8gb File on the HDD?

[Brianhxc]

I read a post a few months ago about a guy that was missing 24gb worth of space on his hdd. I myself have now ran into this problem, I had 13 games installed on the hdd. I counted up each game size, even looking at the file size through execftps. Then I noticed on the hdd there is a file called "__empty", and this file is almost 8.5gb in size. Just curious as to what the file is, and if it's neccessary to be in there.

[Tec]

It's not a file, it's an empty partition. That is what is using your space, remove it & your space should return.

[t0n]

Now a better question. What created it and why?

[espy]

I think sometimes when you delete an old game then install a new one, if the new one is bigger in size than the old one, it will sometimes skip to the end to prevent fragmentation issues. but leave an empty space.

[Brianhxc]

So it's safe to go ahead and delete the file?

[t0n]

I've never heard of anyone else doing it, but it sounds like Tec knows what hes talking about...so yeah. go ahead

[espy]

Theoretically you shouldn't need to delete it. If HD Loader is working properly, it will eventually fill in all the partitions marked as empty (but there will be some fragmentation due to this).

[t0n]

now we just need a homebrew defragger