77GB Used After Reset And Install


ConfusedUser

New member
Local time
9:43 AM
Posts
5
OS
Windows 11
Hi Guys,

I was just resetting my Alienware M17.
A fresh install of Windows 11 takes up 77GB on my C Drive.
This is with the latest Dell Drivers, CCleaner and TreeSize.

I was not expecting it to be this big. Is this normal or not? In other words, should I just write off about 100GB for a Windows 11 install, or is there a way to drastically reduce this to about 10GB? I do not mind removing everything except the most basic functioning essentials.
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
Hi Guys,

I was just resetting my Alienware M17.
A fresh install of Windows 11 takes up 77GB on my C Drive.
This is with the latest Dell Drivers, CCleaner and TreeSize.

I was not expecting it to be this big. Is this normal or not? In other words, should I just write off about 100GB for a Windows 11 install, or is there a way to drastically reduce this to about 10GB? I do not mind removing everything except the most basic functioning essentials.
Hi Confused user,

My C:\ drive takes 66 gb for my W11 installation, includes all the programs like office/Antivirus and others.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro Versie 23H2 Build 22631.219
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer/Aspire 5
    CPU
    11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz 2.80 G
    Motherboard
    64-bits besturingssysteem, x64-processor
    Memory
    16 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics, NVIDIA Geforce MX450
    Sound Card
    Realtek (R) Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Micron_2210_MTFDHBA1T0QFD (SSD) 953,86GB C = 247 D = 705
    Mouse
    m220 logitech
    Internet Speed
    300 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Ok. Thanks for the reference. The weird thing is that the more I delete like Office etc. the more it goes up in size. Now at 84GB after deleting OneDrive, Office, and so on. Probably just Dell recovery "SARemediation" is taking up about 18GB that I couldn't remove according to TreeSize. Apparently if I turn off Dell's recovery it will reduce the folder.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
Depending on how many apps you use and how many personal files, 77gb is not out of line. I have tons of apps and my C: drive is 96 gb. None of my personal files are on my C; drive but located on a secondary drive.

The first thing I do on a new computer is to remove the factory recovery partition because I never use a reset.. The reason I do is taking a computer back to factory condition makes everything outdated and incomplete. Instead, I make regular backups which I can restore in 11 minutes and everything is current and complete.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
If you do a fresh install of Windows, no way it should take that much. I know mine doesn't.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64 23H2 v22631.3374
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built Myself in 2013
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 1800X 8-Core @ 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Crosshair VI Hero
    Memory
    16GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    On Board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 27" , PLANAR 22", eMachine 22"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    ~ P34A60 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 M.2
    ~ 3TB WD Red HDD (extra storage)
    ~ SanDisk 250GB SSD
    ~ 2 X 1TB HDD
    ~~~~~~~~~~
    PSU
    Corsair RM850 Fully Modular (850watts)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 630 CA-PH630-W1
    Cooling
    CORSAIR iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT
    Keyboard
    Logitech K860
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Internet Speed
    752Mbps (Download) / 537Mbps (Upload)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    *This is my Main Computer That I use*
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD A10-5700 APU @ 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus CM1745
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R7 350x GDDR5 4 GB
    Sound Card
    On Board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Monitor Setup ONN 22" Monitors
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    ~~~~~~~~
    250GB SSD

    500GB HDD
    ~~~~~~~~
    PSU
    350Watt PSU
    Cooling
    Air Cooling
    Mouse
    MX Master
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Ergonomic 4000
    Internet Speed
    752Mbps (Download) / 537Mbps (Upload)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    *Computer for Weather Software*
Windows displayed 25.5 GB.

Please expand the other rows with larger sizes as needed.




Code:
Storage: 64 GB* or greater available storage is required to install Windows 11



Code:
The size of the Windows operating system that comes with your device and the
amount of free storage space needed to download and install Windows updates are
highly variable as they depend on a variety of factors.

Visit here to learn why.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/free-up-drive-space-in-windows-85529ccb-c365-490d-b548-831022bc9b32

The factors that impact the amount of free space needed to take an update include:

the versions of Windows previously installed on the machine;

the amount of free storage space available from Windows files to reuse,
such as the virtual memory pagefile or hibernation file;

which applications are installed on your device;
 
and how those applications store data.

When updating, Windows will attempt to free up enough space automatically and to
guide you through freeing up even more if the automatic cleanup is not sufficient.

You can also take steps on your own to free up space.




 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz
    Motherboard
    Product : 190A Version : KBC Version 94.56
    Memory
    16 GB Total: Manufacturer : Samsung MemoryType : DDR3 FormFactor : SODIMM Capacity : 8GB Speed : 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Quadro K3100M; Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition Audio CODEC; PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_111D&DEV_76E0
    Hard Drives
    Model Hitachi HTS727575A9E364
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Mobile Workstation
Please edit your profile with ALL your hardware specs. It will help us to help you


C:\windows is 25.5G - Normal
5 files should be hiberfil.sys, pagefile.sys, swapfile.sys and other system files - 17.7G is normal (my pagefile is almost that big)
Recovery - 5.6G is a little high.
System Volume Information - 5.5G is normal

Don't see nothing not normal, only the Recovery
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 7 HP 64 - Windows 11 Pro - Lubuntu
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    custom build
    CPU
    i5 6600K - 800MHz to 4400MHz
    Motherboard
    GA-Z170-HD3P
    Memory
    4+4G GSkill DDR4 3000
    Graphics Card(s)
    IG - Intel 530
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    (1) -1 SM951 – 128GB M.2 AHCI PCIe SSD drive for Win 11
    (2) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for Data
    (3) -1 WD SATA 3 - 1T for backup
    (4) -1 BX500 SSD - 128G for Windows 7 and Lubuntu
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W TR2 gold
    Keyboard
    Old and good Chicony mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech mX performance - 9 buttons (had to disable some)
    Internet Speed
    500 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus Q550LF
    CPU
    i7-4500U 800- 3000MHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Q550LF
    Memory
    (4+4)G DDR3 1600
    Graphics card(s)
    IG intel 4400 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG Display LP156WF4-SPH1
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    BX500 120G SSD for Windows and programs
    & 1T HDD for data
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Browser
    Firefox 64
We recently purchased a Dell. Our SSD, including installed apps but excluding most data, is about 55GB per WinDirStat. This is after removing most of the MSFT crapware and some relatively legitimate apps (e.g., Teams, OneNote, OneDrive) we don't intend to use. Interestingly, I didn't see much size difference after these "uninstalls", so I suspect they may not really be uninstalled at all, but rather, just hidden in the UI. Btw, we removed them through Settings > Apps, and not using the excellent Revo uninstaller.

One thing you may want to look at is the size of your WinSxS folder, which on our device is almost 10 GB. There's quite a few articles out there about this, including: WindowsCentral and HowToGeek.

More troubling to me is the whopping 300 MB of RAM being consumed 24 x 7 by mostly latent (?) and gratuitous (?) Dell apps, utilities and Services. Some (e.g., why is Digital Delivery constantly running when we've not purchased 3rd party software from Dell???) are no-brainers, but Dell's documentation is poor in this regard, and ProSupport - a joke in itself - hasn't been helpful, so for others, we're still in the process of researching. We intend to uninstall these ~ 1 / week, taking copious images / Restore Points throughout, just in case. If necessary, after uninstalling all but Dell Update, we may also write a script to stop some of the remaining RAM-consuming services loading each time the device starts.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS8950
    CPU
    i7-12700K
    Motherboard
    Z690 : 9D2HH Foxconn, R6PCT Foxconn 2nd
    Memory
    16GB (2 x 8)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 with shared graphics memory
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer CBL282K Smiiprx
    Screen Resolution
    4K UHD (3840 x 2160) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital PC SN810 512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD, PCIe
    PSU
    750W
    Cooling
    2G44F Asetek 125W CPU liquid cooler
    Keyboard
    Arteck Wireless
    Mouse
    Victsing-mm057 wireless
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 6
    Browser
    Vivaldi
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender (native)
  • Operating System
    Win 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5620
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P
    Memory
    2 x 8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    NVMe 512 GB
    Case
    Aluminum
    Mouse
    Touchpad
    Browser
    Vivaldi
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender (native)
With all of my installed programs, my C: drive is using 306 GB. My Windows folder itself uses 27.7 GB.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Is there a folder called Windows.old? This is there if you want to roll back to your previous version.. It has all your docs, pictures as well.
You can safely delete this if you don't need to roll back.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Pro 23H2 OS build 22631.3296
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Swift SF114-34
    CPU
    Pentium Silver N6000 1.10GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD
    Cooling
    fanless
    Internet Speed
    13Mbps
    Browser
    Brave, Edge or Firefox
    Antivirus
    Webroot Secure Anywhere
    Other Info
    System 3

    ASUS T100TA Transformer
    Processor Intel Atom Z3740 @ 1.33GHz
    Installed RAM 2.00 GB (1.89 GB usable)
    System type 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor

    Edition Windows 10 Home
    Version 22H2 build 19045.3570
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.2506
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Mini 210-1090NR PC (bought in late 2009!)
    CPU
    Atom N450 1.66GHz
    Memory
    2GB

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