[SOLVED] What occpies disk space in a Windows 10 installation?

jhsachs

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Is there a way to get an accounting of how the disk space in a Windows 10 installation is used?

I'm asking because I've got two Windows 10 systems that were built at about the same time (2-3 weeks ago), with the same applications installed; one occupies about 35 GB, the other about 52 GB.

This has practical consequences. I'm planning to migrate both systems to SSD, and I want to keep them as similar as possible. If I can't identify and fix whatever made the larger system so big, I will have to get two 256GB SSDs instead of two 128GB's: a considerable extra expense.
 
Solution
Install either WinDirStat or WizTree
Run as Administrator, selecting only the drive in question.

Post a screencap here.


Different settings (pagefile, hibernation, and Restore Points) can easily account for that difference.

And a 128GB SSD is TooSmall these days. 250GB or larger is strongly recommended.

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Install either WinDirStat or WizTree
Run as Administrator, selecting only the drive in question.

Post a screencap here.


Different settings (pagefile, hibernation, and Restore Points) can easily account for that difference.

And a 128GB SSD is TooSmall these days. 250GB or larger is strongly recommended.
 
Solution

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
Different Version of win 10 could also explain some of it as Microsoft as of 1903 have started to reserve space for future upgrades

Windows Updates can fail to install properly if your PC doesn’t have enough free disk space. This can be a problem on inexpensive devices with only a small amount of built-in storage.

Microsoft is solving the problem by commandeering about 7 GB of your PC’s storage and making it into “reserved storage.” This space is used for Windows Updates, but programs can also store temporary files here. When Windows needs the space for updates, it deletes the temporary files and performs the update. So space isn’t completely wasted, as files that would have normally used space on your computer will just sit in the reserved storage space.

The exact amount of storage space used depends on the optional features and languages you have installed, but it starts at about 7 GB.

https://www.howtogeek.com/402569/everything-new-in-windows-10s-april-2019-update/
 

jhsachs

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I ran WinDirStat and the problem was immediately apparent. It would have been apparent if I had taken the trouble to look at a listing of the root directory... if I hadn't assumed the problem would be too difficult for that to help!

The system with the larger space consumption had two, count 'em, two "old Windows" directories. I deleted them, and space consumption dropped to about 17 GiB.

I won't have access to the other system for a week, but I'm pretty sure it has at least one Windows.old directory too, and when I delete it space consumption will drop to a similar level.

Your advice about disk size is noted and appreciated, but not necessary. These are single-use machines; neither one will ever have to store a lot of applications or any appreciable amount of data. I actually could cram everything into 64 GiB with an adequate amount of free space -- just barely. Better to get the bigger SSD and never have to worry.
 

jhsachs

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A final note... I looked at used prices on eBay and found the 128 GB SSDs are more expensive than 256 GB's, probably because they're less numerous! So it looks like I'll be buying a 256 GB drive even though I don't need one.

(Why am I buying a used drive even though SSDs wear out? Because they're still rapidly dropping in cost. It will probably be cheaper to buy a used drive and replace it in a few years than to buy a new one now and keep it somewhat longer.)
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
At least with a new one it hasn't been used before and doesn't have a use history. Buying 2nd hand you don't know what it was used for before. And how long it might last.

Its your choice, I prefer a new one that should last at least 5 years before I need to replace it. At least ssd should last that long, unless you buy a cheaper one with a smaller warranty. I have to be careful next time I buy a Samsung SSD that I don't buy a QVO as though they are cheaper than EVO, they also only have 3 year warranties on them.