Finding orphan files on your system - Security Center 5.10

Security Center Administrator Guide 5.10

Product
Security Center
Content type
Guides > Administrator guides
Version
5.10
Language
English
Last updated
2023-06-12

To find video files that are no longer referenced by your Archiver database, you can use the VideoFileAnalyzer.exe tool found in the Security Center installation folder.

What you should know

An orphan file is a video file that is no longer referenced by any archive database. Orphan files remain on the disk until they are manually deleted. This situation occurs when the archive database is changed inadvertently, creating a mismatch between the number of video files referenced in the database and the actual number of video files stored on disk.

To avoid this problem perform a full archives backup before changing the database, and restore the backup after changing the database.

Procedure

  1. Open the VideoFileAnalyzer.exe tool.
    • C:\Program files (x86)\Genetec Security Center 5.10\ (64-bit computer)
    • C:\Program files\Genetec Security Center 5.10\ (32-bit computer)
  2. At the bottom of the Video File Analyzer dialog box, click Find orphan files.
  3. In the Find orphan files dialog box, specify which archive database you want to check for orphan files.
    You can find the database server and database name in the Resources page of the Archiver or Auxiliary Archiver role in Config Tool.
  4. Under the Folders to scan section, click Add () to add the folders you want to scan, and click OK.
  5. Click Advanced > Find.

  6. Select files in the Orphan files section, and do one of the following:
    • To permanently remove the selected files from your system, click Delete files ().
    • To move the selected files to another location and free up archive storage space, click Move files to another folder ().

      By moving the files, you can examine them and decide what to do with them later without affecting the archiving role's operation.

    • To index the selected files in the archive database again, click Add files to the database (). This ensures that they can be found using the Archives report in Security Center.
      NOTE: Only basic information, such as recording start time and end time is retrieved. This operation should only be used as an emergency measure; therefore, it is recommended to back up your database before you index the files again.
    To delete, move, or index all the files found in the folders you added, click the corresponding colored button.