Wrong calculation of folder size by Windows

Anonymous

Hello,

I noticed today that my Windows system does not properly calculate folder sizes.

I'm actually trying to make a backup of all my personal and work content. When I check the whole backup folder size under properties, It shows me around 10 Gb. But when I open this big folder and select a subfolder, It show me 30 Gb... This is kind of really annoying and I think it's a major issue Microsoft should fix ASAP.

I would like to say (because I didn't find anywhere else to post it) that in my opinion, Microsoft lacks ways of collecting feedback from his clients. There is nowhere we can manually report bugs and crashes.

In any ways, I think that showing correct folder sizes is a really basic task that an Operating System should be able to do. Such a bug is inacceptable for a leader like Microsoft, and I honestly consider going along with Apple if this issue does not get quickly fixed. My computer will soon need to be changed in anyways.

Meanwhile, if some of you guys have found ways to go around this major issue, feel free to share them :). Thank you!

Here is my technical information :

Intel Core i7-3720QM 2.60 GHz

64 bits

Windows 10 family version 1803

Installed on 2018-06-20

O.S. version 17134.112

Many thanks is advance,

Antoine

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Answer accepted by question author

DaveM121 931.8K Independent Advisor

Hi Antoine_795,

It is widely reported that version 1803 of Windows 10 has introduced a bug into Explorer.exe

It is because it cannot read the metadata of files correctly, it mixes up the size and dimensions for example

Therefore it cannot calculate the size of a folder, especially if it has sub-folders, it also cannot calculate the spare space on a hard drive . . .

In the meantime, while we are waiting for Microsoft to fix this bug:

Click the link below to download a small free utility called Treesize - it is a great utility . . .

Using that tool, you will instantly see the size of all folders (always missing form File Explorer) and where space is being used on your hard drive . . .

https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/

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Anonymous

2019-04-05T21:38:58+00:00

So we're migrating out fileserver to aws based win server 2019. We used GS richcopy to mirror the data and the data has migrated successfully. Imagine my surprise when the 442GB of data was only showing ~62 GB used on the root when the drive shows the correct space used. Then when you select all the folder in the root directory I referenced, it shows 106GB. This pattern continued where sub-folders are somehow bigger than the root directory. The build version is w10 17763.253 and then installed missing updates (KB4489899 ) and rebooted and am now running 17763.379. As I'm posting this I checked for updates & a new cumulative updates was available & is now installing, KB4490481 03-19 cum update.

Hopefully this resolves this issue but we used the treesize free and verified the number of files & data size between the source & destination servers. The problem is as others pointed out when you don't know if the files did or didn't transfer.

I hope this update resolves this issue and will notify you if it does. Has anyone else found an alternative solution, the TLPD found 1564 files from the file share that now have greater then 250 characters in the file path. we can't fix that as it's our client's files plus we can't rename 1500+ files.
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Anonymous

2019-03-26T02:53:41+00:00

Great fix. It’s nice to know I have not screwed up my assistant’s new computer or her files, which I just moved. Now I know the job is done.

I am mostly to busy and stressed to cooment, but you guys who post fixes here are part of what really makes America great.

P.S. I use the free or pay version of Folder Size, another great American product, maybe just American in spirit.

NOT a great fix. A great fix would be Microsoft fixing the actual folder/file calculation bug so that deeply nested files and folders didn't break an essential operating system function.
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Anonymous

2019-03-19T09:00:54+00:00

I just looked this up in MS feedback hub. An official MS response was posted 3 months ago: "should be fixed in 18298+".

The topic is "File Explorer folder properties shows incorrect folder size and/or incorrect file count"

I've seen this response too - and that this build is due to be rolled out April 2019. Fingers crossed!

Also found this:

https://www.neowin.net/news/here039s-whats-fixed-improved-and-still-broken-in-windows-10-build-18298/
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