Windows 10: Deleting un-needed files?

Newbie here. Just got this new system (Win 10) last month & I'm trying to familiarize myself with it. Is the location below where I can "safely" delete un-needed files?
This PC > OS (C*Smile > Users > (Name of PC) > Local Settings > Temp
Many thanks...BTW--great forum.

:)

 

Un-needed files

Hello,

I really do appreciate all the input and have managed to find minute amounts of unneeded files; however, something is using up more that 200 GB of my hard drive. To date I haven't been able to find out what that is and how to correct it. I posted yesterday
that I found over 260,000 archived items and unless this is the problem I simply don't know what else to try. At this time I don't have any info on this issue. One big problem is that I haven't found anything telling me how much space they use up. Thanks again
but I really think it's time for a new computer or a complete reset of this one requiring installation of a clean copy of windows 10. Unfortunately I don't have a clean (new) backup copy of windows 10 Pro and that's an expensive route to take. Thanks again

 

Un-needed files

Hi,

Start - Settings - System - Storage - double click the drive and it will display what files have been stored and the space used. Then you can double click those entries and continue to drill down for more results. For most of those entries drilling down will
eventually open File Explorer to an individual folder.

On that same screen scroll down to "Change where new content is saved". You can change entries there to save space on the C: drive.

　

Change the location of the Documents folder.

　

How to Move Your Documents Folder Location in Windows 10

Documents Folder - Move Location in Windows 10

　

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Run DiskCleanup - WinKEY + X - Command Prompt (Admin) OR Windows PowerShell (Admin) - type in --> Cleanmgr.exe

Or on the Start Screen - type Disk Cleanup

Or Cortana Search - type Disk Cleanup OR type in cleanmgr.exe

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If that does not free up enough space then you need to move some data to other

media (such as other hard drives/partitions, CD's, DVD's, or USB drives) and/or

uninstall programs you don't use.

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These will show you how disk space is used.

WinDirStat - Free - use this to make sure you know what is taking up space.

WinDirStat

TreeSize - Free - tells you where precious space has gone to

TreeSize Free - Quickly Scan Directory Sizes and Find Space Hogs

JDiskReport

JDiskReport – JGoodies

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Malware could be involved :

If you need to check for malware here are my recommendations - these will allow you to do a thorough check and removal without ending up with a load of spyware programs running resident which can cause as many issues as the malware and maybe harder to detect
as the cause.

No one program can be relied upon to detect and remove all malware. Added that often easy to detect malware is often accompanied by a much harder to detect and remove payload. So its better to be overly thorough now than to pay the high price later. Check with
these to an extreme overkill point and then run the cleanup only when you are very sure the system is clean.

These can be done in Safe Mode - repeatedly tap F8 as you boot however you should also run them in regular Windows when you can.

TDSSKiller.exe. - Download to the Desktop - then go to it and Right Click on it - RUN AS ADMIN it will show any infections in the report after running - if it will not run change the name from tdsskiller.exe to tdsskiller.com. Whether it finds anything or not
does not mean you should not check with the other methods below.

Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller

Malwarebytes - free

Malwarebytes for Windows

SuperAntiSpyware Portable Scanner - Free

SUPERAntiSpyware - SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner

AdwCleaner

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/



Run the Microsoft Malicious Removal Tool

Cortana - type in Search box -> MRT find at top of list - Right Click on it - RUN AS ADMIN.

You should be getting this tool and its updates via Windows Updates - if needed you can download it here.

Download - SAVE - go to where you put it - Right Click on it - RUN AS ADMIN

(Then run MRT as above.)

Microsoft Malicious Removal Tool - 32 bit

Download Malicious Software Removal Tool from Official Microsoft Download Center

Microsoft Malicious Removal Tool - 64 bit

Download Malicious Software Removal Tool from Official Microsoft Download Center

Try the trial version of Hitman Pro :

Hitman Pro is a second opinion scanner, designed to rescue your computer from malware (viruses, trojans, rootkits, etc.) that have infected your computer despite all the security measures you have taken (such as anti virus software, firewalls, etc.).

http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro

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If needed here are some online free scanners to help

Microsoft Safety Scanner

http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx

http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/

http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

Other Free online scans

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=antivirus+free+online+scan&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g1

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For tough cases :

Windows Defender Offline

What is Windows Defender Offline?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/what-is-windows-defender-offline

Hope this helps.

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Rob Brown -
Microsoft MVP <- profile - Windows Experience : Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.

 

To be absolutely safe, do it thru Disk Cleanup.

 

Thanks very much for the quick replies.

 

Yes I would also recommend you only use a utility like ccleaner or the included cleanmgr to be sure you're doing the right thing.