Windows 7, Deleting Large files is extremely slow. (Not going to recycle bin, permanent delete)

Anonymous
2009-12-13T14:37:28+00:00

It is taking a huge amount of time to delete files.

The files are not going to recycle bin (I am hold shift while hitting the Delete key)

Also I have even tried shutting off the recycle bin

I have timed a few of these

Single file delete, 2.6 gb, 2 minutes 14 seconds

Single file delete, 1.9 gb, 1 minutes 44 seconds

Single file delete, 230 mb, 0 minutes 24 seconds

Most of the time the dialog window that pops up says "Calculating..."

Judging by the times, This has something to do with file size.

I get similar time when I delete from the command prompt.

Windows XP would do permanent deletes and moves (on the same drive) in a split second, especially since we are talking about one file.

I work with large image files regularly. I can't wait 2 plus minutes every time I delete one of these files when I may have to move or delete a few hundred at a time.

I am getting very frustrated with Windows 7.

So far...

I have disabled Remote Differential Compression (RDC)

I have disabled TCP AutoTuning and Receive Side Scaling

                netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled (AND)

                netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled  (And rebooted)

There are no removable drives, USB devices, or other attached devices other that the keyboard and mouse.

I have disabled

Windows Search and Indexing

I am viewing "Details" only in windows explorer (No Thumbnails)

I have shut off IPv6 support (I read about it somewhere but I believe it was to do with network operations, but I tried it anyway)

Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface is disabled

All Drivers are up to date.

I have completely wiped the drive and reloaded the OS.

This is on a 1tb storage drive, no RAID, 3gb SATA drive (Seagate 7200.12)

Windows 7 64bit (Windows experience is listed as 6.1)

Intel i5 processor with 4gig memory

Fresh install, fast hard drive (OS).

Avast AV

Not much else running

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-01-01T18:06:58+00:00

    Here's the process that I used to delete a pesky 370MB mpeg file: right-click on the file, select Properties, then under the General tab select the Advanced button for Attributes, then uncheck both options under the File Attributes section ('File is ready for archiving' and 'Allow this file to have contents indexed in addition to file properties'). After applying these changes, the file can be instantly deleted.

    Rudy Stricklan

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-06-15T14:04:42+00:00

    Microsoft just does not get it.  In the reply above the technician suggests you reboot in 'safe' mode. Well after spending a couple hundred dollars on an 'upgrade' from XP I do not expect to be rebooting to safe mode to see if I loaded any programs at startup.  We obviously have a problem. FIX IT. How many end users are computer savy enough to navigate these intricate settings? After almost a year of testing how is it that Dos5.0 , Windows95 and Windows XP works better at the most simple task of copy pasting and deleting than Windows 7. We are retrogressing here not moving forward. As for me I'm installing Ubuntu Lucid Lynx and staying with it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-04-05T21:55:36+00:00

    Sorry pushed the wrong button in proposing the above as answer.

    Here is the Proposed Answer:

      1.  From Computer right click on the file. 

       2.  Click Properties

       3.  Click Advanced

       4.  Under File Attributes uncheck "Allow this file to have contents indexed in addition to file."

    I was finally able to delete a 1.3GB image file after doing this.  Nothing else not deleting from Computer or a Command prompt worked.  As soon as I did this the delete worked nearly instantly.  

     Microsoft:  Please check your OS to see if it is trying to index huge image files while trying to move, copy or delete them.  It seems to be.  To say this is a huge waste of people's time is the understatement of the century.

    Elaine

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  4. Anonymous
    2009-12-14T05:52:05+00:00

    Hello

    Thank you for writing to Microsoft Forums.

    (A). When deleting a file, the calculation time depends on not only the file size but the file number of its folder. It is recommended to separate to multiple sub-folders if you have a large number of video/music files.

    In addition, the issue can be related to third-party codec’s or third-party components, especially file system filter drivers, such as anti-virus drivers.

    You can boot the system into Safe Mode and have some tests. If Safe Mode works fine, you can then check the startup programs and loaded third-party services by running msconfig

    Steps to boot to safe mode:

    1. Restart the computer.
    2. Immediately after the screen goes blank for the first time, or after the BIOS post ends.
    3. Start taping the F8 key repeatedly. The Windows Advanced Options menu appears.

    (If the menu does not appear, restart the computer and try again. If the Keyboard has a F-Lock key, it may be necessary to press it first - QUICKLY before pressing the F8 Key. This will have to be done quickly before tapping the F8 key repeatedly.)

    1. Select safe mode and press enter
    2. Try booting to the desktop

    Refer this link for more information:

    “Start your computer in safe mode”

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode

    (B). Run a Virus scan. Refer this link

    http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.aspx

    Hope it helps

    Thanks and regards

    Dinesh-Microsoft Support

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think

    http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/answersfeedback/threads/

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-05-21T14:32:18+00:00

    I hope no one is holding their breath. This has been a problem for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and currently I'm "enjoying" watching Windows 10 do the same thing.

    Microsoft, let me try to explain this to you in a very simple manner, perhaps then you can muster the three IQ points required to understand. When delete is selected the file(s) should be immediately deleted. No discovering, no calculating, nothing except DELETING THE FILES AS INSTRUCTED.

    Is any of that unclear?

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