Hiberfil.sys does not remove, please help

[elite-fusion]

Hey guys,

I am in a jam here, I've got NO CLUE AT ALL as to why this is happening.

I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on a 256GB Kingston SSD

I have multiple applications installed, but not too many as this is still a fresh system.

I have 166GB free of 239GB according to My Computer, which is fine. I mean 256GB and only 239GB avail is a bit steep for SSD, but I'm guessing there is no way to get more out of it. Anyway...

I had Hibernation ON by default which gave me a hiberfil.sys file of 12GB, so since im on SSD and Hibernation is not something I use very often, I decided to disable it.
1. Win + R
2. CMD
3. powercfg -h off

Which DID disable it since it disappeared from my start menu, BUT the hiberfil.sys file still stays there. I have rebooted, shut down and power back up, nothing helps. I have no idea why.

Can someone please assist with this because SSD space is a shame to lose.

 

[Chainzsaw]

It may still be there, but what space does it show it takes up (as of right now)?

To double check to make sure you hibernation is disabled go to start, type power and select power options.

Click on change plan settings, click on change advanced power setttings.

Click on Sleep.

Click on Hibernate.

Make sure it is set to never.

BTW your command might not have worked -because sometimes you need to "RUN AS" administrator under the CMD prompt.

 

[elite-fusion]

when the Hibernate is OFF, when i go to power settings, under Sleep, I only have Sleep After and Allow Wake Timers, so I re-enabled Hibernate, and went back, and both Allow Hibrid Sleep (OFF) and Hibernate After (Never), then went to turn off Hibernate again in CMD (BOTH under regular and by right clicking and Run As Administrator) and both worked, closed CMD and restarted. Log back in and hiberfil.sys is STILL there showing as 12,491,440KB so pretty much almost 12.5GB

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hmm odd. I just tried it now and it worked properly.

Can you force delete the hibernation file? It shouldn't be necessary anymore to have it since you disabled hibernation.

 

[elite-fusion]

When I try, it stats that the file is in use.

 

[Chainzsaw]

If you boot into safe mode, is it still there?

 

[elite-fusion]

I forcedeleted the file using DrDelete, which worked nicely in Windows 7, and the file deleted, BUT My Computer now shows 165GB Free from 239GB, which makes no sense since I should have 12GB MORE then 166GB not 1GB less...any thoughts lol

 

[Chainzsaw]

Very strange indeed.

I would suggest going into your computer - right click on your C drive - and click on properties. Now go to Tools and click on "error checking, check now". Select both options and reboot.

This should go through your drive and correct minor problems. I'm not 100% sure if it will fix/allow you to gain your space back.

If it still doesn't "free" up the space - try using WINDIRTSTAT to see what's taking up space in your SSD drive.

 

[elite-fusion]

what is weird is that I enabled to Show Hidden Files, and also to show system files. I then select everything in C:\ and and right clicked > Properties. It calculated to 49GB in total size on disk. So that means that 239GB - 49GB = 190GB that I should have free, am I correct, or am I missing something?

 

[elite-fusion]

Just ran the CHKDSK and this is what it gave me

Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

249954303 KB total disk space.
44485572 KB in 321859 files.
177320 KB in 23381 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
470959 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
204820452 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
62488575 total allocation units on disk.
51205113 allocation units available on disk.

 

[Chainzsaw]

You are correct on the amount of free space you should have (around 190GB).

Did you try installing WINDIRSTAT to see what else could be taking up spacE? Do you have your pagefile on your SSD drive? If so you should tkae off the page file from your SSD and dump the page file on your HDD (I usually let windows decide how much page file it needs, since I have a massive secondary HDD).

 

[elite-fusion]

I just downloaded and I ran it, but never used it before, so not sure what all of it means lol so many pretty colors HAHA

As for the pagefile, yes, I do have one, and it is on my SSD, I use a 256GB SSD and that is the only one that I have in my computer (Dell Latitude E6420), but either way, I do let Windows decide on the size of the page file, but that I can deal with, I cannot deal with the incorrect space somehow

Please see the below image for a screenshot of WINDIRSTAT

 

[Chainzsaw]

Ok I can't tell whats wrong (looking at the pic)...maybe its your page file that is taking up the "ghost space".

Can you try setting your page file manually to 8GB and restart your computer? See if that helps with your lost space.

 

[elite-fusion]

I just changed it to Custom Size: Min:800 and Max: 8000, clicked Set, clicked OK, Restarted computer, and still page file is 16GB instead of the 8GB that I set it to...any ideas? lol

 

[Chainzsaw]

Do you have service pack 1 installed and all the latest updates?

And...i'm running out of ideas here lol.

Maybe you just need to let it idle for trim/gc to kick in (the best time for this would be after you've gone to bed).

 

[elite-fusion]

all updates = yes
SP1 = no

does it go into TRIM by itself, or how? i have no idea lol

 

[Chainzsaw]

Install SP1 ASAP. A lot of newer drivers don't work correctly without SP1. I'm guessing, that might be the issue.

Also TRIM works when your computer is idle, I believe logging off (but leaving computer on) allows trim to "run".

 

[tokencode]

To remove the hibfile.sys in Windows 7, run cmd.exe as administrator (create a shortcut to cmd.exe and right click and click run as administrator). At the command prompt type: powercfg -h off This will turn off hibernation and remove the hibfile.sys automatically.

 

[Apokalypz]

the shortcut for cmd and running as admin was what worked for me, THANKS tokencode!