Not enough storage space in C Drive

GODMODE09

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May 22, 2012
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Hi,
My C drive is 50GB and I don't have anything else stored in it (like pics,videos), but it has <1GB free.
I have performed disk clean up and uninstalled unnecessary applications.
All I have in C Drive now is all the important stuff I need . I have even deleted hibernation to get more disk space, but no hope.
I checked the storage space for all the folders in C drive and it's not exceeding 10-15GB GB.
I have no clue as how it is so filled.
Any help is appreciated. I can't even installed vista service pack 2 because of this.

Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
The entire contents of temp\ can be deleted.

The entire contents of Software distribution\ can be deleted.

You likely have dozens of hidden $NT_Uninstall folders in Windows\ that can be deleted.

Any folder named Temp, temporary, or TMP can be cleared out.

If it pops up with any dialogue boxes, tell it to skip those files.

If you have adequate RAM, you would rather the system use the RAM rather than the swap file as its located on a slow mechanical device. You should be able to safely reduce it to 1.2 GB without seeing any difference.

Also, give ccleaner a shot. it will clean up a lot of stuff, and not just the hard drive.

Also, if you have a fast USB drive and good USB ports, you can reduce the swap to bare minimum and use the...

Dr_JRE

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Aug 12, 2012
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You can delete prefetch data
C:\Windows\Prefetch

You can delete Windows Update files
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution

Reduce the size of the system swap.
Right click on Computer -> Select Properties -> Click "Advanced System Settings" in the left pane -> In the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings -> Click on the Advanced tab -> Click Change -> resize it to something smaller. I wouldn't go under 768 MB

You can remove non-essential windows components in control panel -> programs & features -> Turn windows components on or off

Install ccleaner onto a USB drive an run it.

Install WinDir Stat onto USB and you can see just where your space is going.
http://windirstat.info/
 

GODMODE09

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May 22, 2012
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10,630


Thanks mate, I installed windirstat and out of 50GB, windows has taken 38GB. In this, Temp folder has 20.1GB and winsxs has 10.6GB, system32 = 3.2GB , software distribution = 1.2GB, assembly = 954MB and the rest less than that.
Is there anything in this I can delete without causing performance or stability issues?

Windows Prefect is already an empty folder
Windows software distribution has lot of folders inside it. What do I delete in this??
About the system swap, the paging file size is 1784MB ( I don't want to reduce this as I feel my laptop is too slow to handle the stuff I do and I have already set vista visual settings adjusted for "best performance" and even set the battery for best performance). I still feel it's too slow.

Let me know if I can clean anything else.

Thanks
 

Dr_JRE

Honorable
Aug 12, 2012
423
0
10,960
The entire contents of temp\ can be deleted.

The entire contents of Software distribution\ can be deleted.

You likely have dozens of hidden $NT_Uninstall folders in Windows\ that can be deleted.

Any folder named Temp, temporary, or TMP can be cleared out.

If it pops up with any dialogue boxes, tell it to skip those files.

If you have adequate RAM, you would rather the system use the RAM rather than the swap file as its located on a slow mechanical device. You should be able to safely reduce it to 1.2 GB without seeing any difference.

Also, give ccleaner a shot. it will clean up a lot of stuff, and not just the hard drive.

Also, if you have a fast USB drive and good USB ports, you can reduce the swap to bare minimum and use the thumbdrive as the swap w/ windows ready boost.

**Red Flag** Out of space and you haven't installed SP2 yet?
Did you install windows over an existing OS?
 
Solution