Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


Forums › Microsoft Windows › MSN Messenger 8 bloat - 8GB file
Mutly

250 posts

Master Geek


#6623 10-Feb-2006 08:43
Send private message

Has anyone else noticed that MSN Messenger 8 creates an 8GB file in their profile called:

C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Messenger\*****@msn.com\SharingMetadata\Working\SimilarityTable_2

I asked MS about this, and they said if I didn't like it to uninstall Messenger... I assume this is for the shared folders function, but it remains even if this is turned off.

Create new topic
freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
79298 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

#28133 10-Feb-2006 09:08
Send private message

Wow! Now, this is something on the large side. Even for shared folders this wouldn't be necessary use of space if there's nothing to be share.




Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSync 



freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
79298 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

#28135 10-Feb-2006 09:17
Send private message

Actually, just looked closely on this... First right-click the file and check properties. It should be using very little space on disk - in my case only 1MB.

There is a blog post about this on the MSN Blog. Look for "Just where are my Sharing Folders, anyways?" in the Inside Windows Live Messenger Blog and there's an explanation there:

"Q2: I looked at this hidden directory, and it's taking up 8GB of disk space! No wonder I'm out of room!
A2: Sorry, we're not the disk space hog you thought we were. There's a file that reportedly takes up 8GB of disk space, but it's actually a sparse file that only uses about 1MB of actual space on disk. (The rest of it is just a bunch of zeros - think of it as being highly compressed.) You might even see this file go away completely in later releases."

And the MSDN has an explanation for a sparse file...


So, there you go, not that evil really...




Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSync 

Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00

eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07

BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21

eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01

WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32

RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26

Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24

Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01

Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22

Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46

Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42

D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34

Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15








Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.


Updates »

Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.

RSS feeds
Main feed
Forums feed
Copyright
©2002-2025 Geekzone®
Site features
Geekzone BI dashboard
Geekzone Badges
Geekzone Status Page

 

Affiliate links
Samsung
AliExpress
Wise
Sharesies
GoodSync
Site Information
Subscribe to Geekzone
Privacy Statement
Forum Usage Guidelines (FUG)
Advertising
Trademark and copyright