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Vacuon 0.3.0

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@joedsonalves joedsonalves released this 25 Jul 10:41
· 62 commits to main since this release
v0.3.0
4689c23

Disk space analyzer for Windows. Reads the NTFS MFT straight off the volume, shows the real content of what you are about to delete, and never claims a number it did not measure.

Download

File What it is Size
Vacuon-0.3.0-win-x64.exe The app. Download this one. 62 MB
vacuon-cli-0.3.0-win-x64.exe Command line, for scripting 36 MB

Both are portable and self-contained: nothing to install, no .NET runtime needed, runs from a USB stick. Download, double-click, done.

Windows will warn you — that is expected

The file is not code-signed (a certificate costs money and this is a hobby project), so Windows shows a blue "Windows protected your PC" screen the first time.

To run it anyway: click More info → Run anyway.

If you would rather not trust an unsigned binary from a stranger on the internet — that is the correct instinct. Clone the repository and build it yourself:

git clone https://github.com/joedsonalves/vacuon.git
cd vacuon
dotnet build -c Release

SHA256, so you can check that what you downloaded is what was published:

Vacuon-0.3.0-win-x64.exe      69297202CFB1DD1AEEFAE06FC5DDF5490622753EDA14DDB568511C47C5B98C9E
vacuon-cli-0.3.0-win-x64.exe  F5758D6D9DCFF11A8435733A89E880A7D133781038352B3AA9D787C6132F578C

Verify with Get-FileHash .\Vacuon-0.3.0-win-x64.exe.

Run it as Administrator for the fast path

Vacuon opens without asking for anything. Click Scan and it works — through the Windows API, which took 34 seconds for 2.6 million files on the machine it was developed on.

Reading the NTFS MFT directly is the fast path (3–8 seconds for a million files), and Windows only allows that to an elevated process. Two ways to get it:

  • click Restart elevated in the bottom-left corner, or
  • turn on Always run as administrator in Settings.

Either way Windows shows the UAC prompt. There is no way around that, and the app says so instead of pretending otherwise. Vacuon opens the volume read-only — GENERIC_READ, never GENERIC_WRITE.

What it does

  • Dashboard — where the space went: biggest files, biggest folders, breakdown by type, size and age.
  • Explorer — folder tree sorted by size (not by name), instant search, filters by size, age and extension.
  • Thumbnails in six sizes — images and videos show their real content, so you can tell which of five 9 GB renders is the final one without opening any of them.
  • Delete — Del to the Recycle Bin, Shift+Del permanently. Multi-selection in both panes. A protection list that nothing overrides refuses the volume root, Windows, System32, Program Files, well-known profile folders and kernel-owned files.
  • Security — 44 registry points where malware commonly takes root, read-only, with the reason for every finding in plain sight. Marked experimental, because it is.

Interface in English (default) or Portuguese, switchable in Settings without restarting. Light and dark themes.

Honest about what is not verified

  • The MFT read has not been exercised end to end. It compiles, it is covered by 170 tests against synthetic MFT records, and its failure path is verified — but nobody has yet watched it index a real volume, because that needs elevation and the development session did not have it.
  • The USN journal delta is in the same position. The snapshot round-trip and every refusal path are tested; the delta itself is not.
  • There is no undo beyond the Recycle Bin. The reversible quarantine is milestone M4. Permanent deletion asks for an explicit acknowledgement precisely because of that.

Requirements

Windows 10 21H2 or newer, x64. NTFS for the fast path; exFAT, FAT32, ReFS and network drives work through the slower traversal.

Assets 6
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