Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

C: drive storage keeps reducing

Jan 15, 2015 9:57PM PST

Hello everone here's the question,
I'm aware how C: drive is important for the performance of the computer (I own a laptop) so I try to store my games, music files in D or other drives, and all my movies, TV series, etc. in external hard drives. However, even I move all the files I download from the interet to external hard drives, my C: drive storage keeps reducing (I'm not a native speaker so I'm not sure if I use the correct words). For example if I download 1-2 GB movie, my C: drive decreases in megabytes, or something like that. Any reason why its happening and how can I stop this? Theres only 50 GB of storage left in C: drive and I don't want to waste that anymore.
Thanks

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Re: c-drive
Jan 15, 2015 10:32PM PST

Well, there's system restore space on the c-drive (until you clean that) and internet cache (until you clean that), and temp files in local settings\temp or windows\temp (until you clean those).

With the usual settings the system restore space and the internet cache are more or less stable near the maximum allotted space, but those other folders need cleaning. And even then, with log files and application data all around, there is a tendency for the disc space used to slowly grow, especially the Windows folder. Microsoft seems to think the whole disk is theirs!

But 50 GB free is a lot. My c:-drive only uses 48,4 GB, and I'm going to reduce that by moving the Recovery and MSOCache folders (with aren't necessary in normal operations) to my e:-drive and backup, making it 1.5 GB less. But I need to remember to move them back when they are needed.

Notes:
- Use a program like Windirstat ot Treesize Free (both free) to see the details of occupied space.
- Realise that external disks are not meant for 'storage'. Too many people lose the their data on such disks because they forgot to make a backup. An internal disk is more reliable (but needs a backup also).
- How full the c-drive is, is hardly important for the performance of the PC.

Kees

- Collapse -
c: drive space
Jan 16, 2015 12:09AM PST

So as long as I delete these internet caches and temp files, I'll be fine. I already have Windirstat installed on my computer and I managed to save a lot of space in my drives. However, there are lots of windows files that I can't understand and not sure which one to delete. So I decided not to touch any of them. But I can deete cahches and temp files right?

- Collapse -
Perhaps
Jan 16, 2015 12:57AM PST

Perhaps the easiest way is to use this tool.
http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Just use the file cleaning portion.

Next step is to let the windows disk cleanup tool have a sniff.
All those windows updates can leave a lot of trash behind.