Thread: How to retake Disk Space from the Disk Gnomes- Windows only

There was a time when 4.1 MB was enough. Exhibit A However there are a few tips and tricks I have learned while in the IT professional world that I would like to share with you all. Sorry Mac users you are out of luck on this one. :( Also do this at your own risk. Deleting incorrect files may cause problems with your computer. If you aren't sure what a folder is look it up. Google is an amazing site.


First thing YOU need to do:

Download WinDirStat. Yes, it sounds like something from a special needs class, but it is an amazing tool to see how your disk space is being allocated. Download it from source forge Here.


drive select.jpg
Shows storage devices on computer.


scanning.jpg
Little pac-men fix EVERYTHING!


overview.jpg
This is a final overview after you scan a drive.

1. The top left area shows the folders and their files. The bars also show where most of your data is located.
2. The top right area shows what file types are taking up the most space on your storage device.
3. The bottom area is my favorite. It shows all your folders and files in a box format. each group of rectangles is in a particular directory broken down smaller and smaller. Also if you click on a rectangle saying, "WTF is that big @$$ file?!?!?!?!" It will show you exactly where it is located by bringing it up in the top left area.

Next find out what is using up all the GB's!

There are some folders you REALLY shouldn't mess with. The "WINDOWS" directory and "System32" are 2 you REALLY don't want to touch unless you know what you're doing. Here is a list of directories your probably have and should know about.

1. WINDOWS - No touchy! System Folder VERY IMPORTANT
2. System32 - No touchy! System Folder VERY IMPORTANT
3. Program Files - Directory for all programs (XP,Vista, and Win7)
4. Program files (x86) - Directory for all programs that are not 64bit compatible (Vista 64 and Win7 64)
5. Users - This holds all the information for every user account on the computer. (Vista and Win7)
6. Documents and Settings - This holds all the information for every user account on the computer. (XP)

There might be other files in your root directory of your storage device remove these files at your own risk. You might mess up a program of some sort if you delete and incorrect file or folder. Good news is you want mess up your comp beyond repair. You might mess up a game or other program, but you'll live.

Why is that file several Gigs?!?-hiberfil.sys

This file has to do with putting your computer into "hibernate". This is a nice feature. Especially for people that like to "turn off" their laptop go somewhere and have it boot up sometimes even 10 times faster than normal. Basically it copies your programs that are loaded on your memory(RAM) to that hiberfile.sys file. That way when you turn your computer on all your previous programs that were open are then loaded into memory and you are good to go.

YOU CANNOT SIMPLY DELETE THE FILE TO DISABLE IT.

How to turn off hibernate - Original Source

Open a command prompt window as administrator- go to start menu and type "cmd" right click "cmd.exe" and select "Run as Administrator".

Type in the following code and press enter- powercfg.exe /hibernate off

Then simply delete the hiberfil.sys file.

The pagefile.sys is huge too!!!!

This file has to do with paging. Paging uses system storage as temp memory(RAM) or "Virtual Memory" for your comp when it runs short of system memory(RAM).

You should NEVER turn paging off completely unless you have some BA comp that would put a super computer to shame.

However you can lower the amount of paging to conserve disk space

First you need to go to the start menu and right click on "Computer" or "My Computer". Then click on "Properties" in the popup menu.

(XP users skip this step) On the life side of the window click on "Advanced system Settings"



Then go to the "Advanced" Tab and click on "Settings" in the "Performance" section.

Then click on the next "Advanced" tab and click the "Change..." button at the bottom.

To change the amount of virtual memory you need to deselect the box at the top that says "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives".

You can then set to "No paging file" I highly do NOT recommend doing this.
The better choice to pick would be "Custom size". Remember the lower the number the more space you will have on your comp, however you run the risk of having parts of it move slower.


User or Documents and Settings directories

In these folders you will have directories for all the user accounts that are on your system. There also some other directories such as "Public", "All users", and/or "Default". These should not be removed unless you know what you're doing. However anything with a directory name of "Temp" or has temp in it can usually have the files inside delete, but NOT the directory itself just the files in the directory.

The Trash is trash-Make Recycle Bin smaller

The last trick that I will share has to do with the "Recycle Bin". If you right click it and select the "Properties" item in the popup menu. Inside here you can select the "Customize" option to make your Recycle Bin smaller. However, by doing this you run the risk of retrieving a file you didn't mean to delete. Such as if you delete a file that is 2 GB's and your Recycle Bin is set to 1500 MB's you can either find a program to search your hard drive or kiss it goodbye.


I hope this post was helpful to at least a few people. OSX and Linux users please don't burn me cause I left you out. :) Please feel free to ask me any questions or add on to this post.

Thanks

Ven A. Zeus

Nice tutorial but i would rather go and buy a new hdd.But for this very purpose keep cleaning my hdd via tuneup utilities ever fort nightly.

But the recycle bin decrease option is something worth trying.

Cheers

You forgot to mention the winsxs-directory for newer Microsoft OS; it contains backups of ALL installers, DLL's, patches and so on. Can grow quite big but you cannot clean this.

So if anyone finds his/her winsxs-directory is very large: HANDS OFF!