New LARGE files in "Disk Cleanup"

[nelljack]

Hi all.

I recently get this two files showing up in the "Disk Cleanup":
Debug dump file and system error memory dump file. Both are 500MB
and they slow my machine down terribly. Is there a way I can get those files
to stop logging anything into them? Or can I change the size allowed to the log files?

Any help or explanation of why these two files suddenly showed up will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[strongm]

They are created when your computer crashes.

 

[goombawaho]

Both are 500MB and they slow my machine down terribly.

I don't think this is true at all. They take space, but not slow your computer down. A slowdown, if you noticed one, is likely caused by something else.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[linney]

Uncheck the "Automatically Restart" box in Control Panel/ System/ Advanced System Settings/ Advanced /Startup and Recovery/ Settings/ System Failure, then any error message will remain on the machine rather than just restarting the machine. Also have a look at the size of the Memory Dumps that are being created, make sure they are not set for a complete memory dump, choose one of the lesser options, the default is "Automatic memory dump".


Is "Debug" mode enabled?

Enabling Debug mode causes Windows to hang if no Debugger is connected

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/kb/2816225?wa=wsignin1.0

How to perform a clean boot in Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135/en-au

How to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot a problem in Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929135

Using Task Manager, have a look at the Details Tab and see which program is using all the CPU. That will be the program that is slowing your machine down.

How to Use the New Task Manager in Windows 8

http://www.howtogeek.com/108742/how-to-use-the-new-task-manager-in-windows-8/

 

[nelljack]

Thank all for your replies.

I haven't had any pc crashes AND the files in the Disk Cleaner do slow down my pc.
Just thought you might want to know that info.

I will try all of the above and check all you've mentioned linney.

If anything else happens that is strange I will re-post, so until then give me time to do/try/read all of the above.

Thanks again.

 

[nelljack]

Hi all again.

I went through all of the steps and found:
Debug was not enabled
svchost.exe was the largest memory user at 106,452
I ran Disk Clean again and this time I did the "System Cleanup" and
the regular Disk Cleanup.

So far I don't know of any more issues but it has only been a few minutes. If anything else happens with the 500GB dump files I check back in and let you know.

Thanks for all your helps.

 

[strongm]

>I haven't had any pc crashes

It is a mystery how those files got created then, since this is pretty much the only way the OS creates them.

>do slow down my pc

Given that these files are point-in-time snapshots it is difficult to see how they'd slow down your PC. Or do you simply mean they slow down Disk Cleanup?

If the latter then presumably you've tried deleting them using Disk Cleanup itself. And presumably it failed. This is because you need to be running with admin rights to delete them (no, even if the account you are using is an administrator it does not run with admin rights). Two ways around this - use the Cleanup System Files button (this elevates your rights), or run Disk Cleanupp 'as admininstrator' which you can do by right-clicking the program (or program icon) and selecting 'Run as Administrator.

 

[goombawaho]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Yes, my point exactly about not slowing down the PC. The size of a file that has already been created won't slow your PC down a bit UNLESS you have next to no disk space left.

If you want to remove it and nothing else works, boot to a linux CD or even repair mode.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[nelljack]

Hi all. Back again with the same problem. I made a screen shot showing both files in "Disk Cleaner" but don't know if I can attach it to any reply. If I can will you let me know how?

Plus another that just popped up as I was typing this. It was a pop up notifying me of "High Disk Usage" so I clicked on the details button and got "File Insight" pop up window: Performance Alert due to svchost.exe file (origin downloaded from unknown), disk read & write = 4094MB for this process. I don't know what this means.

I have a x64 laptop 2Ghz speed I think and windows 8.1. 4GB on board memory.

FYI, and I don't want to believe it, but, all of my problems seemed to start after I Uninstalled Malwarebytes. About 2 months ago. Mine is not to question why . . .

If any of you can help me try some other thing s I will do so.

BTW, linney, I looked for the settings you said to change: Uncheck the "Automatically Restart" box in Control Panel/ System/ Advanced System Settings/ Advanced /Startup and Recovery/ Settings/ System Failure but can't find it in win 8.1. Any clues how to find it? I'm lost on this version. It's a pain.

Thanks in advance. Tired of having to clean almost every other day.

 

[guitarzan]

To post a screenshot, at the bottom of this page, click the link that says "Click Here to upload your file to ENGINEERING.com", then click "Choose file", browse for your screenshot, and click "Upload File".

 

[linney]

See Control Panel/ All Control Panel Items/ System/ Advanced System Settings/ Advanced /Startup and Recovery/ Settings/ System Failure,

http://files.engineering.com/getfil...c7a6-4b89-ab2d-579ae10c7115&file=Untitled.jpg

 

[nelljack]

OK, I'm here and am going to upload my captured file. Plus, to let you know I still have 55.3GB hdd space remaining.

I'm on my laptop so when I'm done uploading the file etc., then I will check out the other tips to try.

Again thanks to all for your helps so far.

 

[nelljack]

I just changed the dump setting to "automatic memory dump."

And previous post has a copy of my Disk Cleaner shot of the two dump files, 500MB in size each, which disk cleaner said when removed would get back 1.17GB hdd space. There is already 55.3GB hdd space remaining.

I haven't tried to run as administrator yet. I ran disk cleaner earlier and those two large dump files weren't there so I didn't need to do as admin. I'm hoping linney's tip will take care of that problem.

Anyway, so far so good. Kudos to you all.

Thanks again. I won't post anymore here unless I get the same problem.
so no more help is needed unless one of you has something new to try to speed up my laptop. It used to be fast but not since that uninstalled program.

 

[goombawaho]

I think the whole slant of this thread is wrong. You are trying to associate the slowness of computer with something that is tangential to computer performance. If your hard drive was nearly full then YES I would worry about large files & disk space. Try running MSCONFIG or AUTORUNS. You can then turn off some/all non-Microsoft processes that start when the computer starts and see which ones, when disabled, cause increased performance.

Be careful because you can get a non-bootable PC from turning the wrongs things off. Maybe use MSCONFIG if you've never used Autoruns before.
Link
Link

One thing to turn off for sure before you do anything else is disable Windows Search via SERVICES control panel
You could also try a hard drive test to make sure your HDD is not going.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[nelljack]

Ok great! I'll try the msconfig and see which is running.

I also checked the windows search and in the list that ran in troubleshooter said it wasn't running so I am assuming it is disabled.

Thanks again all. Kudos . . .

 

[goombawaho]

Don't assume it's disabled. Go into services and check that it is set to disabled + stop the service to see if things improve immediately.

Go down to "Completely Disable Indexing"
Link

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[nelljack]

Ok all. Seems to have worked so no more help is needed. Didn't find anything that msconfig saw as a problem. I think I will defrag and clean off old files etc..

Thanks again. Kudos to you all.