There seems to be plenty of free space on the SSD but there are unmovable files. So I deleted pagefiles etc, which increased available shrink space from 34000ish MB to 79000ish MB before it somehow decreased back to 58459 MB. GParted Live on USB (with laptop safe boot option disabled) did not work, so I am wondering if there's a way to locate and delete the unmovable $DATA file in question. Besides, can y'all recommend some decent software that address this issue please? Thanks in advance :D
You should be able to remove that file (and recreate it later). More info here: https://superuser.com/questions/819901/dangers-of-deleting-c-extend-usnjrnljdata#819976
I’ve run into this before, it’s mainly that windows is bad at identifying “unmovable” files. Just delete it as described in that link, try the shrink again, and recreate after.
Usual caveats apply: no guarantees, make sure there’s backups or no critical info on the system, if this messes up your system it’s on you, etc.
Tysm! It works and rn i have 77.5 ish G free shrink space! I'll try to see if $Mft::$DATA can be removed without messing up
That one can’t be removed but it looks like you can manually defragment specific files with the “contig” utility as described here: https://notes.ponderworthy.com/defragment-the-ntfs-mft-and-other-hidden-crucials-in-live-windows
Hopefully that will get you further!