Rescue & Recovery Eating space.

[BoomAM]

Hi.
Ive spent all week trying to delete a 20Gb backup (according to R&R) from my drive.
After freeing up about 8Gb so the 'no space' error didnt crop up in R&R, and then the program crashing, i finally managed to delete the backups by deleting them all in the program.
The only problem is, that im a few Gb missing, and R&R reports that theres no backups if i go on 'view backups', but the statistic thing says that theres 5Gb of backups!?

Where on the HDD are the backups stored? so i can delete them manually?

The only backup that i want is the 'factory setting' backup, which i asume is on the hidden partition that makes up the remaining 7Gb of my HDD.

Thanks in advance all.

[croooowe]

Which version of RnR are you using? What statistics are you looking at?

[BoomAM]

The latest version.
The statistics that show up when you click on create/views backups.

Also, the 'optimise backup space' option, it opens a window that doesnt fully draw and just crashes!?

[Kyocera]

Check here, should have your answer and then some

[BoomAM]

Big file.

Ive browsed through it, and most of it doesnt really relate to the standalone version of R&R, instead, covering the network version.
Which isnt applicable as most of it is listed as being accessed through a web interface remotely.
The section that is about the client version doesnt appear to cover backup deletions in much detail, nor does it list where they are backed up to on the HDD.

So what page number am i looking at for this 'answer and then some'

[croooowe]

What system are you running? Do you get an error message when Optimize crashes? Does it crash the window or all of RnR?
Well if the program glitched and there is still material there you can try to create another backup. Doing this should overwrite any old backup remnants. At that point delete the new backup and you should be clear.

[BoomAM]

System? a Z60M.
It only crashes R&R, no error message.

[GomJabbar]

Hopefully the following information will be of some help.

You can obtain RRUTIL.EXE and other utilities mentioned in this guide from the Web site that contains this document.

The following procedure lists the steps to GET files from, and PUT files into, the Rescue and Recovery environment.

These procedures are used for all file customizations of the Rescue and Recovery environment.

To use RRUTIL.EXE, do the following:
1. Copy RRUTIL.exe to the root of the C drive.
2. Create GETLIST.TXT file with the following syntax:
\preboot\usrintfc\file name Save the file as C:\TEMP\GETLIST.TXT.
3. At a command prompt, type the RRUTIL.exe command and one of the switches defined in the following table. Then complete the command with the appropriate parameters, as shown in the following table.

Command and switch options *Result
RRUTIL -l1 *List the contents of preboot directory
RRUTIL -l2 *List the contents of minint directory
RRUTIL -l4 *List the contents of the root of the C drive or root of type-12 partition
RRUTIL -g C:\temp\getlist.txt C:\temp *Get files from preboot partition
RRUTIL -d C:\temp\ dellist.txt *Delete files from the preboot partition.
RRUTIL -p C:\temp *Add or replace files in the preboot partition.
RRUTIL -r path \oldname.ext newname.ext RRUTIL -r \temp\rr\test.txt test2.txt the file is in the preboot\rr directory *Rename a file in the PreDesktop Area.
RRUTIL -bp C:\temp *Update or replace files in RRBACKUPS virtual partition.
RRUTIL -bl path RRUTIL -bl lists to C:\rr-list.txt rrutil -bl c:\rrtemp *Lists the RRBACKUPS directory
RRUTIL -br RRbackups\C\n where n is the backup number *Delete the content of backup.
RRUTIL -bg C:\temp\bgetlist.txt C:\temp *Copy individual files from the \RRBACKUPS.
RRUTIL -s *Space consumed by RRBACKUPS.

[* added for clarity]

ThinkVantage Technologies Deployment Guide, Volume 1

[BoomAM]

I fail to see how that helps to be honest.
The only command that would be useful is this one:
RRUTIL -br RRbackups\C\n where n is the backup number *Delete the content of backup.
But when the normal R&R utility doesnt any backups, i'm stuck arnt i?
Plus, most, if not all of, that info relates to the first partition on the drives backup, the one that does a factory reset, which i want to keep.
Ive tryed some of the commands, and they dont do anything. They just say that they cant find anything.

Thanks for all the 'solutions' guys/gals, but none of them appear to be of any help. Much appricaited though.

[GomJabbar]

RRUTIL -br RRbackups\C\n where n is the backup number *Delete the content of backup.
But when the normal R&R utility doesnt any backups, i'm stuck arnt i?

Not necessarily. Have you actually tried the command? Don't give up before you start.

You asked if you could delete the backups manually. I believe the above does that from the command prompt.

[BoomAM]

RRUTIL -br RRbackups\C\n where n is the backup number *Delete the content of backup.
But when the normal R&R utility doesnt any backups, i'm stuck arnt i?

Not necessarily. Have you actually tried the command? Don't give up before you start.

You asked if you could delete the backups manually. I believe the above does that from the command prompt.

Yes i have tryed them. The commands do not do anything.
Ive checked the size of whats on C: and it comes to 34Gb. Thats with the swap. Theres still 6Gb unaccounted for.

It just keeps erroring with 'cant find drive with \\rrbackups on'
Which is odd, as it does exist, as trying to access that directory through dos just comes up with an 'access denyed' error. So it is there.

[GomJabbar]

OK. Give this a try then. http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=13247

[BoomAM]

That wont work if the folder isnt displayed in Explorer anyway.
I have nothing to 'right click' on.

[GomJabbar]

Go to Control Panel > Folder Options > View > choose the following:

1. Select radio button: Show hidden files and folders.
2. Uncheck box for: Hide extensions for known file types.
3. Uncheck box for: Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).

If the above isn't sufficient, then disable security in the BIOS for the Predesktop Area.

[BoomAM]

I have them unticked anyway, and the BIOS is set to no security for the pre-desktop area anyway.

[GomJabbar]

The thought just occurred to me that maybe you are trying to delete something in the service partition. For instance, if you go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management, you will see two partitions. The IBM_PRELOAD (C: ) NTFS partition, and the IBM_SERVICE FAT32 partition. On my T42, I have a 40 GB hard drive. The IBM_PRELOAD (C: ) is listed as having 32.79 GB, and the IBM_SERVICE is listed as having 4.46 GB for a total of 37.26 GB. The difference between 40 and 37.26 has to do with the way Windows reports hard drive space.

While you can see the IBM_SERVICE partition in Computer Management, generally at least, you can't view it with Windows tools. One other thing, if you encrypted or password protected your backup, that may prevent you from gaining access. If you really need that hard drive space, backup your hard drive to external media, then use your Product Recovery Discs to return your laptop to factory state. Then restore your backup.

[BoomAM]

The thought just occurred to me that maybe you are trying to delete something in the service partition. For instance, if you go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management, you will see two partitions. The IBM_PRELOAD (C: ) NTFS partition, and the IBM_SERVICE FAT32 partition. On my T42, I have a 40 GB hard drive. The IBM_PRELOAD (C: ) is listed as having 32.79 GB, and the IBM_SERVICE is listed as having 4.46 GB for a total of 37.26 GB. The difference between 40 and 37.26 has to do with the way Windows reports hard drive space.

I have the service partition & 'Windows' (i renamed the drive).
I know how drives format out.

While you can see the IBM_SERVICE partition in Computer Management, generally at least, you can't view it with Windows tools. One other thing, if you encrypted or password protected your backup, that may prevent you from gaining access. If you really need that hard drive space, backup your hard drive to external media, then use your Product Recovery Discs to return your laptop to factory state. Then restore your backup.

The backups arnt encrypted and i im not after restoring to the factory state.

Let me explain again.
The backups were taking up 23Gb according to R&R. A 20Gb backup & a 3Gb one.
I had 17Gb free space.
If i went to delete the 20Gb backup, it said 'insufficent space to perform task'.
So i free'd up enough space to make about 25Gb.
I then went to 'delete backup' again, and it started doing its thing, without the error.
R&R then crashed.
I then restarted R&R, and set R&R to delete both of the backups. It did so fine.
But, that extra space i made on the drive to get rid of the error, is missing.
Windows reports that i have used 41.8Gb of C:
Highlighting everything in C:, including the hidden stuff & the swap, only comes to about 35Gb.
Leaving 6.8Gb missing.

[GomJabbar]

Try using the attrib command on the file you want to delete. If it shows +r, +h, or +s, then type type the command something like attrib -r -h -s badfile.fil .

There is a DOS trick that I vaguely remember. I once had some DOS files with improper filenames. DOS refused to delete them. I don't remember exactly what I had to do, but it seems like the trick was to rename the file using wildcard characters, then delete it.

For example, say you had a file named illegal~@.fil . You would rename it by using the command: ren illegal*.fil legal.fil or else the command: ren illegal??.fil legal.fil . Then you would use the command del legal.fil . I may not be remembering this accurately, but it goes something like that. Search with Google on this.

http://www.easydos.com/dosindex.html

[BoomAM]

Try using the attrib command on the file you want to delete. If it shows +r, +h, or +s, then type type the command something like attrib -r -h -s badfile.fil .

I dont know the file name as i dont know whats there. I just know somethings there.

There is a DOS trick that I vaguely remember. I once had some DOS files with improper filenames. DOS refused to delete them. I don't remember exactly what I had to do, but it seems like the trick was to rename the file using wildcard characters, then delete it.

Deltree tended to do it in dos if 'del' didnt work. :p

[GomJabbar]

Try using the attrib command on the file you want to delete. If it shows +r, +h, or +s, then type type the command something like attrib -r -h -s badfile.fil .

I dont know the file name as i dont know whats there. I just know somethings there.

Just go to a command prompt and type attrib *.* . That should show all the files, hidden and otherwise, and their attribute settings. Of course it only checks the directory you are in.

[BoomAM]

The ''RRBackup' directory still doesnt show up.

[GomJabbar]

While in a Command Prompt, if you type attrib rrbackups while in the root directory C:\ , then you should see: SHR rrbackups . If you use the Recovery Console (something you have to install from within Windows, or else boot up from a Windows CD), you get to a command prompt as well, but it works slightly different than DOS. If you type DIR from the C: prompt in the Recovery Console you get an attribute listing with an additional character D (for directory). Using attrib in either a Windows command prompt or the Recovery Console, I think you can remove the attributes of rrbackups and then delete it. I did not want to mess with mine, because I may need the RnR backup I have. Note that on my T42 with RnR ver. 3, the directory is plural (with an s) rrbackups.

[Pete Whiting]

I had the same problem on an R51, 1836 Q4U. I must have back 'uped" to the 40 gb drive. R+R took up a considerable amount of the 40 gb drive, about 8 gb. I deleted R+R using the Windows XP ADD/Delete program and the partition disappeared, gaining 8 gb. I then download R+R 3.01 on 6 March and back 'uped" to an external USB HDD. 3.01 R+R allows more than one CD backup.

[GomJabbar]

I was just in Safe Mode. I could open and look at the files and folders in C:\RRbackups . I could not do this logged on as Administrator in Normal Mode - I would get: Access Denied. But in Safe Mode I was able to browse the directory with Explorer. Note that you have to have everything unhid in Folder Options to see the directory.

[Aldoux]

OK. Give this a try then. http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=13247

Hi Mod,

I had the same problem, the system in my laptop did a 30 Gb backup in RRBACKUPS folder after a forced shut down, but I was able to solve it thanks to this useful link. Thank you very very much man.

[nick39]

The solution was hidden in the reply from Kyocera a while ago.

In the IBM redbook it was said look for the program RRUCMD.EXE somewhere in your Thinkpad.

If you put "RRUCMD DELETE LOCATION=L" on an DOS command line
you will delete all RRU backups on your Local Drive, even if the Acces was Denied on the RRU backup folder. Make first an copy of your last backup on a separate storage medium.

An easy fix after all, it worked for me!

Write it down folks.

Nick

[Lengis]

I was just in Safe Mode. I could open and look at the files and folders in C:\RRbackups . I could not do this logged on as Administrator in Normal Mode - I would get: Access Denied. But in Safe Mode I was able to browse the directory with Explorer. Note that you have to have everything unhid in Folder Options to see the directory.

Thank you Thank You Thank You GomJabbar!
I just gained 25 gigabytes of storage space with your solution!

Minor Tweaks:
In safe mode, I was unable to see RRbackups in windows explorer, but I found it using a cmd prompt and "cd RRbackups" from the C:/ directory. In that directory, saw the /C/0/(backupdata) and /C/1/(backupdata) corresponding the the Rescue&Recovery backups. Deleted them with the del command, restarted in normal mode, and I went to 35gigs free from 10gigs free previously.

4hours+ of failed tries
Found this post
All solved

[TooManyIDs]

Thanks for the posts explaining what RRbackups was.

Just removed Rescue & Recovery from a laptop (not mine) and the uninstall took care of removing the directory, and its contents.

Returned about 11GB that had mysteriously vanished.