I NEED HELP! I only have 25.5 Gigs of Space out of 181 on my main (C:) Drive!!!!?

Question

I have NO IDEA what on earth is taking up most of the space...I need a way to find out or, a way to free up LOTS of space.

I have searched google and ask.com but, I have found nothing that could solve my problem =/

I REALLY need help, I don't want to have to re-install my OS -_-

I have Windows Vista (ugh) and I also have a (D:) Drive (It has NOTHING Installed on it, 181/181 space free.

Answer 1

there might be a partition instead of 2 seperate drives.

if so u mayy need to reinstall the OS

back up all ur files on a Dvd-r

and reinstal windows;

Or u can jus un install unnessesary space

Answer 2

you probably have countless shadow copies and system restore points on your pc. provided that your pc works fine otherwise, you can delete all the unnecessary data ( with the exception of you last system restore point).

1. go to My Computer

2. Right-Click on your C Drive and go to properties. the pie chart of disk usage will pull up.

3. Click the button next to the pie chart that says "Disk Cleanup"

4. Use this opportunity to clean any temp files under the main Disk Cleanup tab (it may already be checked and if you dont want to delete the temp files, un-check it.)

5. Click on the "More Options" Tab and where it says "System Restore and Shadow Copies", hit the "Clean Up..." button

6. It will ask you if you are sure, Hit "Delete".

7. Make sure you click "OK" on the Disk Cleanup Window again (files wont be deleted until you do and you can cancel up to this point)

8. Enjoy more free space!

Do this religiously every week or two and you should be fine.

Windows tries to "protect" you by making a lot of old copies of your files in case they are deleted but sometimes, like I think with your case, they are getting in the way.

Also:

C:\Users\(User)\AppData\Local\Temp\

where (User) is your log on name,

is notorious for holding install tempfiles and the like.

try deleting stuff from that

also if you make a major system change, or even delete a lot of files (like those you might come accross in the temp folder), you should create a new system restore point and then do the system restore / shadow copy cleanup. that way all those files you just deleted get cleaned up right away. otherwise theyll be "saved" by windows in case you wanted to restore them.

Answer 3

defragment the disk.

and maybe first erase your browser history and temporary files..

Answer 4

Have you checked your HD itself? ON Windows XP, yiu can run one of those diskcleaner utilities which spots large files.  You may need to clean out the trash bin - XP (don't know about Vista) won't erase stuff discarded there until you order it to empty the bin.  Also, defrag your drive.  Also check "My Documents" for large files.

Answer 5

Download Magic Folders, it's great at determining where everything is on your system and gives a great graphical readout and is easy to follow.  Check System Restore, is it turned on?  Turn it off.  It eats at a lot of your hard drive space.  Also do a Start>Run> and type in:  %temp% hit enter, delete as much c**p as you can, these are just .tmp files (junk).  Also delete all internet Cache by going into your browser clicking Tools>Internet Options>Click on Settings>View Files (Kill all files in the window).  Next determin if you have a bunch of pictures of video's, these take up huge amounts of space.  You can click Start>Search>Pictures Music or Videos> check all three checkboxes and click Search, kill all that you don't need or want.  I'd also recommand downloading Tune-up Utilities 2008 (it's free for 30 days) and use it to clean up any hard to find files off your hard drive.  Next, I'd diffinetely run Diskeeper 2008 pro (It's free for 30 days) and then reboot your system.  I bet you after you've done this you'll see a huge difference.

Answer 6

The D: Drive is your cd rom drive, it has nothing to do with your lack of space.

Well for starters go to your add/remove programs to see what is taking up the space, and delete all you don't need.

If you have a lots of music, or pictures, delete these.