the problem. It looks like I'll be copying the working files and restoring to the factory shipped config and start all over again. Guess I'll cancel my plans for the weekend. :emotion-6:
osprey4
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February 25th, 2011 16:00
Sorry to hear about that. This was a chronic problem with Vista.
arbiggs
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February 26th, 2011 11:00
Thanks, Osprey4. I appreciate the help. I've restored the HDD to it's factory shipped state and am now installing Win updates and then restore the backups.