I Have a 66gig HD in which a file is 33gig! HELP!

Hi,
The file is manefest cache.. is is 33gig of my 66 gig HD.

I'd like to know if there is a way to change the file/clear the cache to give me more HD space.

Thanks

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Take a look at this thread: Manifest Cache

Are you sure it's 33 GB and not 3.3 GB? If so, I'd run some scans such as Malwarebytes as suggested. I would not delete the Manifest Cache. It's there to prevent "DLL Hell" where different programs need different library assemblies or what they call "side by side." It's definitely needed by the system. Mine takes up about 11 GB.

Perhaps some software somehow got installed multiple times or there's an issue with the Windows Installer. You might search MSDN for Windows Installer Cleanup.

In fact I would look in Control Panel => Programs and Features to see what's installed. Maybe you have like 20 versions of Java or something.

Does anyone else use the PC who might install any and every free program they can get?

Also I have a feeling the system in on an SSD? Please fill out specs so we don't have to play 20 questions. SSD can show large portions of the disk as allocated until the Garbage Collector reconditions the memory to avoid slow accesses. Vista does not have Trim notification as Windows Seven does. I have no experience with the system installed on SSD. If that's the case maybe someone running on SSD will chime in. But we can't guess where to go from here until you post specs. Please use the link I posted in my first reply so your spec sheet will follow all your posts.

Hi,
It's 33gig...

I've no idea what my specs are... but i'll have a poke around the laptop and see what i can find out and update it shortly
*Updated what I could find... perhaps if you could tell me where to look?*

Checked control panel and there's nothing there thats duplicated or shouldn't be there, and we dont download anything onto it so there shouldnt be anything strange downloaded. The only free thing is AVG but thats been on since purchase.

I did find the link you have put a few months ago and downloaded some of them (ccleaner and TFC I think) which didnt help. I've only posted as it's got to this size and thought it'd need slimming down!

Ok. The file is actually a *blobs.bin file inside the ManifestCache folder.

blobs.bin file

Do you install every single update that comes out? Seems that is one way the file size can go out of control. Supposedly it's there for pending operations, like applying a Windows Update or other system function.

(On my system the file is only about 155 MB. But I don't do updates unless it's something I think I need, in which case I apply it manually.)

btw if you want to fill in the rest of your system info later on, in start menu type
System Information

or you can use a free 3rd party app like Speccy, SIW, LookInMyPC
there's a whole bunch of good ones out there.

[url=www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-system-information-utility.htm]best free system info apps
[/URL]

A 33Gb manifest file? That's extremely suspicious. I'd definitely run a malware scan. If you can't get rid of this, and you've no idea how long it has been around (meaning you can't do a system restore to an earlier point where it didn't exist), I'd delete the file and then run a Vista repair to fix anything that's missing.

It's a blobs.bin file as noted in the link. They were talking about Vista server but apparently it's for pending system update operations. According to the posts on the linked page, it's ok to take ownership and delete the file, then reboot. But since I've never done that myself, I'd rather not go telling people to delete system files. If they want to take the advice from the page they can make the decision. It seems more likely a problem with Windows Update not removing the blob data than anything else.

If it was on my machine I'd disable windows update, delete the file, reboot and see what happens. Since the blob is so big there's no real chance of a restore point being helpful. Just have to delete it and hope for the best, if that's what the OP wants to try.

Hi,
Any idea which malware scanner i should use?

Also it's been said I shouldn't delete it.... then I should... :S

Finally, as i'm on a metered dongle i've not been downloading updates so not sure about that theory :s

thanks

I'll try and screen dump a image for you (attached now)

That's why I put the link. I've never had to deal with it. Unless someone has direct experience they can relate, I would rely on my own judgment if I were you. If it keeps growing then it will kind of take the decision out of your hands anyway don't you think? Sooner or later you'll have like 1 MB free drive space.

I found another reference
blogs.msdn.com/b/jonwis/archive/200...-manifestcache-lt-something-gt-blobs-bin.aspx

Thanks for the correction, MilesAhead.

Previously, I've done a folder properties on update files that Microsoft has installed on my operating system over the period of 4 years and found at most about 15Gb of files that have been built up. A 33Gb queue of updates still feels suspicious. I'd double check your Windows Update settings, and be sure to have it set to "notify" but not automatically download. There are plenty of options Microsoft likes to offer up... maybe accepting all of them would account for so much data.

I'm not sure what the file is exactly about. Seems to be a new thing with Vista. I know when I got Vista before SP1 there was some weird installer behavior and I had to run a cleanup tool. I don't know if it's related. It never hurts to run stuff like Malware bytes. But it seems like an esoteric method to waste somebody's disk space. I have the feeling it's one of those things we'll forget about before we find out what the reason is though.

Hi,

I've checked the Microsoft update... and there's one thats failed since 2009! I'd guess that once I can get that to work it'd clear all the space as i'd assume its gradually increased each time it tried to download...

Matthague said:

Hi,

I've checked the Microsoft update... and there's one thats failed since 2009! I'd guess that once I can get that to work it'd clear all the space as i'd assume its gradually increased each time it tried to download...

Click to expand...

Do you have any way to back up your system to an image? Like a large external drive? There are plenty of free reliable image backups around. I've used Macrium Reflect Free and Easus Todo. They both work well.

I think it unlikely the file is going to shrink like a wart after applying the freeze ointment. I'd feel better if you backed up first. But otoh 33 GB just for a garbage file is kind of tedious. But that's the most cautious way. Where it's in a system folder I don't know if you could exclude it. Some backup apps may let you.

In any case if it were on my machine, considering what it's for, I'd delete it. But if you don't back up please don't blame me if stuff happens. If you have a large external or secondary drive, you can always throw away the huge backup once things are normal and make a normal sized backup image. It's just a precaution. But living with 1/2 your system disk space unusable is a definite handicap.

But it's your decision. That's why they call 'em Personal Computers.

This hassle won't be for nothing if it gets you to set up reliable image backup. It's bailed me out a few times. Not just from malware. I can do stuff like try out another flavor of Windows(which I did on this machine. W7 64 just didn't custom install well, so I rolled it back by restoring the backup image. My Vista 64 is just the same as when backed up after laying the image back on.)