Dell laptop memory problem


Peejay

Member
Local time
10:16 AM
Posts
5
OS
Windows 11
I have a Dell Inspiron15 3510 laptop Windows 11, newly purchased about 4 months, it supposed to be 100gb memory, but I have hardly any memory left about 500/600mb.
The laptop is not used much just one program installed hardly any documents etc. have done disc clean up history cache and it has not made any difference; I do not even have a printer installed.
If any can put me in the picture why the memory has been gobbled up it would be greatly appreciated.
Dell 2.jpgThanks in advance
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Inspiron 3000
Just a note, the same term for size of RAM/Random Access Memory and storage drives is the same, KiloByte, MegaByte, GigaByte or TeraByte. Your image is of the drive called OS (C:) and it has filled up with data. RAM is volatile, holds data only while running, having power to it and shutting down or restarting clears that out. The storage drive keeps the data until it is deleted, usually by the User. Try right-click of the C: drive in File Explorer, go to Properties and click on Disk cleanup button, should get some help. It would help to have screenshot of Disk Management. I have a nice 11" Inspiron from several years ago with only a 32GB drive, can't run last few Versions of Win10 but doing good with Linux. Looking on Dell's site shows an 11" and 15" Inspiron 3000 that has a 128GB drive.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 2TB WDC HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
As mentioned by Berton running the "Disk Cleanup" utility will help get rid of temporary files that accumulate from normal operations.

Secondly, I would turn off the hibernate feature since it takes up a lot of space.

To disable hibernate,
Click the start button or press the Windows key on the keyboard and type cmd
RIght click on 'Command Prompt' and select 'Run as administrator'
Type the following command 'powercfg /h off'

That should immediately free up several GBs of space on your hard drive.

Lastly you can download a tool such as TreeSize Free | JAM Software
This will give you an overview of where space is being consumed. You may post a screenshot of the output before removing data as not to remove important or needed files.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
I have a Dell Inspiron15 3510 laptop Windows 11, newly purchased about 4 months, it supposed to be 100gb memory, but I have hardly any memory left about 500/600mb.
You meant
"I have a Dell Inspiron15 3510 laptop Windows 11, newly purchased about 4 months, it supposed to be 100gb storage, but I have hardly any storage left about 500/600mb."

just one program installed
What is the program?

Personally, I would not be surprised to find that the storage space is being used up by some sort of syncing or by a cache of some sort.
Do you log into an MSAccount that might be syncing files from elsewhere?

I agree that your next step is to run Treesize free to found out where the space is being used up.
How to interpret TreeSize results
You can post a screenshot of Treesize results here for suggestions about what is unusual and where to look next.

Disabling hibernation will free up some space while you investigate the problem but you'll be able to re-enable it afterwards [assuming that you want to use it].

All the best,
Denis
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 23H2 Build 22631.3296
In this guide, you will learn the steps to understand the space usage on Windows 11.

 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
    Motherboard
    Erica6
    Memory
    Micron Technology DDR4-3200 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC671
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster U28E590
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG MZVLQ1T0HALB-000H1
I have a Dell Inspiron15 3510 laptop Windows 11, newly purchased about 4 months, it supposed to be 100gb memory, but I have hardly any memory left about 500/600mb.
The laptop is not used much just one program installed hardly any documents etc. have done disc clean up history cache and it has not made any difference; I do not even have a printer installed.
If any can put me in the picture why the memory has been gobbled up it would be greatly appreciated.
View attachment 39365Thanks in advance

There could be a number of reasons. I *suspect* that the Dell is either configured with 2 drives for storage, or else it is configured with 2 partitions on a single drive for storage. According to this page:


That thing has both a SATA interface as well as an M.2 interface for drives, and it can come with Windows 11 or Windows 10.

Now, after you bought it, did you (or another family member or friend) do anything like reinstalling Windows after buying it? Also, to be clear, was this bought new, from Dell or a retailer, or secondhand?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
I have the very same Dell Inspiron15 3510 laptop Windows 11, just a few weeks old, and it only has a 128-Gb SS drive. My SSD is 45% used up. I use it to tinker and back up my older Dell Inspiron15 3552 laptop Windows 10 with a 500GB drive. MS puts a lot of stuff on new PCs, much is useless poop.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3510
    CPU
    Intel® Celeron® N4020
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    15.6-in. display HD (1366X768)
    Hard Drives
    128 GB M.2, PCLe, NVMe, SSD
  • Operating System
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15 3552
    CPU
    Intel Celeron N3060
    Memory
    4 GB
Hello,
I have downloaded tree size free and had a browse how to interpret, and it looks a bit to technical for me.
I tried to install this 'powercfg/hoff' but with no luck a message pops up as shown in pic.
Kind regards.
 

Attachments

  • Dell 3.jpg
    Dell 3.jpg
    8.2 KB · Views: 1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Inspiron 3000
I tried to install this 'powercfg/hoff' but with no luck a message pops up as shown in pic.
The command is
powercfg /h off

Denis
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 23H2 Build 22631.3296
The devil is in the details! And, as in many commands, going all the way back to DOS, a space tells the command interpreter when to stop reading the command, and begin reading the switches that tell the command what to do.

Cheers Mate!
TM :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-11/Pro/64, Optimum 11 V3, 23H2 22631.3085
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Made w/Gigabyte mobo/DX-10
    CPU
    AMD FX 6350 Six Core
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte, DX-10, GA-78LMT-USB3
    Memory
    Crucial, 16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Onboard, ATI Radeon HD 3000; NVIDEA GeForce 210, 1GB DDR3 Ram.
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Acer
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Crucial SSD 500GB, SanDisk 126GB SSD, Toshiba 1TB HD
    PSU
    EVGA 500 W.
    Case
    Pac Man, Mid Tower
    Cooling
    AMD/OEM
    Keyboard
    101 key, Backlit/ Mechanical Switches/
    Mouse
    Logitech USB Wireless M310
    Internet Speed
    Hughes Net speed varies with the weather
    Browser
    Firefox 64x
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Super Anti Spyware
    Other Info
    Given to me as DEAD, and irreparable.
    Rebuilt with Gigabyte mobo, AMD cpu, 16GB ram and 500GB Crucial SSD.

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