How do I move or delete the $Logfile in Windows 7.

Question

I want to resize the hard drive but the $Logfile is preventing it. I want to delete it, resize the harddrive and then recreate the $Logfile

Answer 1

I have tried all the above suggestions to no avail including Perfect Disk and Iolo System Mechanic.  None of the defrag programs worked.  When deleting the file Windows 7 would immediately recreate the file at the END OF THE DRIVE.  Why put a shrink option in if your software is going to block its access.  I finally resolved my issue by backing up with Total Recovery 8 Pro.  Then using their tools command line I formated the c drive followed by a restore.  The restore packs all the files at the beginning of the drive.  I rebooted and selected computer management, disk management, selected the "C" drive - right clicked and selected shrink.  It gave me the option to shrink all the way to the used space.  I backed it off to the size I wanted 115GB and it shrunk the drive.  Everything is working fine.

I hope Microsoft will read these posts and change the philosophy of putting unmovable files at the end of the drive.  At least put them in the middle where we have a shot at shrinkage.

Thanks everyone for helping me along my way.

BTW -- What I did is the way we shrunk drives back in the 70's and early 80's.

Answer 2

A reply was never forthcoming from anyone on the forum - apparently.

It appears to be too technical for anyone to respond to; and is a common event for this forum.

What I know (as best as I can) is this:

• $LogFile is an ever growing file.
• $LogFile is classified as a SH (System Hidden) type file.
• Normal tools provided with the base OS never show any object prefexed with "$".
• The OS considers any file prefixed with "$" to be a system-use only file - do-not-touch by users.

However, the base OS is not real good at cleaning up after itself; and its own tables continue to grow beyond any boundry of commen sense.

While I don't have a clear answer to your question, I hope this sheds some light on the type of file being asked about and how weak the responses are from this forum.

I would recommend searching the web for a proper tool to analyze then reduce the size of the file, since MS does not seem inclined to provide such tools.  I'm certain that the file is needed for proper operation of the OS, though I don't know if it is automatically recreated.

Answer 3

Hi BJB_004,

·         What log file are you referring to?

·         What happens when you try to delete it?

·         Do you receive any error?

Please reply with more information so we can help you in a better way.

Answer 4

It's an NTFS metafile. There's no way you should even think about touching it.

http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs-system-files.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntfs

Answer 5

When I look at a graphical display of the hard drive, the file that is is preventing the resize is called $Logfile. I cannot see this file in windows explorer so I can't delete it through that app.