How to uncompress all files on a drive? 1

[WANguy2k]

At some point I must have accidentally allowed the Disk Cleanup wizard to complress my "old files". Now I have files sprinkled all over my drive that are compressed. Not really a major issue but I'd like to uncompress them all. Is there a way to do this?

 

[bcastner]

I am curious as to whether the fact that they are compressed is causing you any particular problem?

You can use the commannd line tool compress.exe:

(Warning -- slightly long)

If the files of importance are on volume C:, you can Start, Run, compress /u /f /s:c:\

Now the lenthy part, the MSFT documentation for the command.

Compact.exe

Displays and alters the compression of files or directories on NTFS partitions. Used without parameters, compact displays the compression state of the current directory.

Syntax
compact [{/c|/u}] [/s[:dir]] [/a] [/i] [/f] [/q] [FileName[...]]

Parameters
/c
Compresses the specified directory or file.
/u
Uncompresses the specified directory or file.
/s:dir
Specifies that the requested action (compress or uncompress) be applied to all subdirectories of the specified directory, or of the current directory if none is specified.

/a
Displays hidden or system files.
/i
Ignores errors.
/f
Forces compression or uncompression of the specified directory or file. This is used in the case of a file that was partly compressed when the operation was interrupted by a system crash. To force the file to be compressed in its entirety, use the /c and /f parameters and specify the partially compressed file.
/q
Reports only the most essential information.
FileName
Specifies the file or directory. You can use multiple file names and wildcard characters (* and ?).
/?
Displays help at the command prompt.
Remarks
The compact command, the command-line version of the NTFS file system compression feature, displays and alters the compression attribute of files and directories on NTFS partitions. The compression state of a directory indicates whether files added to the directory will be automatically compressed. When you set the compression state of a directory you do not necessarily change the compression state of files that are already there.
You cannot use compact to read, write, or mount volumes that have been compressed using DriveSpace or DoubleSpace.
Examples
To set the compression state of the current folder and its subfolders and existing files, from the current folder, type:

compact /c /s

To set the compression state of files in the current folder, subfolders in the current folder, and files within all subfolders without altering the compression state of the current folder, from the current folder, type:

compact /c /s *.*

To compress a volume, from the root folder of the volume, type:

compact /c /i /s:\

This example sets the compression state of the root folder and all folders on the volume and compresses every file on the volume. By using the /i parameter, you ensure that error messages do not interrupt the compression process.

To compress all files that end in .bmp in the \Tmp directory and all subdirectories of \Tmp, but not modify the compressed attribute of these directories, type:

compact /c /s:\tmp *.bmp

To force complete compression of the file Zebra.bmp, which was partially compressed at the time of a system crash, type:

compact /c /f zebra.bmp

To remove the compressed attribute from the directory C:\Tmp, but not change the compression state of any files in that directory, type:

compact /u c:\tmp

 

[linney]

It might be worth a look at the setting you have for compressing old files in Disk Cleanup. The default is set for "files not accessed for 50 days", if you have it set for a shorter period than the default you may end up with a lot of compressed files.

Every machine I access, the default of 50 days is set and it is unusual to find any file compressed by Windows except for files like "$NtUninstallKB867282$" in the Windows folder.

To check your settings, run Disk Cleanup and highlight "Compressed Files" in the "Files to Delete" box. Under "Description" will be an "Options" tab to access the length of time settings.

 

[bcastner]

Linney,

Hence my starting question:
"I am curious as to whether the fact that they are compressed is causing you any particular problem?"

I go back and forth between denying any compression, or permitting the Disk Cleanup job to run at default settings. I would be interested in any user experience either way.

Bill Castner

 

[linney]

Well, I just leave Disk Cleanup to Compress any old file it likes and I'm still trying to find one that it has. I am assuming that if it did compress an old file the text of the compressed file name would be in a color text as specified in Folder Options/ View "Show Encrypted or Compressed NTFS files in color".

"Specifies that the names of files you compress or encrypt on NTFS drives appear in a color when you view them in a folder window. This does not apply to folders you compress using ZIP compression utilities."

I have green for Encrypted files and blue for Compressed files and as previously mentioned the only blue text files I ever see are "$NtUninstallKB867282$" or similar.

I do run Disk Cleanup every time I Defrag, and you know I am a "Defrag Junkie".

Maybe I just haven't any files older than 50 days since Modification or use?

 

[WANguy2k]

Thanks for all the info, guys. By the way linney, if you do regular virus scans, that might be changing the last accessed date on all your files. So the cleanup won't compress any files because they've all been accessed in the last 50 days. I'm not sure if this differs for different anti-virus programs.