TUTORIAL: How to get FREE space in Windows?

[Vishal Gupta]

Source: How to get FREE Space in Windows

Most of us face Lower Disk Space problem many times. Windows notifies us about the lower disk space and we are forced to delete some useless files or to resize the partition to get some free space.

I'm posting this tutorial to tell some methods to get as mush FREE space as we can.

But use it at your own risk. I'll not be responsible for any kind of damage/problem in your system. I hv been using these tips since many years and never faced any problem.

Following are some ways to get lots of free space:

1.) First thing is to use windows built-in "Disk Cleanup" application. You can right-click on a drive in My Computer and select "Properties" now click on "Disk Cleanup" button. Now select all given options, like "Downloaded Program Files", "Temporary Internet Files", "Compress old files", etc. Believe me you can get more than 1GB FREE space after using Disk Cleanup coz once I got approx. 1.5GB more FREE space after running Disk Cleanup

Alternatively you can run "Disk Cleanup" directly from RUN dialog box by giving "cleanmgr.exe" command.

2.) Now open Windows Search and copy paste following code in Search box and perform a search:

mscreate.dir;whatsnew.*;*.tmp;*.log;*log.txt;*readme.txt;file_id.diz;tips.txt;*.bak;*.old;*.syd;*.prv;*.grp;*.gid;*.fts;*.cnt;*.~mp

I found all above mentioned files useless but I’ll suggest you to check all files before deleting. You’ll get 100s of files after searching, simply select all and press <SHIFT> + <Del>.

PS: Pls check the files before deletion! It’ll delete all Readme files, Backup files, Log files, etc. So deselect the files first, which u don’t want to delete.

3.) You can also disable WFP (Windows File Protection) service using WFP Patcher. This service runs in background and checks for system files’ status, and whenever it finds a system file has been changed/modified, it replaces the file with the original file stored in "DLLCache" folder. So we can disable this service and can get lots of FREE space.

After disabling the service, open “%windir%\System32\DLLCache” folder (it’ll be HIDDEN & System Folder, so copy paste the path in address bar and press <ENTER>). Now you can safely delete all files present in this folder. It’ll make aprrox. 1GB FREE space.

I always disable this service coz it always irritates me while hacking system files in my lovely Resource Hacker.

4.) Open “System Properties” by right-click on “My Computer” icon on Desktop and select “Properties“, now goto “System Restore” tab and select “Turn Off System Restore on all drives” option and apply it. Don’t use this trick if u use System Restore.

5.) You can delete several BMP files in %windir% (Windows) folder, which r used as wallpapers in Desktop Properties. You can also delete all files in %windir%\Web\Wallpaper folder, all files in this folder are also used as wallpapers.

6.) You can also empty TEMP (just type “TEMP” in RUN dialog box), Prefetch (in %windir% folder) folders to get free space.

7.) Disable Hibernation from “Power Settings” (powercfg.cpl), if u don’t use this feature.

8.) Empty Temporary Internet files of ur browser to get some free space.

9.) You can also delete all video files present in %windir%\system32\oobe\images folder, these files are used when windows runs for the first time after installation.

10.) You can also delete all Updates Uninstall Folders, which can be found in %windir% folder and all these folders’ names will start from $NtUninstall (or something like that, can’t remember the exact name coz I hv deleted all of them ). But keep in mind that after deleting these folders u’ll not be able to uninstall any windows update!

You can apply all above mention methods to get lots of FREE space without any problem, all these methods hv been checked by me many times and I always use them after a fresh installation of my windows.

You can also use 3rd party Utilities, like Tuneup Utility, System Mechanic, etc to FREE some space but these utilities also use most of the above mentioned techniques like 1.), 2.), 6.), 8.).

I hope u guys will like it…….

[Ramakrishnan]

The application which has found a lot of garbage in my PC is Dustbuster

[Arsenal_Gunners]

hey vishal I very nearly cleared up all my readme files following point 2.Please see about that.

[blackpearl]

# Lower the amount of space reserved for System Restore. The default is 12% which is quite a lot. On a 10GB drive this means a wastage of 1.2GB. For the Windows partition around 500MB is enough for storing a couple of restore points.

#Similarly lower the amount of space reserved for Recycle Bin. this option is available by right-clicking on the recycle bin icon on desktop and clicking on Properties. The default is 10% which is again a lot. Lower it to 1-2% or whatever you choose. SHIFT+DEL is another option to bypass the recycle bin, but its a very bad habit. I've lost files a couple of times because of this

[forever]

@vishal
i have 2 queries, when applying the 2nd point, it showed a number of important files , like utorrent's resume.dat.old and etc , i didnt delete them as i thought this might mess up somethings , also when i selected some specific files, it said CANT BE DELETED,MAKE SURE ITS NOT IN USE, so what file extensions can be safely deleted.
i also wanted to know what should be the ideal size of paging file in my case, i have 512 + 128 RAM and off late im constanly being told that the windows virtual memory is too low .
please reply guys, thnx.

[Kniwor]

2) can lead to deletion of many important files, some log files might be important for certain users, and readme is often important. Similarly, *.bak can be a filename for any backup taken by you of ur disk/partition using a backup software, so I suggest you edit 2) out.


@forever
1Gb wil be a reasonable size for u

[forever]

thnx kniwor.

[redhat]

I use Advanced Uninstaller PRO, to delete Windows TEMP files, cookies, address bar entries, Temp Internet files, and corrupt registry entries. Works very fine for me.

[Vishal Gupta]

regarding to the 2nd point, it contains a list of files which can be safely deleted without any problem!
But u can add/remove a few filetypes from the list acc. to ur requirements.
I'm using the same list since ages and never had any problem.

[Arsenal_Gunners]

So there are no readme files in your system

[Vishal Gupta]

Nope!
I never need them
I always believe in getting as much FREE space as I can

[ashisharya]

thanx a million. saved 50 MB

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Originally Posted by Vishal Gupta

I never need them

That's a little cocky

[Kniwor]

Originally Posted by Vishal Gupta

I never need them

wierd, u never use linux!!!!
coz I bet one cant do everything in linux without Readme's

[Pathik]

Originally Posted by Kniwor

wierd, u never use linux!!!!
coz I bet one cant do everything in linux without Readme's

Agreed

[Vishal Gupta]

And in windows its opposite, u can do everything without readme files

[Ron]

thanxs vishal............

[ax3]

@vishal ....... thanx ....... bt regarding readonly, am scared ..... u know all my folders have Readonly option checked ..... soo, just skipping this option ........

& my pc has shown some SPEED .........

anymore tricks ?????

[Vishal Gupta]

Which Readonly option r u talking about?

[XtremeFuturistic]

HEY VISHAL !

I wanna ask -

I think there r more folders than 1 dllcache folder, which is protected by wfp. i mean look at the screenshot of this - wfpadmin. -

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail...n/1013993806/1

this shows a long list of folders underneath.

So can u just show us whats more than that dllcache folder. I want more space. Yup.

+ i didnt tried wfpadmin - cos it seems to be gone from its main site + when i tried it anyway -an error came up like - not certified this software.

Anyways - can anyone tell me more folders i can very safely delete after disablin wfp.

+ has anyone ever encountered any prob in clearin all of the folder -
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache\
???

+ mine this folder is only of size 425mb whereas u say - it shud be 1GB like - i know that it shudnt be 1GB but maybe more than 425 maybe ???? I have all 'FOLDER OPTIONS' lIKE - SHOW HIDDEN FILES ETC. - ALL TO VISIBLE.

thank u.

[Vishal Gupta]

^^
I'll advise u not to delete any other folder not mentioned in the tut.
And regarding to deleting DLLCache folder, don't worry about it. I always disable WFP service and then delete this folder whenever I do a fresh install of XP.
And the folder size varies from systems.

[XtremeFuturistic]

SOME MORE VISHAL ---

ANY IDEAS OF -
C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\

Mine uses 40mb.

I wud not have indicated this - but i always used www.mdgx.com powertoys in my older WINdows ME - to get RID OF most of this folder.

Any ideas of clearin it out in WIN XP SP2??

OF COURSE, I DONT need any windows xp help files of course.

[Vishal Gupta]

Nah! don't delete it. It contains some important files, like msconfig.exe and is used by some other system services.

[Anup Nair]

Thanx vishal

[ismart]

Click Start, Run then type "cleanmgr /sageset:99
u will find adv options of DC...

[zyberboy]

You can also try deleting contents of folder "Downloaded Installations" in windows , can save more space.

[caleb]

Great work mate I always look forward to your tutorials they are extremely helpful. Wanted to rep you for it but the forum wouldn't allow me till I "spread more rep's around".

[Vishal Gupta]

^^ thnx buddy for ur nice comments.
Your comments mean a lot for me.