Windows 10: How I Free'd Almost 150GB From HDD

The 3-Steps I took to Clean almost 150GB fromm my PC


The first thing I did was to uninstall unwanted and unused programs. GBs Free'd: about 10

The Second thing I did was empty my downloads folder. GBs Free'd: about 75

The Third thing I did was use CCleaner Free to clean my system. GBs Free'd about 65

And for good measures I defragmented my hard drive.



This thread is not really a guide, but more or less a suggestion on how to do the same.



I hope you found some use from this *Wink.

:)

 

incorrect disk usage figures.

thanks for the response, the 500GB drive is the issue not the other drives.

the 500GB drive has only the 89GB of data that I moved from the 150GB drive, nothing else has been written to it.

everything else shows that the 500GB drive has 89GB, only windows drive properties shows 197GB

please give me an example of a 'program file' that would magically appear on the 500GB HDD.

 

Windows 10 wrongly thinks drive is full.

SOLUTION: Disable compression on the target folder. This is a Windows 10 / NTFS bug. (03/2017)

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I have discovered an issue with my Windows 10 PC, where saving disk images onto my HDD would report "Disk is full" when it isn't.

1) When I create a disk image, the internal SATA HDD it is being saved to always thinks it is fuller than it is.

-This is when viewing the disk capacity under "This PC"

-Backing up a drive that is 250GB capacity, 150GB used, will create an image that is 150GB on the backup destination. The disk however, will lose around 300GB capacity. (Let's for illustrative purposes say that my destination drive is 3.6TB capacity, with
300GB free space. After backing up the 250GB SSD, I will have a 150GB image file, with 0GB free space remaining)

2) The image when viewed under Explorer, will be labelled as 150GB. Windirstat will see this as 150GB in size. The folder it is backed up into says it is 150GB in size. Hidden files and System files have been enabled and visible. There is no hidden file
visible to account for this increase in space.

However, Windirstat reports usage correctly. (Windows explorer says Drive has a 150GB file, 0GB free space, 3.6TB used)

(Windirstat reports 150GB image file, 3.45TB usage)

3) This extra, unidentified used space will correct itself when the PC reboots. Upon reboot, the destination drive will show the correct usage. File size appears unchanged. (upon reboot, Windows explorer will read: 150GB file, 150GB free space, 3.45TB used)

4) If I send the image to the recycle bin then delete it, I will get the full free space of my drive back. (windows reads 300GB unused space) If I send the image to the recycle bin without emptying, used space remains at 0GB. If I return the file from the
recycle bin back to its destination directory, the disk capacity remains wrong. (150GB file, 0GB free. 3.6TB usage)

5) This phenomenon appears to be independent of backup software. It occurs with both Macrium Reflect and EaseusTodo backup.

6) This phenomenon occurs even if the backup program has administrator rights.

7) This phenomenon occurs when backing up EITHER of my SSDs (both primary and secondary). The "falsely claimed" space appears proportional to the image size.

8) I have only tested this on the single internal HDD I have. I do not currently have other internal drives to test this on.

9) This phenomenon does NOT occur when backing up to my USB external hard drive.

10) chkdsk /r has been run on all drives with no errors found.

Any help would be appreciated. I have used this PC with Windows 10 for around 3 months. This is the first time I've used backup software with Windows 10. I have previously backed up Windows 7 on the same machine with the same setups without problems (albeit
using Windows 7's native backup software)

SSDs are using MBR. Internal HDD uses GPT. All file systems are NTFS.

I'll provide more information if appropriate. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Thanks for this info message, and I just need to learn more about CCleaner, and then be able to download it from some place (hopefully NO Viruses) as I know some of the sites that offer it are uploading it with viruses. Thanks for any comments, and your help is appreciated. all be safe... Cliff M.

 

Just a "tip" about CCleaner. exe , skip the full version and download the portable version . The full version downloads 4 google toolbars that Eset online scanner finds but no other scanner seems to pick up .

If you have the full version installed download Eset online scanner and make sure you check the box that says "detect unwanted programs" , you will be very surprised at what it finds.

Even downloading direct from Piroform will install these toolbars , i always download direct.

 

Web site fer CCleaner is CCleaner Official Site | Clean & speed up your PC | Piriform That is the best place to grab it.....

 

I've never had any issues with the CCleaner installer (it hasn't offered me PUPs and toolbars in W7 and/or W10).

Something I install in XP (CCleaner or Glary Utilities) offers me Google Chrome (blech!).

I always go to Piriform to get the installer.

 

The official installer does have an option to install Chrome as the default browser. Just un-check it. If I am installing something new to me, and I want to be sure I am at the official page, I either search it under Wikipedia, and grab the link from there, or use DuckDuckgo, and the official site will display with a big red "official" button. Bleepingcoomputer is another trusted source.

 

I downloaded CCleaner from here: CCleaner - Download

I didn't have even an offer for a PUP or toolbar.

I didn't get that, but I already use chrome so I guess it didn't apply to me *Smile

 

Scan for malware using your antivirus program and/or MBAM from malwarebytes.org, and you'll gain even more space there! *Wink haha!

 

The Disk Cleanup tool can be customized. Check out tutorial below. Towards bottom look for the "Sageset" option.

http://malwaretips.com/threads/tutor...mgr-exe.30907/

Rich

 

I remember when CCleaner was proudly called "Crap Cleaner" on it's description/download website. I think it was a program written by one guy who was tired of so much crap slowing down his Windows XP machine. Of course, since then it's taken on the non-offensive name of CCleaner and been made a component of the Piriform family.

CaveJohnson, thanks for sharing those tips for recovering precious HardDrive space. It was smart of you to get your software directly from the website of the company that designed it. That's always a good practice. Third-party hosting sites like File Hippo, CNET, etc.. generate part of their revenue from piggy-backing Msc. software, toolbars, browsers, etc., on the program you're downloading, unless you specifically un-check the box that says you want those add-ons.

 

You misunderstood what i was trying to say . When downloading CCleaner .exe in Win 7 or Win 10 you will not notice any problems , it will not show anything about toolbars , it will install some unwanted stuff though .

Only the portable CCleaner is free of unwanted stuff , i even went on Piriform's community forums and asked why CCleaner .exe installs this crap and they said you must use the portable version to avoid it .

You will not even know anything unwanted is being installed but the exe. version will install it , if you run Eset online scanner make sure to check advanced options and the checkbox for find "potentially unwanted programs" and see for yourself .

It takes a long time to scan but it will reveal the crap . No other scanner will find these , i tried them all .

 

Only if you let it, I and others here have been using Ccleaner for years.

You never rush when installing downloaded software, always read and uncheck the checkboxes.

 

Thats what many people have the biggest problem with , there is no mention or option in relation to these toolbars being installed . The only way they will not download is if you download CCleaner portable .

Run Eset online scanner and click "advanced" , make sure to check "find potentially unwanted programs" box and sit back and relax .

Eset will find all 4 and quarantine and delete them .