Just downloaded Windows 11..now running out of space on C Drive

polli · Mar 10, 2023

I have had a computer for years as am an oldie
Windows kept suggesting I upgrade from 10 to 11
So I upgraded yesterday
Like it very much. Having a job finding my stuff but geting there
However noticed now my C Drive says only 17.5GB left of 237. And it is red
Cannot afford to upgrade
I have an all in one pc which I love.

Have unistalled programs I will not use and ran Clean Up. But no change
All my photos videos music is on D Drive
What else can I do to create more room?

spapakons · Mar 10, 2023

If you are sure you like Windows 11 and don't want to return to Windows 10, you can clean up the disk to remove the old Windows 10 data and free at least 15-20GB. To do that open This PC, then open C: (system drive). Now Go to the top right click on Tools and select Disk Clean up. There you should see a button "Clean up system files" or similar. Click on that to get a larger list with Windows Update data, Previous Windows installations etc. Make sure you check all the boxes and proceed. Before you proceed you should see the amount of space you can clear at the top right of the window.

polli · Mar 10, 2023

Did as you said spapakons
I now have 22.5GB free. Thank you
Will that be enough?
It is still a red line lol

OAT · Mar 10, 2023

Many tools are available. Or no tools at all, if you go the scripting route.
One of my never-fail me is DiskMax (free)
Of course, all those tasks can be automated thru batching or manual runs, but I believe this one's worth a try.
This is just a suggestion among many.

spapakons · Mar 10, 2023

To gain a little more space, you can compact OS (not remember the exact command) and also enable disk compression for all folders and files. Have in mind that some ERP or other applications may have trouble when you compress their data. You can manually un-compress these just in case.

polli · Mar 10, 2023

spapakons said:
To gain a little more space, you can compact OS (not remember the exact command) and also enable disk compression for all folders and files. Have in mind that some ERP or other applications may have trouble when you compress their data. You can manually un-compress these just in case.

Not something I am happy to do But thanks for suggestions. Just downloded Photo Legacy App back as use it for family slideshow. But have even less space now

Cant think of anything else to get rid of. Only keeping programs I use

FreeBooter · Mar 10, 2023

In this guide, you will learn the steps to understand the space usage on Windows 11.

Sir_George · Mar 10, 2023

polli said:
Not something I am happy to do But thanks for suggestions. Just downloded Photo Legacy App back as use it for family slideshow. But have even less space now
Cant think of anything else to get rid of. Only keeping programs I use

There is a free utility "TreeSize" which can show how your drive space is being used. It can categorize the usage by size which makes it easy to see how much space may be gained by doing some cleanup. I have posted a link below to their site in case you want to give it a try.

TreeSize Free | JAM Software

cbiweb · Mar 10, 2023

polli said:
...Cannot afford to upgrade
I have an all in one pc which I love.

Are you able to afford an external drive? You can then put all your pictures, videos, music, etc., on that, and you will get back a lot of space on C.

spapakons · Mar 10, 2023

You can also go to Settings -> System -> Storage Space to see usage.

Haydon · Mar 10, 2023

polli said:
What else can I do to create more room?

You may not need (or have a reduced need for) System Restore.

Go to System Protection control panel > Configure > Disable system protection (or set the slider to the far left at 1% if you can still afford about 2.37GB) > Delete all restore points for this drive.

spapakons · Mar 10, 2023

Have you tried Compact OS and compress the files? You might gain about 4-5GB

IanMosley · Mar 10, 2023

spapakons said:
To gain a little more space, you can compact OS (not remember the exact command) and also enable disk compression for all folders and files. Have in mind that some ERP or other applications may have trouble when you compress their data. You can manually un-compress these just in case.

Open 'Terminal(Admin)' and run the following command -

dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /Startcomponentcleanup

TM21 · Mar 10, 2023

I've been writing here for months now, about "Clean up your mess!". An active user can create several thousand junk files per day and if not Deleted, they can eventually take over almost any sized hard drive. I used to do this stuff professionally, now it's just for the preservation of my own PC's.
My customers were amazed, when I'd sit down at their computers with them, and remove hundreds of thousands of junk files, even 140,000 tracking cookies on one PC.
So to preserve space on your own PC, you really need to get serious about "Junk Removal".

Good Luck Mate!
TM

glasskuter · Mar 10, 2023

As @spapakons said disk cleanup will remove all the old windows files . However, he forgot to say it has to be run as administrator. Once it scans, in the scan results the user has to select the box to clean up old windows installations. If it's not run as admin, the old installation won't be even be detected as part of the scan. Proof is you started with 17.5 unused space and to 22.5 gb unused space. The old windows installs is way more than 5 gb.
Run disk cleanup again as administrator.

mackie · Mar 10, 2023

cbiweb said:
Are you able to afford an external drive? You can then put all your pictures, videos, music, etc., on that, and you will get back a lot of space on C.

This ^^

Just saw one on Amazon that is fairly inexpensive ($25 U S) and all you have to do is connect it to a usb port on your pc and start moving things to it.

HWAYO 2.5'' HDD 320GB Ultra Slim Portable External Hard Drive USB3.0 Storage for Xbox One Console, PC, Laptop, MacBook (Silver)

spapakons · Mar 10, 2023

If you have an old computer you don't need, you can remove the hard disk and put it as second to copy your data there. You can also convert it to USB with the appropriate adapter or enclosure and use it without opening your tower.

glasskuter · Mar 10, 2023

Everyone has gotten sidetracked into adding more storage when it may be totally unnecessary. He already has a 1tb secondary drive. We do not know how it's being utilized or even IF its being utilized. There is a good chance it's not.

@polli , please do as I stated in post #15 and run disk cleanup as administrator. In the disk cleanup scan, make sure 'previous windows installations' is checked.

Then right click on your start menu, select disk management. Please post a screenshot of that page.

mackie · Mar 10, 2023

glasskuter said:
Everyone has gotten sidetracked into adding more storage when it may be totally unnecessary. He already has a 1tb secondary drive. We do not know how it's being utilized or even IF its being utilized. There is a good chance it's not.

@polli , please do as I stated in post #15 and run disk cleanup as administrator. In the disk cleanup scan, make sure 'previous windows installations' is checked.

Then right click on your start menu, select disk management. Please post a screenshot of that page.

^^ Good point. I know I missed it by not checking out polli’s ‘My computers.’

The opening post does say that all his photos, music and videos are on the D drive though.

Disk cleanup of C, as mentioned, sounds like what I would try. Now I see that he said he already ran cleanup. Is he responding by editing post #1?

Bree · Mar 10, 2023

mackie said:
Now I see that he said he already ran cleanup. Is he responding by editing post #1?

No, must have all been there in the original post. If @polli had done that there would be a 'Last edited....' time at the bottom right of post #1, like this one for one of my edited posts.

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