Free Disk Space on Your Hard Drive
Computer hard drives are getting bigger and bigger, and you think that there's lots of stuff you can hold on to. One day you get the nasty message telling you that there is not enough free disk space to save, copy, paste, or download something! How do you clear up all that space without parting with all those precious files? This article can show you how to clean up crap you don't need and also some crap you probably don't even know exists! Please note that all of the steps below are optional, and this isn't a STEP-BY-STEP, you may do this in any order you like, and you don't even have to do them all.
Contents
Steps
Deleting files
- Use either the command prompt or Windows Explorer (for most users, Windows Explorer), and enter the C:\Program Files directory. Open the folders for all computer games you play and delete any saved games that you no longer need, such as really old save games. If you don't know what files are the save games, skip this step.
- Enter the My Documents directory on your account and look at all of the files. Any files you haven't used in a long period of time and don't need, delete them. This includes old songs that you don’t listen to anymore and files such as old homework.
- Note the date that you last used that file. If it was a long time ago (a few months, for example), there’s probably no point in keeping it. . You can use Windows Explorer by displaying details on the files. The last detail is, by default, the time it was last used.
- Move old pictures to an external hard drive or USB stick to get them off of your computer without losing them forever!
- Using Windows Explorer or the command prompt, move up a directory and enter the Favourites folder. All of the favourites from Internet Explorer are in here. Delete all of these except for the ones you marked yourself.
- Combine word documents. If you have two Microsoft word documents that are similar, combine them by transferring all of the information from one to the other and them deleting the old file. Believe it or not, this saves space on your hard drive!
- Empty your recycle bin! Right-click on the recycle bin and click "empty recycle bin." This takes those deleted files right off of your computer. Be warned though, there’s no way to get these files back after they’re gone.
Uninstalling unwanted/unused files
- Open the control panel by clicking START + CONTROL PANEL.
- Click the UNINSTALL PROGRAM and a new window will appear where you can choose what program to be remove that you don't use anymore (other version of windows call it Add/Remove Programs). Find all the programs you don't use or need and click uninstall. Be sure that what you're uninstalling is something that you really don't use, such as games that you don't play anymore.
Deleting temporary files
- Click the start button.
- Select the search bar. In the bar, type run and hit enter.
- In run, type %temp%.This will bring you to a screen showing some files that are clogging up your hard drive space.
- This should bring up a window. Select a file in that window. Now press ctrl+a. This selects all the files. Go ahead and delete all of these files as they are just things that your computer doesn’t need anymore.
- If a warning message comes up asking you to try again or skip, select skip. This is the computer telling you that you are about to remove something you need.
- Clear your recycle bin.
Command Prompt Appearance
- Here's how you can use your command prompt to check the dates: Open the command prompt (START + type in CMD on the search bar, then click on CMD). (Other windows version: START + RUN + CMD) and type 'chdir C:\documents and settings\(username)\my documents'. Type 'dir' and read all of the information that pops up. It should look something like this...
- Microsoft Windows 2000 [Version 5.00.2195]
- (C) Copyright 1985-2000 Microsoft Corp.
- C:\>chdir c:\documents and settings\sample\my documents
- C:\Documents and Settings\Sample\My Documents>dir
- Volume in drive C has no label.Volume Serial Number is F8F8-3F6D
- Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\Sample\My Documents
- 7/21/2001 07:20p <DIR> .
- 7/21/2001 07:20p <DIR> ..
- 7/21/2001 07:20p 7,981,554 clip0003.avi
- 7/15/2001 08:23p <DIR> My Pictures
- 1 File(s) 7,981,554 bytes
- 3 Dir(s) 14,564,986,880 bytes free
Tips
- When you download install programs, delete the installer after you finished installing it.
- Try finding a program such as CCLEANER to delete your temporary files if you're uncomfortable doing it manually. It may also speed up your computer with a registry cleanup.
- Frequently empty the recycle bin.
- If you still haven't cleared up enough space, start taking stuff to external hard disks, flash drives, floppy disks, rewritable CDs, etc. You may also be considering to mount another hard disk in your computer.
- Run the Desktop Cleanup Wizard to organize it.
- Organize your My Documents folder to tell you which files are the most important to you. If something isn't important, place it in a "Pending Deletion" folder, and after a month, delete it.
- It may be old, but try using DOS NAVIGATOR to help you organize your files. It's an old open source orthodox file manager that can make file organization easy. To use the mouse in it, press ALT + ENTER to run it in full screen.
Warnings
- Once you've cleared your recycle bin, all those files are gone forever!
- Don't delete files that don't belong to you!
- If you aren't sure what file it is and it's an unfamiliar filetype, don't delete it. If you think it's a virus, scan it with your virus scan.
- Never delete any files in the system folder(C:\windows OR C:\WINNT depending on what OS you run)!
Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Time
- Files to delete
- Orthodox File Manager (optional)
- Knowledge of how to use MS DOS (optional)
- CCLEANER (optional)
Related Articles
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- Swap a Hard Drive Controller Circuit
- Copy Contents of One Hard Drive to a New Hard Drive
- Format a Hard Drive
- Free up Disk Space (Windows 7)
