Why is my VM so big? How can I reduce the size?

[davidb2]

I started out several years ago with about a 2 GB VM in XP Pro under OS X 10.5 (currently OS X 10.6.8, Fusion 4.1.2), which has now grown to about 15 GB. Shrinking brings it down to about 13 or 14 GB.

I only use the VM for QuickBooks Pro and occasional browser testing. Besides QuickBooks, my only additional applications are Microsoft Security Essentials, CC Cleaner, Primo PDF, Firefox and Safari. The only document I keep on the VM is the current QuickBooks company file. I am not using Snapshots.

So, my question is, why is my VM so big? How can the bloat be removed?

Thank you,

David

P.S. Okay--I think I figured out how to see the disk size in Windows Explorer > My Computer > Local Disk (C:). Capacity is 19.9 GB, used space is 11.7 GB and free space is 8.24 GB.

Message was edited by: davidb2 (added P.S.)

[sakibpavel]

Start the  shrink process from within the guest operating system itself from the  VMware Tools (right click the VMware Tools icon in the system tray).

This will prepare the disk for shrinking by creating wiper files to zero  out any unused disk space and then start the shrink process.

Make sure  you have enough free disk space on the host, because the shrink process  actually copies the used blocks from the original vmdk file to a new one  and then replaces the files.

sakibpavel   

[davidb2]

sakibpavel wrote:

Start the  shrink process from within the guest operating system itself from the  VMware Tools (right click the VMware Tools icon in the system tray).

This will prepare the disk for shrinking by creating wiper files to zero  out any unused disk space and then start the shrink process.

Make sure  you have enough free disk space on the host, because the shrink process  actually copies the used blocks from the original vmdk file to a new one  and then replaces the files.

Thank you for the suggestion--I appreciate your help.

That is the way I have been shrinking the VM (is there any other way?), but it still only decreases from about 15 to 13 GB. Also, 380 GB out of 500 GB are available on the host drive, so there is plenty of free space. In case it matters, the VM itself is 20 GB.

David

[WoodyZ]

How must free space does it how from within the Guest OS, assuming it's Windows then from Windows Explorer?

Also... To help figure out what is what the best way to provide comprehensive diagnostic information is to use the "Collect Support Information" command from the VMware Fusion (menu bar) > Help > Collect Support Information and then attach the .tgz file it created on your Desktop to a reply post.

[davidb2]

WoodyZ wrote:

How must free space does it how from within the Guest OS, assuming it's Windows then from Windows Explorer?

Also... To help figure out what is what the best way to provide comprehensive diagnostic information is to use the "Collect Support Information" command from the VMware Fusion (menu bar) > Help > Collect Support Information and then attach the .tgz file it created on your Desktop to a reply post.

The VM is 20 GB, with 13-15 GB used, so there is about 5 GB free space. (Not sure how to ascertain this from Windows Explorer though--could you please let me know a little more?)

I am attaching the .tgz file.

Thank you,

David

P.S. Okay--I figured out how to see the disk size in Windows Explorer > My Computer > Local Disk (C:). Capacity is 19.9 GB, used space is 11.7 GB and free space is 8.24 GB. In my original message I said there was 13-15 GB used because that is how much shows up when I use Get Info on the vmware.vm file from within the host OS 10.6.8, depending on whether I have shrunk it or not.

Message was edited by: davidb2. (Added P.S.)

[WoodyZ]

David,

I took a look at the relevant information in the .tgz file and it looks okay at this point.  The Virtual Machine Package shows around 12 GB in size and that corresponds with the amount of used space in the virtual hard disk and the additional files within the Virtual Machine Package.  If that is not right please take a snapshot of the Get Info sheet for the Virtual Machine Package showing its size.

Thanks,

Woody

[davidb2]

WoodyZ wrote:

I took a look at the relevant information in the .tgz file and it looks okay at this point.  The Virtual Machine Package shows around 12 GB in size and that corresponds with the amount of used space in the virtual hard disk and the additional files within the Virtual Machine Package.  If that is not right please take a snapshot of the Get Info sheet for the Virtual Machine Package showing its size.

Yes--that is about right. (In any event I am attaching a screen shot of the Get Info screen.)

I am not concerned about the difference between the size shown by Windows Explorer and Get Info, though, but with why my VM has grown so large with so few applications and data files?

Is there a way of reducing the size?

David

[davidb2]

[Bump]

Again, why has my VM has grown so large with so few applications and data files?

Is there a way of reducing the size?

Thank you,

David

[jfilippello]

Your VM also has a size of RAM that must be included in the used disk space? How much RAM do you have allocated? When the VM is powered on that much space must be availabe on the local disk too.

[davidb2]

Your VM also has a size of RAM that must be included in the used disk space? How much RAM do you have allocated? When the VM is powered on that much space must be availabe on the local disk too.

The computer has 8 GB of RAM, of which 512 MB are allocated to the VM. The VM disk size is 20 GB, split into 2 GB files. The VM is configured to use one processor core.

The local disk is 500 GB, of which 120 GB are used, so there is about 380 GB of free space.

I still don't understand why the VM has grown so large when it has so little in it. Does everyone's VM grow this large? (Mine started out as 2 GB, but is now about 12 GB.) If so, do they just ignore it?

David

[jfilippello]

So your VM could have a drive that is 20GB and you cutting it into 2GB chunks per the settings and not preallocating it? VMs grow with usage (temp files are usage) and do not give back without manual intervention.

[davidb2]

So your VM could have a drive that is 20GB and you cutting it into 2GB chunks per the settings and not preallocating it? VMs grow with usage (temp files are usage) and do not give back without manual intervention.

Yes--the VM has a sparse disk instead of a pre-allocated one, and it is split into 2 GB files.

If temp files are never deleted, I must have about 8-10 GB of them by now, which would explain the large size.How can they be deleted?

David

[jfilippello]

Try the recommendations on this link http://techblog.41concepts.com/2008/03/31/shrink-your-windows-disk-image-on-wmware-fusion-mac/

I understand that it is using older versions, but should be close to relevant. You may need to search around. If you get stuck I can try doing this on a machine once I am home and using my Mac + Fusion ... today is XP through View

[WoodyZ]

davidb2 wrote: If temp files are never deleted, I must have about 8-10 GB of them by now, which would explain the large size.How can they be deleted?

Have a look at: Using Disk Cleanup

Also have a look at: Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP

Then after using Disk Cleanup, shrink the disk again.

[davidb2]

Have a look at: Using Disk Cleanup

Also have a look at: Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP

Then after using Disk Cleanup, shrink the disk again.

Thank you for the suggestion. I have previously tried Disk Cleanup in XP (which usually saves only a hundred or so KB) and then Shrink in VMWare Tools. After shrinking the VM is only about 2 GB smaller.

Are there temporary files that Disk Cleanup doesn't remove?

David

[davidb2]

Try the recommendations on this link http://techblog.41concepts.com/2008/03/31/shrink-your-windows-disk-image-on-wmware-fusion-mac/

I understand that it is using older versions, but should be close to relevant. You may need to search around. If you get stuck I can try doing this on a machine once I am home and using my Mac + Fusion ... today is XP through View

Thank you for the suggestion. I will try it and let you know the results.

David

[WoodyZ]

What about Windows Restore Points, have you cleaned them up with More Options in Disk Cleanup?

Have a look at: CCleaner  (This is similar to Disk Cleanup however it may offer some things that Disk Cleanup doesn't.)

Also you may want to take a graphical look as this may be easier to conceptualize and or determine if there is a large cache of files that explains what's going on.  Have a look at: WinDirStat: Windows Directory Statistics

[davidb2]

Try the recommendations on this link http://techblog.41concepts.com/2008/03/31/shrink-your-windows-disk-image-on-wmware-fusion-mac/

I followed the instructions but unfortunately the VM was 15.49 GB before and 12.02 GB after--about the same as when I have shrunk it before.

I appreciate your help anyway.

David

[davidb2]

What about Windows Restore Points, have you cleaned them up with More Options in Disk Cleanup?

Have a look at: CCleaner  (This is similar to Disk Cleanup however it may offer some things that Disk Cleanup doesn't.)

Also you may want to take a graphical look as this may be easier to conceptualize and or determine if there is a large cache of files that explains what's going on.  Have a look at: WinDirStat: Windows Directory Statistics

Thank you for your helpful suggestions.

I did clean up the Windows Restore Points in Disk Cleanup and also used CCleaner but they didn't make any difference. (CCleaner usually finds only a hundred or so KB to delete.)

I ran WinDirStat but am not sure where to go from here. I am attaching screen shots of the results--could you perhaps look at them let me know what you think?

David

Message was edited by: davidb2 Attached screen shot 3

[WoodyZ]

What I see in the images I'd say is the normal bloating of the Windows OS however some additional pruning can be done if you know what you're doing.  I see several GB I'd get rig of if it was my system however I know and understand how all of this works and the inter-dependencies and what can and shouldn't be trimmed and or the consequences of trimming certain things and it's not something I can teach someone easily or have the time to elaborate in detail, sorry.