C: Drive Getting Full -- Which Files Can I Delete


  1. Posts : 5
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #1

    C: Drive Getting Full -- Which Files Can I Delete


    Running Windows7 Home Premium 64-bit that I loaded 2½ years ago on a 60 GB solid-state drive. Now the drive is almost full (maybe due to multiple update files?). I moved some programs to a slave drive.
    I deleted the .tmp files and older log files. I ran CCleaner and Disc Cleanup. Backup is turned off. Compression and caching are on.

    Any advice to free up some disc space, please? Can I safely remove (or move to the slave drive) some folders that appear to be left over from updates? Maybe folders like Windows/SoftwareDistribution/Downloads or Winsxs?
    Last edited by MrGreg4; 20 Feb 2013 at 10:22.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,379
    Win7 Pro 32-bit, Win8 Pro 32-bit
       #2

    Don't mess with WinSxS -- it looks big but actually, it's just links to files. Unfortunately, I've not found a way to clean that out that doesn't risk trashing Windows.
      My Computer


  3. Arc
    Posts : 35,373
    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview 64-bit
       #3
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 233
    W7 Home Premium 32bit
       #4

    You can also knock off indexing of the ssd. That's there to speed up searches. But the fast hardware today doesn't need help.

    Right-click the C: drive - Properties. Down at the bottom, uncheck the indexing option, and apply/OK.
    The removal process takes awhile. Go have a beer.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 439
    Windows 7 pro x64 SP1
       #5

    The OP says 'compression is on'. Is that a good idea for the boot drive? I don't use SSD so I'm guessing here, but I would have thought compression would negate any SSD gains.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 6,285
    Windows 10 Pro X64
       #6

    What is using the space? Just randomly moving stuff of isn't going to help. Run a program like Treesize Free and see exactly where the space hogs are.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #7

    It's not updates, it's your own data and installed programs. You can safely delete anything you have added to the drive. You can User Folders - Change Default Location If you don't use hibernation it can be disables by opening a cmd prompt, run as administrator type in
    Code:
    powercfg -h off
    Press enter and reboot.
      My Computer

  8.    #8

    Do not compress the System drive as it can compress the boot files making Win7 unbootable.

    60gb is apparently too small for your purposes. I'd either offload your User folders using User Folders - Change Default Location or uninstall and reinstall some lesser-used programs to another HDD.

    Make sure your files are organized by sorting into the related User folder, then comb through them regularly to delete ones you don't use.
      My Computer


 

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