Windows 10: C Drive suddenly full - Temp folders and Recycling have been cleaned out

2 days ago I had about 150Gb of free space. Yesterday, I noticed it dropped to 40Gb. Today it dropped to less than 500Mb. I didn't download anything these 2 days. I cleaned out my AppData\Local\Temp folder and emptied the recycling bin. Now I'm at 20Gb of free space, so I'm still missing a lot.

What could have happened to make all the free space disappear and how can I fix this?

submitted by /u/darealgeezer
[link] [comments]

:)

 

Issue with recycle bin, windows defender, hard drive space, etc. Dell Support couldn't help.

We suggest that you reset the Recycle Bin folder to fix problems such as the Recycle Bin of your PC not working how it's supposed to. After the reset, Windows will automatically create a new Recycle Bin folder that will work.

To reset the Recycle Bin, follow the steps below:

• Open elevated Command Prompt by pressing the Windows key + X, and then click on
  Command Prompt (Admin).
• In the Command Prompt window, type the following command then press Enter:
  
  rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin

That command will reset the Recycle Bin in the C drive. After doing so, we also suggest that you run the System File Checker (SFC) scan and the Deployment Image Servicing & Management (DISM) tool to repair corrupted files in the system.

Here are the steps:

• On elevated Command Prompt, type SFC /scannow, and then press
  Enter.
• After the SFC scan has completed, type DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth, and then press
  Enter.
• Restart the PC.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Is it safe to delete the Temp folder in C:/Windows/Temp?

Yes, all *files* in the temp folder (not the folder itself) can, and should be, deleted periodically.

The temp folder provides workspace for programs. Programs can create temporary files there for their own temporary use. Each program should delete all its temporary files when it closes, but for various reasons it doesn't always happen (for example,
if the program crashes, it never gets to do this). That's why it's a good idea to periodically clean out anything left there.

Also note that there are some program installations which work in two steps. The first step concludes by writing temporary files and rebooting. The second step starts automatically after rebooting and needs to find those files there (and then deletes
them when it's done).

Other than doing it automatically when rebooting (that would interfere with installations like the kind I described), it's always safe to delete the contents of the temp folder. Because it's safe to delete any temp files that aren't open and in use
by an application, and since Windows won't let you delete open files, it's safe to (try to) delete them at any time. If any fail to delete because they're open, they'll either be deleted automatically when the app using them closes, or you'll get them the
next time you delete manually.

Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other hand, it doesn't hurt to do it).

 

Win 10 - Folder and files in C:\Windows\Temp\NC5pBB

Thank you for the suggestions.

To answer your question as to what happened when this was first seen,

• updated Win10 with the anniversary update
• my antivirus notified about a C:\Windows\Temp\tmp00007eb1\tmp00000000 file, which was quarantined and subsequently I deleted through the antivirus

Now I see that there is a C:\Windows\Temp\tmp00007eb1\tmp00000000 file there, which the antivirus says is clean and I can delete, but I cannot delete the C:\Windows\Temp\tmp00007eb1\ folder!

From your suggestions:

1. Run the sfc /scannow command

It came back with:

W i n d o w s R e s o u r c e P r o t e c t i o n d i d n o t f i n d a n y i n t e g r i t y v i o l a t i o n s .

2. Rebooted

I was able to delete the NC5pBB folder and all its contents.

I was not able to delete the tmp00007eb1 folder

I could delete the tmp00000000 file

3. Did a clean boot

I was able to delete the NC5pBB folder and all its contents.

I was not able to delete the tmp00007eb1 folder

I could delete the tmp00000000 file

4. Did a regular boot

The NC5pBB folder came back, with a bunch of contents similar to the original post.

I was able to delete the folder and its contents.

The tmp00000000 file came back and I was able to delete it.

I was not able to delete the tmp00007eb1 folder.

Do you have any other suggestions?

Thank you!