Google Earth is Eating my HDD!

[WingZ 311]

After using GE this morning, there was continuous disk activity, and my flightsim was really slow to load textures.

 

Apparently there is a memory leak on the latest but one version of GE, which will eventually fill up the HDD and render the computer useless.

It writes to:

C:\Documents and Settings\*YourName*\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\GoogleEarth\unified_cache_leveldb_leveldb2

 

Mine had grown to 40 GB when I uninstalled GE and restarted the computer.

 

Apparently this is a known issue, and will be patched.

GE stays off my computer until I know for sure.

Remember to save the My Places kml file if you have one.

[Rockliffe 574]

Very interesting... for some reason, I'm having a real problem finding the location of the file you suggest. I am running Win7 64bit, any ideas? Cheers...

[James Bennett 52]

I can't find the location you've listed either.

[John Hinson 4]

This is a problem with the beta version of version 6. Beta software releases are intended for testing only and usually contain a disclaimer that your computer may disappear in a puff of smoke and the developer has no liability which is why beta software should be treated with caution. They also often contain extra code to log activity which can make the software sluggish. Remove the beta and install the release version and you should be fine. John

[WingZ 311]

Sorry I should have mentioned that I cling to WIN XP SP3!

Later operating systems will write to the equivalent folder.

 

 

 

Beta software releases are intended for testing only

John I don't know if you speak for Google.

If you do, may I respectfully enquire: who gave you permission to install beta software on my computer, especially beta software that will fill up an entire HDD and ultimately cause computer failure?

I at no time downloaded or installed any such thing.

While Google has egg on its collective face, my actual discomfort is that this corporation is so insidiously locked into my computing experience that it can ... do things, without my knowledge.

"Do no wrong" is a wonderful company mantra, but it can be hijacked under that mantle for great evil if unchecked.   

 

I am not usually this paranoid, but if I had not noticed the HDD going crazy, and gone searching, my flightsim computer would now be kaput.

 

At your peril do you meddle with my flightsim computer...

[InTheAir 44]

 

 

Very interesting... for some reason, I'm having a real problem finding the location of the file you suggest. I am running Win7 64bit, any ideas? Cheers...

Check here: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\Google\GoogleEarth

If you don't see the "AppData" folder you need to edit windows explorer folder options and tick "Show hidden files, folders, and drives".
 

[Rockliffe 574]

Check here: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\Google\GoogleEarth

 

If you don't see the "AppData" folder you need to edit windows explorer folder options and tick "Show hidden files, folders, and drives".

 

 

Thanks Jon, it was staring me in the face all the time! It was a 6.5Gb cache! So got rid of it. Cheers...

[James Bennett 52]

Yeah I also just found It. Thanks. Only 1.6GB so not the end of the world but deleted it anuway.

[John Hinson 4]

 

 

John I don't know if you speak for Google.
If you do, may I respectfully enquire: who gave you permission to install beta software on my computer, especially beta software that will fill up an entire HDD and ultimately cause computer failure?

I do not speak for Google, I speak for myself, having researched the subject on behalf of a client. I'm sorry if you thought I implied otherwise. There is plenty to read about it if you, er, search on Google.

I very much doubt anybody has installed software on your machine without your permission, it certainly hasn't appeared on mine! Anyway, hopefully you are sorted now.

I really doubt it would have damaged anything else on your computer, including your Flight Simulator installation.

Regards,

John

[WingZ 311]

 

 

having researched the subject on behalf of a client

Well perhaps you need to research a little deeper.
I found plenty of interest at the Google product forums:
https://productforums.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/earth/vJcVK2M9g7U
Typical comments:

We are having a problem with Google Earth eating up 900 GB on our desk top. After a lot of research, we found suggestions. We uninstalled GE, then reinstalled, no help. Then we found a suggestion to empty the cache. We emptied it, which took over an hour yesterday. Today, when we got up the hard drive is full again and the cache is taking a couple of hours so far to empty. Uninstalled and reinstalled again. We are watching the hard drive fill up while we sit here. Major problem here. Any help available?

 

I really doubt it would have damaged anything ... including your Flight Simulator installation.

Well now...

 

my flightsim was really slow to load textures.

there's damage, and then there's damage.
Anything - anything - that affects the performance of FS is damage!
This computer only exists as a FS installation!
And, if the HDD did indeed fill up and fall over: Damage, Class I!

I am truly happy it's not a widespread issue (or perhaps it is - ticking away), but I mentioned it here because it affected my FS computer.

I hope it may have been of help to someone with a similar problem.

[Jim Young 2,101]

I have GE V8542 and do not see this problem on my system but I will be monitoring it as I do hear HDD thrashing occasionally but heard it was SuperFetch and turned that off.  Still get occasional thrashing but most of it has gone away (well, it's starting up again....).  I did suffer some FS crashes because of the thrashing and looked in Task Manager and saw nothing out of the ordinary. My GE cache was about 1 gig and nothing strange like I have seen above and on the GE forum.  I thought it might be my WD Book backup program constantly backing up files but turned that off too.  I will continue to follow the information on the Google forum.  I hate any program that tries to take over your computer w/o your permission.  Thanks for the info!

 

Best regards,

Jim

[InTheAir 44]

Thanks Jon, it was staring me in the face all the time! It was a 6.5Gb cache! So got rid of it. Cheers...

you're welcome sir. 6.5GB, that's a considerable amount of space especially in the user Appdata folder.

[flyerkg 28]

WingZ,

 

Thank you for sharing this information.

I found this file based on your instructions. I have 259 files with .sst extensions,  but the total folder size is only taking 439 MB of hard drive.

[Dillon 200]

After using GE this morning, there was continuous disk activity, and my flightsim was really slow to load textures.

 

Apparently there is a memory leak on the latest but one version of GE, which will eventually fill up the HDD and render the computer useless.

It writes to:

C:\Documents and Settings\*YourName*\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\GoogleEarth\unified_cache_leveldb_leveldb2

 

Mine had grown to 40 GB when I uninstalled GE and restarted the computer.

 

Apparently this is a known issue, and will be patched.

GE stays off my computer until I know for sure.

Remember to save the My Places kml file if you have one.

 

 

Thanks WingZ, I had 4.96gigs chewed up with GE.  Can someone let me know when this is fixed.  The main thing I hate about auto updates is when an update is screwed up in can have unforeseen consequences on ones machine.  I don't know if the feature can be turned off but GE likes to update itself without the user knowing.  I like to vet out updates before I use them.  

[Rockliffe 574]

Can someone confirm, one way or another, if this would actually have an adverse effect on FSX. I don't understand how it can have, unless it's doing something during use of FSX and using CPU resources. I know it's taking HD space, but surely it's only active during using Google Earth, or am I missing something? Cheers...

[JSkorna 137]

Why don't you all just uninstall Google Earth and be done with it?

[ematheson 18]

I don't have "Google Earth." Instead, I've got the Google-Earth Plugin for Chrome. Dunno why there's a difference, really, since I can still launch Google Earth as a separate application independent of Chrome - BUT, no problem here...

[BushPilot49 0]

I've checked my Google Earth files and here's what I've found .....

dbCache.dat  =  1.95 GB  (2,048,034 KB)

unified_cache_leveldb_leveldb2  =  1.12 GB  ( 656 files )

webdata  =  390 MB  ( 9,826 Files, 4 Folders )

 

Is it OK to delete all the 'dbCache' & 'unified_cache_leveldb_leveldb2' files ? 

 

Thanks,

 

Pete.

[WingZ 311]

Pete I don't believe having cached files is a bad thing.

What is bad, is if GE is frantically saving to that list.

Check again later, mine doubled in size after about an hour. 

 

I'm pretty sure GE has a patch by now, and will auto-update and fix the issue.

I uninstalled GE completely, and will wait a week to be sure, before re-installing. 

 

 

Why don't you all just uninstall Google Earth and be done with it?

 

Because it is extremely useful, and I have a great deal of data tied up in it.

My, JSkorna, you have a positively humungous post count!

[Rockliffe 574]

Why don't you all just uninstall Google Earth and be done with it?

Mainly because I regularly fly with all the Obx sceneries and each of the areas has a GE Kmz.file which is incredibly useful when planning GA flights. However, I have now uninstalled GE and have it running on a separate PC.

 

Why don't you all just uninstall Google Earth and be done with it?

Mainly because I regularly fly with all the Obx sceneries and each of the areas has a GE Kmz.file which is incredibly useful when planning GA flights. However, I have now uninstalled GE and have it running on a separate PC.

 

Why don't you all just uninstall Google Earth and be done with it?

Mainly because I regularly fly with all the Obx sceneries and each of the areas has a GE Kmz.file which is incredibly useful when planning GA flights. However, I have now uninstalled GE and have it running on a separate PC.

[John Hinson 4]

Well perhaps you need to research a little deeper.

I found plenty of interest at the Google product forums:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/earth/vJcVK2M9g7U

Typical comments:

 

We are having a problem with Google Earth eating up 900 GB on our desk top. After a lot of research, we found suggestions. We uninstalled GE, then reinstalled, no help. Then we found a suggestion to empty the cache. We emptied it, which took over an hour yesterday. Today, when we got up the hard drive is full again and the cache is taking a couple of hours so far to empty. Uninstalled and reinstalled again. We are watching the hard drive fill up while we sit here. Major problem here. Any help available?

 

I researched "memory leak"; that is the term you used.

 

That described in that link is the writing of temporary files and using up disc space - that is not a memory leak. A memory leak is where software doesn't unload itself from computer memory, gradually making less and less available for other software to use. Even when transferring memory to disc, the amount is limited by the Windows settings.

 

Nevertheless, the link you refer to also indicates that upgrading to the latest version resolves this issue so you should be fine either way.

 

Kindest regards,

 

John

[Dillon 200]

Nevertheless, the link you refer to also indicates that upgrading to the latest version resolves this issue so you should be fine either way.

 

Kindest regards,

 

John

 

And that's all I needed to hear, downloading now...

 

For the record this was a great thread that brought to light something many of us where unaware of...