Windows - How do I undo 'sdelete -c C'?

Question

sdelete is a tool for secure deletion, and the -c flag "cleans free space".

I ran this command sdelete -c C on a Windows 10 machine in an attempt to clean up free space on the C drive, but the command fills up that drive.

How do I undo that command and reclaim lost disk space?

Winfetch screenshot:

Only 90 GB of C drive was occupied before running this command, now it's 469 GB.

From your own link please read and understand "How SDelete Works" at least from the paragraph starting with "The second approach, and the one SDelete takes (...)" — ChanganAuto, Commented Jul 18, 2022 at 4:36
I didn't realise how destructive the command is when running it, and I do regret it. @ChanganAuto — Teddy C, Commented Jul 18, 2022 at 4:55
Sounds like you didn't run the command to completion. You should be able to find the temporary file(s) it creates and remove them. — Daniel B, Commented Jul 18, 2022 at 5:01
Use WinDirStat to find the huge file(s). Then delete them manually. windirstat.net — user1482432, Commented Jul 18, 2022 at 5:04

Teddy C · Accepted Answer · 2022-07-18 06:35:20Z

0

Like what @Daniel B suggested, sdelete did not fill up 100% of my C drive.

The OS is still functional and I managed to find the 380GB SDELTEMP file and delete it with remove-item -Force, and got my disk space back. :)

answered Jul 18, 2022 at 6:35

Teddy C

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