SERIOUS COMPUTER PROBLEM

[IAmThumper]

Firestormalpha read this linK
I didn't read through it all but it says

SYMPTOMS When you run the Disk Cleanup utility, the program may stop responding (hang) while scanning for compressed files.

so I believe it is what you are looking for. It involves editing your registry so beware. Good Luck

P.S. Although I do dislike microsoft it took all of two minutes for me to find this in their knowledge base. I got there by doing a "Disk cleanup winXP error" search in google (it was the very first search result). I wish the problems I get with winXP could be found in the knowledge base.

[Firestormalpha]

Ok, It no longer sticks, but it also no longer has the compress old files section. Does that mean it simply won't compress the files any more? And would this hinder my computer performance in any way? If yes, it's ok, I still have the registry entry backed up. At anyrate the Diskcleanup had a nice 200+KB of Temp files to get rid of. I'm thinking somewhere along the line it would have eventually caused some issues.

[IAmThumper]

I'm not sure why you now longer have the compress old files section. By compress old files section you mean after it scans the drive it comes up without the compress.. entry in the "files to delete:" list correct?

The way I understand it (I haven't looked in the registry) is windows lost track of where the compress old files data was and so went looking somewhere else and got confused and hence hung. It only compresses old files after a certain time of disuse. Mine is set for 50 days (by default) and the only way I know of to change that number is through that disk cleanup entry. Assuming it fixed the problem, which I'm not sure it did, it might very well fix itself and the only way to tell if it did is to try it again in 50 days.

Try to do another disk cleanup on the same drive as you just did. Perhaps it recreated the old files database or something.

Another thing that it could be is you now have the data compression disabled on that drive. I asked a friend (who does this stuff for a living) about it and he gave me this. I'm not sure how to put it back on. It's not the check box right off of the drive properties box. That compresses all the data on the drive.

[Firestormalpha]

Compress Old Files doesn't appear in the list and it is not scanned when I start the Disk Cleanup. As far as I can see removing the registry entry causes windows to become oblivious to it's existence. I could try restoring the old registry file, but I don't know if that would fix it or simply replace the previous complication.

[IAmThumper]

I was just looking through the knowledge base. There are two pages which basically say the same thing. One says to back up the registry key which you end up deleting and the other doesn't. Guess which one I found first and gave to you. I'm glad you backed up your registry. I would definitely hold onto it. You might try to restore the registry and then save only the VolumeCaches section of it since there is no need to keep the whole registry backup.
I'm looking at the registry key right now and it doesn't seem to say much so I'm figuring it just turns that part right off when you delete it.
If it was me I'd try restoring the registry and see what happens. You know how to fix it now so I don't think there is anything to lose. But before you do check to see if windows has added that key back into the registry. This would indicate that it has set it back up and perhaps it will start working again. My opinion is that it has been turned off and that's all we can do about it.

FYI my registry has three keys in Compress old files
(default) REG_SZ {B50F5260-0C21-11D2-AB56-00A0C9082678}
Priority REG_DWORD 0x0000012c (300)
StateFlags REG_DWORD 0x00000000 (0)

I have no idea what these values actually do and I can't recommend you change yours to these (especially the default one) seeing as I have no way to tell what effect they'll have (but if you're feeling crazy go for it).

[Firestormalpha]

Well restoring the reg file only puts the problem back. But I did check the values. Noticed some differences, and I also have one more field than you have.

Yours:
(default) REG_SZ {B50F5260-0C21-11D2-AB56-00A0C9082678}
Priority REG_DWORD 0x0000012c (300)
StateFlags REG_DWORD 0x00000000 (0)

Mine:
(Default) REG_SZ {B50F5260-0C21-11D2-AB56-00A0C9082678}
Days REG_DWORD 0x00000032 (50)
Priority REG_DWORD 0x0000012c (300)
StateFlags REG_DWORD 0x000000001 (1)

There diferences in the values but I haven't a clue what changes would cause what effects. Anyone out there who knows registry editing? In the meantime I'll delete the Compress old files entry and leave the backup in my documents.

P.S. Thumper you have a double post.

[ 10-17-2003, 03:11 PM: Message edited by: Firestormalpha ]

[IAmThumper]

That's interesting. Well the days must be how many days a file has to remain unused before it is considered for compression. Have you thought about changing the last one to zero? Let me know if you do since now I'm curious if it will do anything.

P.S. I removed the extra post. For some reason when I posted my last message it told me the wait 50 seconds and try again message.

[Bungleau]

On a side note, I personally don't believe in compression... of any kind. If I want it compressed, I'll ZIP it myself. Trusting the OS to manipulate what it considers to be useful or un-useful files is prone to problems and poor performance.

If it were me, I'd turn off the compression. Last time I used it was when I had a 420MB hard drive... I now have more than that in a swap file.

[Firestormalpha]

Bungleau, I just checked and I'm thinking of the same compression option your talking about (the one under properties when you right click the hard drive?) Then it's been disabled as long as I can remember, and more importantly it still is now.

IAmThumper, I am hesitant to change any of the values in my registry without full knowledge of the consquences. I didn't save for 4 months to buy this computer only to mess it up with one fatal, albeit well-intended, key stroke.

Oh yeah, just a wild guess but would the values I'm seeing in the registry be in hexadecimal format? Just out of pure curiosity on my part.

[IAmThumper]

I was just curious. I think not having compress old files isn't so bad. I'm picturing one day I'll fill up my drive and then try to access an old file just to have windows say too bad not enough space. Heck I'm thinking about deleting the registry key myself. LOL.

But anyway the entries are in hexadecimal and the decimal value is displayed in the parenthesis soo
0x0000012c (300) -> 1*16*16 + 2*16 + 12 = 256+32+12 = 300