Not enough disk space (only 13%) for defrag

[derekmulling]

I don't know which files to delete.

[Ethel]

Have a look at your add/remove programmes.

It will populate a list.

See how many copies of J2SE runtime and Quicktime you have.

Both of these can take up a lot of space and if you are not careful, the updates don't delete old versions.

See if there are any programmes on there that you haven't used for a long time and no longer need.

How big is your hard disk?

[Ethel]

Had another idea.

If you are running windows xp, turn your system restore off. That could increase your space by 15-20%.

Don't forget to turn it back on though!

[derekmulling]

Where do I find 'system restore'?

[AussieGeoff]

G'Day

When was the last time you deleted your temp internet files and temp folders? How about the recycle bin?

To empty them just open My Computer and right click on your hard drive, then left click Properties, then click on Disk Cleanup (it will take a while and will seem to be doing nothing), put ticks in each box and then click on OK. Before cleaning up you can also go to the Other Options tab where you can uninstall windows components you dont use, uninstall programs you dont use and delete all but the last restore point (XP), then OK your way out. Windows will tell you have much disk space you will recover. Do the same for each disk you have, if necessary. You will not lose anything windows cannot replace if necessary.

If you have never cleaned out these locations, go and make a cup of tea/coffee - disk cleanup will take a (long) time.

If you use the above you will not have to turn off System Restore, however to find System Restore right click on My Computer then left click on Properties then the System Restore tab. You can decrease/increase the amount of disk space, on each disk, by clicking on the drive then clicking the Settings button and moving the slider to the new setting you want. There is a lower limit of 200MB (I think) at which point Restore will be turned off on that drive. You can also turn off Restore for that drive as well here. OK your way out.

Geoff

[Gandy]

try running disktective on it to see where your space has gone http://www.freebyte.com/disktective/

[joko]

hi gandy, i ran that disk detective and it gave me a pie chart of usage - but now what? it doesn't tell you what to do with it or tell you what is not needed.

i have loads of these -

$NtUninstallKB55250$

what are they?

[AussieGeoff]

G'Day Joko

All the folders named $NtUninstallKBxxxxxx are folders created by windows when you install hotfixes. The xxxxxx is the hotfix number. If you decide to uninstall an update Add/Remove uses the data in the appropriate folder to uninstall the update.

If you are certain a hotfix is not causing problems, you can delete the folder - if you do, you will not be able to uninstall it at a later date.

Note: Most of those folders take up less than 1MB each anyway, if you are short of disk space, removing them is probably not going to let you reclaim much disk space anyway.

That being said, I delete them after about 4-6 weeks - after making sure none of updates are causing problems.

Geoff