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XPS 8940, Dell software writing 230GB of logs
Hi, I have a Dell XPS 8940. Today I discovered my system drive was 450GB used, when it's supposed to be closer to 130GB used. Looking at Tree Size and WinDirStat, the problem was two log files over 130GB (gigabytes, not megabytes). They were at "c:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\log\instantrestore", "DCFWinService" was writing to disk like crazy.
I have uninstalled everything with "Dell" in the name from Add/Remove Programs, and I have my drive space back, but I want to know what this was? Is it a part of Dell SupportAssist or something?
lmacri
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November 3rd, 2021 07:00
Hi BFost:
There was (or perhaps still is) a known issue where Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery (also known as Dell SupportAssist Remediation or System Repair) would use excessive amounts of disk space to store Dell system repair points in the hidden folder at C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\. According to Dell employee NikhilKiroula's 05-Aug-2021 post in SteveTree's Reduce Disk Space Used By SARemediation this bug was supposed to be fixed when Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery v5.5 was released. I suggest you read through all of SteveTree's thread for a discussion about this bug and the workarounds (e.g., disable and then re-enable System Repair in your SupportAssist settings) that were suggested for this problem.
See the Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery User’s Guide and the support article Restore Your System Using Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery if you want to learn more about the purpose of Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery and System Repair.
EDIT:
Sorry, I just re-read your original post and it sounds like you've already uninstalled SupportAssist and Dell SupportAssist Remediation, so the following comments will only be relevant to other users following this thread who still have these programs installed.
Is System Repair enabled in your Dell SupportAssist settings ([Options (gear icon) | Settings | System Repair | System Repair is Turned On), and if so is it configured to use the minimum amount of disk space? System Repair is normally ENABLED by default, but the image below shows I currently have System Repair disabled in my SupportAssist v3.10.3 settings, so I don't see Dell system repair points created daily on my hard drive in C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\. I find that SupportAssist OS Recovery is very buggy (see my 15-Sep-2021 post in mnagy34's Dell SA Overheating My Machine? where I list several of these known bugs, including your problem with excessive usage of disk space) and I prefer to use Macrium Reflect Free to create the occasional full disk image of my hard that I store on an external hard drive in case I have to perform an emergency recovery of my system.
Also, what is your current version of Dell SupportAssist Remediation at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features? My SupportAssist v3.10.3 installed the Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery Tools v5.5.0.16041 on my Inspiron 5584 on 21-Oct-2021.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H1 build 19043.1288 * Firefox v94.0.0 * Microsoft Defender v.4.18.2110.6-1.1.18700.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.4.9.142-1.0.1486 * Dell SupportAssist v3.10.3.3 * Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.0.16041 * Dell Update for Windows 10 v4.3.0 * Macrium Reflect Free v7.3.6284
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G 256 GB NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620
DELL-Cares
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November 8th, 2021 08:00
Hi,
We have sent you a private message regarding the issue that you have reported so please check and reply.
BFost
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November 8th, 2021 08:00
Thanks for your detailed reply. Since I was not using the software I uninstalled it, and will leave it uninstalled. Hopefully that can be addressed (or has been already) for other Dell customers.