Windows 7: Disk Cleanup fails for small capacity hard drives

I have a followup question to this thread, that to my understanding is not answered since the thread is marked as solved:

My problem is that disk cleanup does not delete "Windows update cleanup", even though it says it can delete more than 7GB of data (disk cleanup terminated during the progress bar). I read in the thread that it may happen due to low available space in the hard drive, and I'm pretty sure that this is my problem (as I only have 4.5GB available on the drive, and I canceled out any other causes I could find online and in the spoken thread). However, my problem is that my hard drive is of very small capacity - only 102GB, so I cannot free enough space for the disk cleanup to work, as most of the space is taken by Windows itself (I uninstalled every program I had installed, deleted all my files, canceled hibernate and freed as much space as I could).

How can I make disk cleanup delete those files, assuming I cannot free enough space? Is there a way of deleting these files manually?

(Also, buying a new hard drive is not an option)

Thanks a lot.

You might want to consider getting some free online storage to move all of your documents, pictures, MP3 files, and other personal data to, in order to clean up the drive some more.

Another option would be to get as big of a name-brand flash drive as you can afford, and connect that to your computer. You can move some stuff onto there.

This may free up enough space in order that Disk Cleanup will run successfully.

Then after it runs, move your stuff back onto your hard drive.

mrjimphelps said:

You might want to consider getting some free online storage to move all of your documents, pictures, MP3 files, and other personal data to, in order to clean up the drive some more.

Another option would be to get as big of a name-brand flash drive as you can afford, and connect that to your computer. You can move some stuff onto there.

This may free up enough space in order that Disk Cleanup will run successfully.

Then after it runs, move your stuff back onto your hard drive.

Thanks for the reply.
I have moved all my personal data, uninstalled everything etc. That did not free enough space for Disk cleanup to run successfully.

Thank you all for your replies.

Ranger4 said:

GuglyBu. When you uninstalled those programs & disabled Hibernate, did you reboot the computer. After uninstalling programs etc. it is necessary to reboot so the uninstall completes.

I rebooted my computer. Still didn't help.

Paul Black said:

Hi GuglyBu,



I know this might sound strange but try defragging the hard drive. Then reboot the computer.

I hope this helps!

I did not try defragging my hard drive, but since it is an SSD I am reluctant to, as for my best knowledge defragging is harmful for SSD.

Snick said:

How much free space do you have on your HDD? Windows 7 x64 only requires 20GB of drive space.
Something doesn't sound right here, how much free space do you have?

Disk Cleanup many times will not complete unless you reboot.
Here is a nice little tutorial by Bare Foot Kid.
Disk Cleanup : Extended
Another one by Brink.
Disk Cleanup - Open and Use

This is interesting. Windows folder (on C:/) takes 79.1GB, and with all the Toshiba (my laptop's brand) programs and drivers I couldn't free more than ~10GB (could be a bit more, but Disk cleanup still failed).
I am interested as for why my Windows folder takes almost 80GB when you say it should take 20GB. Unfortunately, I do not know what takes most of the space and what is safe to delete.

Moreover, I followed the guides you had posted but they didn't help, as I encountered the very same problem.

Thanks a lot!

Paul Black said:

Hi GuglyBu,

These will show you how your files are distributed on your HDD and what they are:

WinDirStat - Windows Directory Statistics

Antibody Software - WizTree finds the files and folders using the most disk space on your hard drive

I hope this helps!

Thanks! This actually helped me analyze my windows folder. I now know what folders inside Windows folder take most of the space (see screenshot), but from a quick search on the web I couldn't find a safe way of deleting some of the files in them.

If I uninstall all the programs I installed, delete all my personal files etc. I can free roughly ~12-13GB, which is still not enough for Disk cleanup to run successfully.

I really do appreciate your help guys, thanks!