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Size on disk - - Hidden files

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April 11, 2006 - 10:02am
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wsm23
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Size on disk - - Hidden files

I have a U3 Geeksquad 512mb stick.

I have found some interesting attributes.

When I look at applications/files/folders in some files I find that the file size is different than the size on disk. Sometimes it is as much as twice the size.

Is this a U3 thing?

Also how can I view hidden files?
I have already used the windows explorer settings to show hidden files/folders.

When I look at a folders properties and it shows 3mb's worth of files in the folder, the open folder may only have 1mb or no files showing at all.

I am trying to keep the U3 profile folders clean.

Any suggestions?

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April 11, 2006 - 12:59pm
wsm23
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Screenshots to help.

Maybe my screen shots will help explain.

This is the properties screen on the main local settings folder

http://www.jasnetworks.com/robinsnest/local%20settings.jpg

Notice it says 9.72mb, but when I open it up these are the only two folders I see. The application data folder is the only one with any files in it. But it only has 1.65mb of info.

http://www.jasnetworks.com/robinsnest/app%20data.jpg

The other folder "Apps" has nothing in it.

Are there hidden files I am missing?

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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April 11, 2006 - 5:24pm
(Reply to #2)
wsm23
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Portable Shell/Explorer

Does anboy know of a portable shell or windows explorer that can help me with this?

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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April 12, 2006 - 2:50am
Bruce Pascoe
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Turning on the display of

Turning on the display of hidden files isn't always enough. U3 may be adding the System extension to its hidden files, and as such you won't see them unless you uncheck the option "Hide protected operating system files" in Folder Options.

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April 12, 2006 - 12:59pm
(Reply to #4)
wsm23
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I'll try that

Thanks for the advice.

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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April 13, 2006 - 11:06am
(Reply to #5)
wsm23
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Thanks

Big help.

Of course I got the "If you're an idiot with computers, then do not even think of unchecking this box" message. I think thats what it meant anyway.

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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April 13, 2006 - 10:43pm
(Reply to #6)
Bruce Pascoe
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Yeah, pretty much.

The gist of the warning is "Most of the files that will be shown by unchecking this box should not be deleted or modified or you could kill your computer."

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April 13, 2006 - 11:33am
John T. Haller
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Size on Disk

In addition to hidden files, another thing influencing size on disk is your block size and the number of small files. So, if your drive is formatted with a block size of 64KB, then that's the minumum amount of space a file can take up. So, a 1KB file would actually take up 64KB. And a 65KB file would actually take up 128KB. And so on.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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April 13, 2006 - 11:39am
(Reply to #8)
wsm23
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U3

I don't think I can change that on a U3 drive can I?

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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April 13, 2006 - 11:49am
(Reply to #9)
John T. Haller
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Nope

If you formatted your U3 drive, it wouldn't work anymore. And you can't reinstall U3 if it gets messed up.

Well, you *might* be able to copy your U3 files off, then reformat that partition, then copy it all back. But I can't be held responsible if it's dead after that point... heh. But it might work and would be a good experiment. Hmmm... I have a couple U3 drives, maybe I'll try it on one if it'll help out the users out there.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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April 13, 2006 - 12:09pm
(Reply to #10)
wsm23
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Not worth the risk.

Thanks to everyone for the info in this topic.

I may change/format my lexar but not the U3. Too much risk.

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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April 17, 2006 - 12:22pm
(Reply to #11)
wsm23
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U3 Local settings

I do not have any software such as Migo installed on my U3 drive.

I have found recent document lists, cookies from IE, temp java files, all unrelated to apps that are running from the drive. I can run PFF U3 and my Signup Shield and thats it, but the U3 user profile seems to get bigger and bigger if I don't manually delete some large files from time to time.

Why does it insist on loading up on info from the desktop or system I am on?

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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April 17, 2006 - 1:42pm
(Reply to #12)
John T. Haller
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Delete it

You can delete the Documents\U3UserProfile directory whenever you'd like. FF for U3 doesn't store anything important in there. Just be sure you saved no files to the 'desktop' within it.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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April 17, 2006 - 1:46pm
(Reply to #13)
wsm23
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Same question as before.

I know I can delete it, you have answered that question for me before. I appreciate the reminder.

This may be more of a philosophical question though.

I just wanted to know *why* U3 insists on collecting this data to the flash drive. If I know why and how maybe I can stop it.

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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April 17, 2006 - 1:54pm
(Reply to #14)
John T. Haller
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It isn't U3

It's Firefox. Firefox will write a file to the local PC for plugins. This is unavoidable. To be U3 certified, apps can't do this. So, we trick Firefox into using a USERPROFILE on the key. Unfortunately, everything Firefox touches will also use this.... so if you launch something from Firefox... like Windows Media player, etc... it will also store it there. Hence, the growth. I'm hoping to fix this in the next release of FF for U3 to give U3 users a better experience.

Portable Firefox just leaves this single pluginreg.dat on the local PC. You can alter the behavior as with U3 with an INI option, but it is not recommended.

This has been answered a couple times in the forums.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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April 17, 2006 - 2:05pm
(Reply to #15)
wsm23
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Thanks

I am probably the one who asked most of the questions in those other forums.

It just clicked with me though with regard to Firefox being the culprit. This is why my USERPROFILE swells when I use "View this page in IE".

Thanks again John.

Life is about the journey not the destination!

The Kazoo Spartan

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