As using Windows Temporary files accumulate on the disk system programs, contents of the recycle bin, old OS recovery images and other data. You can delete them.
Click in Explorer right click mouse over the system drive (usually drive C) and select “Properties” → “Disk Cleanup”. In the next window, mark the items that take up the most space, click OK and confirm deletion.
To erase even more temporary files, including update data and outdated restore points, click Disk Cleanup again and click Clean Up system files" Mark the largest objects in the list that appears and delete them. Then go to the Advanced tab, click Clean up under System Restore and Shadow Copies and confirm deletion.
It is especially useful to perform such cleaning after updates, since a large backup copy may remain on the computer previous version Windows.
Browsers and others installed programs Over time, they fill the system with temporary files. Sometimes this data can take up a significant amount of storage space. But you can quickly get rid of such garbage with the help free utilities like .
There may be large files on your computer that you do not need and are just wasting disk space. Searching for them manually is a thankless task. Moreover, there are programs that analyze the disk and display a list of all folders and files on the computer, ordered by size. Use one of them to find and remove unnecessary objects.
Over the years of using a computer, duplicates usually accumulate on it: accidentally copied pictures, songs downloaded several times, and other objects. You don't need these copies, and together they can take up significant storage space. To avoid searching for them yourself, use one of these to find and remove duplicate files.
Windows 10 comes with a built-in Compact OS utility that can make your system smaller. This happens by removing unnecessary OS elements and compressing the remaining data. This way you can free up to 6 GB on the local drive where Windows is installed (usually drive C). If you're interested, do it just in case. backups important data and use it.
In our age - the age of enormous hard drives with a volume of 1-1.5-2 terabytes, despite the huge disk spaces, some problems remain the same. The space on the system disk was running out as before, and now little has changed.
There are a huge number of specialized programs designed to help the user in this seemingly difficult task, but most of them are paid. In this article we will look at methods for freeing up disk space manually and using free programs and utilities.
Next I will tell you how you can urgently free up space on the system (and not only) disk in the shortest possible time, but first you need to familiarize yourself with the basic methods of disk cleaning WITH:(What is the C: drive?).
Where does the free space on the C: drive go?
In addition to the fact that disk space runs out due to the efforts of the user himself, who actively uses his data storage, various programs and the operating system itself.
In the first case, these are numerous films and music stored on the desktop (after all, we are talking about the system disk C:, and not about others, and by default, all the contents of the desktop are stored on the system disk). If you have several disks, whether physical or logical, then you can copy the entire contents of your desktop to one of these disks, depending on which has more space. If you only have a disk C:, then, unfortunately, this is not available to you.
In the second case, these are temporary files of programs that create these same temporary files to store some data that is required while the program is running until it is closed. When closing a program, these same files should be deleted, but this does not always happen, and they tend to accumulate ad infinitum. Temporary Internet files if you are using a browser Internet Explorer, also tend to be collectible. Of course, to free up disk space, you can delete unused programs and games, but today we will look at how to do without sacrifices, namely...
How to free up space on the C: drive without deleting the programs there?
First, let's do a little preparation, which we will need to more successfully and efficiently get rid of temporary files. For the purity of the experiment, we will measure how much space was on the hard drive of the author of this article and will monitor these values after each stage of disk cleaning.
1. Go to the folder My computer and select the menu there Tools>Folder Options.
2. Go to the tab View and in the window Extra options select Show hidden files and folders. We will need this to clear temporary files from our profile. By default, these things are hidden from users, but we are not happy with this state of affairs. Click OK to save settings. For Windows users Vista/7 - to get to this window, you need to go to Start>Control Panel, select in the column View Small icons and double click on the icon Folders settings.
3. Now press Start, find the Run command there (in Windows Vista/7 they are not displayed by default - see) and type (or copy from here) the command %USERPROFILE% and press the button OK. In the window that opens, go to the folder Local Settings > Temp(Windows Vista/7/8 owners - you need to go to AppData > Local > Temp).
4. Click Ctrl+A and after that the key combination Shift+Delete(deleting files bypassing the trash can) and click Yes.
All these files can be safely deleted, because... Since they ended up in this folder, they cannot represent any value. However, during the removal process the following situation will definitely arise:
Here we answer Yes for everyone
And then this:
Here we press OK, after which we press the key Ctrl and left-click on the file with the name indicated on the message to deselect it. After that again Shift+Delete and moved on until everything that could possibly be removed was removed.
Why did this situation arise? The fact is that we are deleting files from the current profile, so there are files there that are used by the operating system and programs in this moment. Naturally, Windows will not allow you to delete them, so as not to cause a system crash. Everything else must be removed.
This is what the folder looks like Temp after global cleanup:
Here's how much disk space is freed up WITH:
This computer undergoes such cleaning regularly, so in your case the results may be much more noticeable. The author once freed in this way 20(!) Gigabytes disk space and this is only by deleting the contents of the Temp folder. True, it was someone else's computer.
Let's move on to the next stage. Let's go to the folder My computer, disk WITH:, folder Windows and there is a folder in it Temp. If during this long journey the message appears:
Choose with confidence Show the contents of this folder and move on.
In fact, this folder Temp left as part of the operating system only for compatibility with older programs, so it will most likely be practically empty. But the chicken pecks every grain, so we will clean everything we can, and the result will be good. We do exactly the same thing with this folder as with the previous one of the same name. Namely Ctrl+A And Shift+Delete.
In this case, about three megabytes were freed up, so there is no point in looking at how the disk space of the tested disk has changed.
Cleaning temporary Internet files. This method works if you are using Internet Explorer. Although, in other browsers everything is deleted in much the same way. Let's go to Start>(Settings>)Control Panel and double-click on the icon Internet Options.
Press the button Delete.
Check the boxes like this and click Delete. And than OK after removal is complete. Let's see how the free disk space indicators have changed:
On this computer, Internet Explorer is almost not used, so in your case the effect may be much more noticeable.
Now right click on Cart and choose Empty trash. This is done just in case something might fly into the trash can. You don't store it in Cart the most necessary files, Truth? Just like don't store food in the trash can.
Next we will use the program DupKiller- this program will help us get rid of duplicates. The program is absolutely free. You can download it either from our website (Download DupKiller), or latest version from the manufacturer's website DupKiller. There is a suspicion that in the near future it will become a full-fledged paid commercial product, but so far this has not happened (the program is in the beta) - we use it!
Moving virtual memory from system drive C: to another drive
This method is suitable for those who have on their computer in addition to the system drive C: there are other logical drives, for example, D:, E: and so on. Naturally, we are talking exclusively about hard drives, both physical and logical. Card readers, DVD drives, flash drives and other benefits of civilization, naturally, will not work. And the space on these disks should be at least 5-6GB.
To do this at any Windows versions you need to go to the Control Panel and open System properties. This is done as follows:
Let's go to Start and choose Control Panel(a small clarification for the happy owners of computers running under Windows control 8 - to enter the control panel you need to place the mouse cursor in the upper or lower right corner of the screen, select Settings And Control Panel).
In the window that opens, select Small icons or Large icons(1), depending on your visual acuity and double-click on the icon System(2).
In the window that opens, click Additional system parameters.
In the window that appears, click the button Options.
Select a tab Additionally and press the button Change.
In the next window you will need to do exactly the following things:
Uncheck the item Automatically select paging file size(1), select disk C:(2), put a radio button No swap file(3), be sure to press the button Set(4). At the same time, Windows will definitely swear at our actions and say that this is not good. But we are not afraid of difficulties and continue our sorrowful work and transfer virtual memory to disk D:(or any other one you have - whichever has more space).
Basically, if you have 16 gigabytes random access memory or more, then you can skip the next step, click OK, agree with everything and restart the computer - this will also give an increase in performance. If it is less than 8 GB, then it is better not to experiment and move on to the next step.
Now we need to place the page file on disk D: or any other of your choice. I have only C: And D:, so let's look at this example. Select the disk D:(1), then select System Size(2), press Set(3) and a button OK.
Now we press everywhere OK and answer the question about restarting the computer Yes. If Windows for some reason does not ask you to restart your computer, you should still do so for the changes you made to take effect.
Installing the DupKiller program
Select the installation language.
We accept the terms License Agreement.
You can’t really change anything here, so click Further.
Installation progress window.
Click Ready.
Now we need to go to Start>(All) Programs>DupKiller>DupKiller. At startup the advice appears. If necessary, uncheck the box Show tips on startup. Click Close.
This is what the main program window looks like. All you have to do is select the disk C:- I don’t have any duplicates on it, so for greater clarity I selected all the disks. I definitely have duplicates there, because... especially important information I duplicate on different drives(I physically have 3 of them).
Menu files and folders - select All files.
Menu Exceptions. You can leave it as is so that you understand the principle by which the program makes the selection. After analyzing the selection results, it is possible to add exceptions and scan the disk again.
Menu Search settings- we leave everything as it is.
Menu Other settings- we leave everything as it is.
Menu Removal- you can leave everything as is, you can select Delete files immediately if you are not afraid of accidentally deleting something important. For the first time it is better to leave the option with Basket.
Press the button Scan and we wait...
This is how much space is taken up by duplicates on all drives.
And now the routine begins - we put checkboxes on the files that we definitely do not need as duplicates. Keep in mind that the checkbox needs to be checked only for one copy of the duplicate, otherwise there is a high probability that both the original file and its duplicate will be deleted. There is no doubt that in this case even more space will be freed up (smile), but we agreed to do without sacrifices.
I would like to draw your attention to another point that will make your life much easier - if you see duplicate folders in the dupekiller’s list, then this routine can be simplified - go through the explorer to the desired folder and remove it manually. It will be much faster than checking thousands of boxes.
Warning for Windows Vista/7/8 users:
While the DupKiller program is running, you can see the following picture:
Remember - files located on such paths are not duplicates. These are the so-called symbolic links, i.e. the file is physically located alone on the disk, and a link to it can lead from different places. Remember this! For simplicity, you can focus on this - if a folder appears in one of the three paths ProgramData- this suggests that everything else is links.
Well, the last stage in our epic - disk defragmentation. The defragmentation program optimizes the location of files on the disk (after our actions there is something to work on, take my word for it) and compresses files that have not been used for a long time, which also frees up additional disk space.
To launch it, you need to right-click on the disk WITH:, go to the tab Service and press the button Run defragmentation.
In the window that opens, click - Defragmentation and we go to smoke, eat, buy bread, etc., since this process is quite long. It is recommended to do this once every 3-6 months, depending on how actively the computer is used.
In principle, during defragmentation, you can even try to do something, however, the computer will work very, very slowly.
An emergency way to clean up (free up space) drive C:
As I promised at the beginning of the article, I present a method for emergency release of disk space from the discharge "when it's really stuck".
Can buy new hard disk (can be external) and dump some of the information onto it, but you don’t always have the time, opportunity, or money for this.
In this case it comes to the rescue Disk compression. If you go to My computer, right click on the drive WITH:(and for any other purpose, except a flash drive and a floppy drive) and select Properties, then you will see a checkbox Shrink disk to save space. After inserting it and clicking on the OK button or Apply a window will appear:
Here you need to select To C:\ and all subfolders and files and press OK. The procedure will take from 10 minutes to half an hour and will free up a certain amount of disk space.
On the other side of the coin in this case, you will notice that the speed of the computer has decreased. This happens because on a compressed disk, when opening a file, the operating system must unpack it, and then perform certain actions. This very “unpacking” takes up processor performance and machine time. So even if you had to squeeze system disk- try to find an opportunity to open it back up as quickly as possible in order to return the computer to its previous performance.
Owners of computers with Windows Vista/7/8.
The location of data in user profile folders on computers with Windows Vista/7/8 operating systems installed differs from those in Windows XP. Here we will briefly look at the main differences:
Folder Documents and Settings is now called a folder Users;
- Folder Local Settings is now in the folder AppData and is called Local- there you can find a thick folder Temp and clean.
I also recommend using a program called CCleaner. The program is good, the only thing it can’t do is clean the profiles of other users on the computer. Those. It will delete all temporary files accumulated in the folders of the active profile, and all the rest either manually or under each one, go in and run CCleaner.
Good day, dear readers, admirers and other individuals. Have you ever noticed that you are running out of space on your computer?
As a rule, this is not a consequence of a virus or your carelessness, but simply a recovery service Windows systems, incorrectly configured paging file and others. Often the reason for a place selling is also a high browser cache value or an OS cluttered with all sorts of software garbage.
How to find out why a space disappears in Windows
As I said, there are several sources where space can go missing.
Let's look at them in order.
First, the recovery system. The fact is that Microsoft, taking care of its users, made a recovery system in Windows, which greatly influences the fact that your location disappears (although in fact it is simply “hidden”).
What it does (if you haven’t changed the settings) is that at some intervals (especially in the case of installing programs\games\) it makes restore points, which you can always use in case of a system crash/failure. The question is, are you using this recovery system?
For example, I have a hard time remembering the last time I had to do this. Moreover, the benefits of it are very doubtful. In turn, these points take up up to 12% of the space on each hard drive, which, you see, is a lot (especially on large disks). Therefore, here's how to get rid of (or at least reconfigure) the amount of space occupied by recovery points.
How to get back space on your computer disk
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel-> System -> System Restore
For Windows Vista/Windows 7/8/10:
Start -> Settings -> Control Panel-> System -> System protection
Here you can either completely disable system recovery, or distribute the points on which disks and how much space they will take up.
I cannot recommend that you completely disable recovery, because... I don’t know how often you encounter system problems and resort to recovery, but personally, I have it disabled because... I consider it a dubious tool that takes up quite a lot of space, especially since you can always use the " " article to protect and restore data.
For those who want to leave it (system restore), but configure it as competently as possible and make it so that they no longer have to look for where the space disappears:
- It is advisable that they should not be on the disk with the operating system at all or should take up as little space as possible;
- You don't need more than 3 restore points, i.e. You shouldn’t set the maximum percentage even on several disks. 3-6% on one or two disks will be enough, and then, in my opinion, this will be a lot.
By the way, before configuring these parameters, the system had already created a number of restore points, so it would be a good idea to delete them. To do this, open “My Computer”, right-click on the hard drive the place where you need to clear it and select “Properties” from the drop-down list.
In the window that appears, click on the button “Disk Cleanup” – “Advanced” – “ System Restore” – “Clear” – “Yes” – “Ok”.
Or, if you have Windows 7/Vista, you can clear the space occupied by restore points using the " button Configure - Delete", which is located on the "System Protection" tab (see path above):
This is what they call time.
Let's go to point two.
About the paging file and where space disappears
When the operating system does not have enough , it begins to unload programs into the page file, i.e. a file on the hard drive that serves as a kind of RAM, but much slower. Accordingly, the size of the paging file may vary, depending on the amount of RAM you have.
As a standard, the size of the paging file is 2-4 times larger than the amount of physical RAM, but this size can be changed, however, often to the detriment of performance (especially if there is little RAM). He also answers the question of where the place disappears, because he occupies this very place with all his strength.
Configure the location and size of the paging file to hard drives here:
- Start -> Settings -> Control Panel-> System -> Advanced > Performance > Options > Advanced > Virtual memory -> Change
I still don’t recommend disabling the entire paging file, but redistributing or reducing it is always welcome. I wrote more about the paging file and its configuration in the article, so read it to set the correct numbers.
Cache, trash and where does the space go?
During operation of the system, programs, browsers and other things, constantly create a so-called cache, i.e. temporary auxiliary files, which (files) they periodically forget to delete. Also, after removing various programs, they usually leave behind garbage traces of files, which also sometimes weigh quite a lot.
Therefore, I recommend that you constantly clean Tempory Internet Files, browser caches, program traces and other all kinds of garbage. I wrote how to do this in the article "". I strongly recommend you read it, because it often frees up a lot of space.
Other manual cleaning
First, turn on the display of hidden files. To do this, we follow the path “ My Computer – Tools – Folder Options – View – Show hidden files and folders – OK”.
Next, open the disk with the system and find the Documents and Settings folder there. It contains your profile files and some system\program settings. The whole point is that most programs, especially if you deleted them incorrectly, i.e. without use, let’s say, they leave behind a bunch of traces and debris, which sometimes cannot be cleaned out even by Ccleaner. You have to dig with your hands. The most cluttered folders in my opinion are:
- C:\Documents and Settings\name\Application Data;
- C:\Documents and Settings\name\Local Settings\Application Data.
where C:\ is the drive where the system is located, and the name is your name in the system.
Carefully rummage through these folders and delete folders with the names of programs that have not been on your computer for a long time.
You can find the remaining thick folders yourself by selecting one\group of folders in Documents and Settings and checking their volume by clicking the right mouse button and selecting “Properties” from the list. As a rule, when traveling like this, you can find a lot of all sorts of junk that was forgotten (or deliberately left behind) by program uninstallers.
In general, to make it clearer what exactly is taking up how much space on which disk and how to delete it, I recommend reading this article of mine: “”, a program in which will clearly allow you to identify what is gnawing off treasured megabytes from the disk.
Afterword
Something like this.
I hope that the article was useful to you and that you cleared and saved heaps of valuable megabytes.
As always, I will be glad to see your additions, reviews, questions, etc., which you can safely write in the comments to this entry.
PS: As a good alternative to the above-mentioned CCleaner, I can suggest you use a wonderful program for cleaning garbage and all sorts of “forgotten” miscellaneous things.
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