Nearly Full Hard Disc !

[mikey4444]

Can anybody help ?

The hard disc on my laptop is about 186 GB, of which only about 20% is
still free. I have archived all my photos on to portable hard disc, and I haven't stored any films, so I am unsure where all the space has gone to !

What do I need to do, in which order, to free up more space ?

[Captain2]

I'm no expert mikey but, until the cavalry appear, have you seen Related Posts underneath

[hc4361]

You need to find out what is taking up all that space!

One thought is the system restore. See how much of your hard drive is allocated to system restore than remove all but the last restore point.

What OS are you using?

[Retrochic]

do a defrag and disk clean up

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/delete-files-using-disk-cleanup#delete-files-using-disk-cleanup=windows-7

[mikey4444]

Thanks guys....I shall definitely do some research int previous questions.

My OS is VISTA.

[VHG]

Vista was very bad at getting bigger and bigger.

Have you run the Vista clean up tool called COMPCLN.EXE?

This can delete many gigabytes of data (it deletes all the old service packs and fixes you may have download but are still on your hard disk)

More here (they both explain how to do the same thing so just do one or the other):

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/cstauffer/archive/2009/05/30/vista-sp2-service-pack-clean-up-tool-compcln-exe.aspx

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/229239-sp2-disk-cleanup-tool.html

[VHG]

If you do run Disk Clean Up, which has been mentioned above, make sure you also click the button "Clean Up System Files" as well as this get rid of lots of extra files.

As has been said, delete old restore points (or turn off restore then turn it back on again)

Also maybe turn off Hibernation.

Empty Recycle bin

Download CCleaner (it is free) and run that to delete temporary files.

It may be a case of doing lots of different things to get rid of all the "rubbish" and temporary and unwanted files.

Make sure that if you backed up all your personal files that you have actually deleted them off your hard disk (and emptied your recycle bin)

And as I said above, run COMPCLN.EXE (this is Vista only)

[Old_Geezer]

Treat yourself to some terabytes, then sort it out in the morning ;-)

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=large+hard+drive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=q1WJVYrAF8eS7AaG2o7YAQ#q=large+internal+hard+drive&tbm=shop

[Old_Geezer]

Probably find you can only partition and format 186Gig now, knowing my luck.

[VHG]

Note old-geezer, poster has a laptop.

I think all or most of the hard disks in your list above are for desktops (different physical size).

[Old_Geezer]

Ah ! I just noticed the hard disk full bit. So Mikey'll need a bracket and a couple of screws to fit it on then ;-)

[Old_Geezer]

Might be able to get 1T though.
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-internal/2.5inchharddrive/Novatech/NOV-NBHS1T.html?gclid=CIvaloH0pcYCFRQatAod02YAHA#utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&;utm_campaign=products

[ukbod2015]

I would back all my personal stuff up copy my favourites passwords Eric and wipe the whole thing and move onto Win7 very cheap now the only install what you absolutely need. Alternatively you can fit a new had a laptop will take 1tb or better. If you need more assistance just ask.

[hc4361]

I agree that the lastest versions of Windows don't need defragging but I think you need to keep an eye on the system restore.

I run Windows 8.1 and just had a look. 150GB taken up by system restore. Ridiculous. I'll get that sorted now

[mikey4444]

Good evening !

Well, I have tried disc cleanup and defrag and my free space has now increased from 30 GB to 38 GB, so hardly much bigger than I started with this morning !

What I can't understand is, if I am not saving any films or photos, why is 145 GB, out of 186 GB still showing as used ?

VHG ...please note that I have a desk top, not a laptop.

I will download CC Cleaner tomorrow and see if it makes any difference.

Thanks for everybodies help on here today. I am really appreciative of the speed and willingness of most people on AB !

[DTCwordfan]

Cut out all the hot air on the politics, mikey, that will save you some 86GB - that would be my first guess......

[SlackAlice]

Also, go through all of your installed programs and have a clear out.

[mikey4444]

Very funny DTC ! Not much help but funny all the same !

[hc4361]

Have you looked at your system restore, mikey? It's a hidden file in Windows so is not immediately obvious.
If you download and run Treesize Free and highlight your Disk C: you will see it listed as System Volume Information. I was shocked at how much hard space mine was using.

http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/