There are many areas in Windows Vista and XP that you can delete temporary files and decrease disk usage. Sure you can download free tools that clean up temp and orphan files, but do they really catch everything and guide you in decreasing unnecessary usage of disk space in windows?
If you want do do things right, you do them yourself sometimes. In this tutorial PCWizKid shows you how you can easily free up 10 gigs or more of space on your PC.
There are various ways of saving anywhere from a few hundred MegaBytes to GigaBytes of space. The video walks you through these step by step.
Notes from video:
Places to Delete temp files from:
C:\windows\system32\dllcache\
C:\windows\Temp\
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\
Areas to save disk space
- Turn off or decrease size of disk usage for system restore
If your not using the
Windows System Restore feature, then why have it enabled?
If you are using it, perhaps you want to re-evaluate how much disk space its using up (which can be several GigaBytes) for saving checkpoints. If you only want to have 1 or 2 good saved checkpoints to restore from decrease the allocated space for system restore to a few hundred meg.
- Decrease the disk usage size of the recycle bin
The most common area on a users PC in which Windows allocates a chuck of space for itself is the recycle bin. If you rather have files be deleted instantly and not put in the recycle bin or you want to decrease the space it uses to hold deleted files, a simple adjustment of the properties for it will do the trick as specified in PCWizKid's video tutorial.
- Empty or Decrease your Web Browsers disk usage for Cached files
Every web browser has a preferences or options area to adjust the temporary internet files and cache usage. In ths video tutorial we use Internet Explorer as an example on how to save space with an adjustment of the temporary internet files space it uses.
- Disable Hibernation in Windows.
If you dont know what
Hibernation is , chances are you arent using it. You might want to disable it to save a few GigaBytes of space that function requires as shown in the video tutorial.
For Vista users you can opena command prompt and type powercfg -H off
-Run the Windows Clean Manager
Windows comes already with a built in cleaner that does simple basic tasks to free up disk space.
To access it click start -> Run -> type cleanmgr -> press OK, as shown in the video tutorial.
Other Tips Users have watched
Written by PCWizKid on June 27th, 2008 with no comments.
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If you want to reduce the number of unnecessary files on your hard disk to free up disk space and help your computer run faster, use Disk Cleanup. It removes temporary files, empties the Recycle Bin, and removes a variety of system files and other items that you no longer need.
1. Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, clicking System Tools, and then clicking Disk Cleanup.
2. In the Disk Cleanup Options dialog box, choose whether you want to clean up your own files only or all of the files on the computer. Administrator permission required If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. If the Disk Cleanup: Drive Selection dialog box appears, select the hard disk drive that you want to clean up, and then click OK.
4. Click the Disk Cleanup tab, and then select the check boxes for the files you want to delete.
5. When you finish selecting the files you want to delete, click OK, and then click Delete files to confirm the operation. Disk Cleanup proceeds to remove all unnecessary files from your computer.
The More Options tab is available when you choose to clean files from all users on the computer. This tab includes two additional ways to free even more disk space:
• Programs and Features. Opens Programs and Features in Control Panel, where you can uninstall programs that you no longer use. The Size column in Programs and Features shows how much disk space each program uses.
• System Restore and Shadow Copies. Prompts you to delete all but the most recent restore point on the disk.
System Restore uses restore points to return your system files to an earlier point in time. If your computer is running normally, you can save disk space by deleting the earlier restore points.
In some editions of Windows Vista, restore points can include previous versions of files, known as shadow copies, and backup images created with Windows Complete PC Backup. This information will also be deleted. For more information about System Restore, search Windows Help and Support for “system restore.”
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Written by Jason on April 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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Windows Vista computers that come equipped with more than 4 GB of system memory have limited shut-down options. Essentially, the Hibernate option is no longer available on Vista machines that feature in excess of 4 GB of RAM. This scenario affects both the 32-bit and the 64-bit editions of Vista, but at the same time also Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Microsoft has confirmed that the issue is related to the large quantity of random access memory.
“This issue occurs because hibernation is disabled on computers that have more than 4 GB of RAM. Hibernation requires sufficient disk space to contain the contents of the computer’s memory. Performance is poor on a computer that has more than 4 GB of memory and that has support for hibernation. (more…)
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Written by Jason on March 18th, 2008 with no comments.
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This tip will show you how to create an unattended disk cleanup which will also empty your prefetch folder. This tip assumes you have Windows XP installed in c:\windows.
Step 1.
Create a new text file and place the following contents inside:
c:\windows\system32\cleanmgr.exe /dc /sageset: 1
c:
cd \
cd c:\windows\prefetch
del *.* /q
(more…)
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Written by Jason on November 15th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on appication and cache and cleanmgr and cleanup program and disk cleanup and disk space and performance decrease and prefetch folder and unattended and windows and windows prefetch directory and windows system32.
This tip will show you how to create an unattended disk cleanup which will also empty your prefetch folder. This tip assumes you have Windows XP installed in c:\windows.
Step 1.
Create a new text file and place the following contents inside:
c:\windows\system32\cleanmgr.exe /dc /sageset: 1
c:
cd \
cd c:\windows\prefetch
del *.* /q
(more…)
appication,
cache,
cleanmgr,
cleanup program,
disk cleanup,
disk space,
performance decrease,
prefetch folder,
unattended,
Windows,
windows prefetch directory,
windows system32
Written by Jason on November 15th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on appication and cache and cleanmgr and cleanup program and disk cleanup and disk space and performance decrease and prefetch folder and unattended and windows and windows prefetch directory and windows system32.