It's a horrible feeling when you realize that you are running out of space on your hard drive. Yes, you can purchase a bigger drive, but if you don't want to spend time and money getting it set up, you might wonder if there is anything else you can do to free up space on your drive. Fortunately, there are a few free utilities that can help you!
1) Uninstall Programs - Windows has a built-in utility that will uninstall programs you no longer need. Go to "Control Panel" on the Start menu (In Windows 8/8.1, the Control Panel can be found on the Charms bar under "Settings".) If you are in Category View, look for "Uninstall a Program" at the bottom of the left column. In Icon View, search for "Programs and Features". You will now see a list of all the programs that have been installed. Look through the list to see if there are any you installed that you no longer need, and uninstall them. Do NOT just uninstall any program you do not recognize! Some programs in this list are important for the operation of your computer.
2) Scan for Junk - Your computer produces a lot of files on a daily basis that you don't need to keep. In most cases, it is programmed to delete these files as soon as it is finished with them. However, occasionally a bug or an improper shutdown will cause these files to remain on your computer after they are no longer needed. Fortunately, CCleaner can help you locate and remove these files. Download and install the free program, select or unselect the items you want it to scan for, and then select "Analyze". CCleaner will scan for these files and display a report. Then, click "Run Cleaner" to delete these files from your computer.
3) Scan for Duplicates - Do you have duplicate copies of photos, music, videos, or other files on your hard drive? With all the files on your hard drive, how would you even know if you did? Duplicate Cleaner takes the guesswork out of locating duplicate files. It will scan your drive and locate duplicates for you. While this program will locate duplicates, do not simply trust Duplicate Cleaner's judgment on duplicate files. When I scanned my drive, it flagged a couple sets of files that were not actually duplicates. Look through the list and make sure before you start deleting files.
4) Locate Large Files - Do you know what file is taking up the most space on your drive? WinDirStat can show you. This program will analyze your drive and then show you which folders are taking up the most space. If there are subfolders, you can expand them to locate where the big files are. You can also click where it says "Size" to sort the folders and subfolders by size.
No comments:
Post a Comment