Windows 10: PCDr taking a huge amount of space in the ProgramData folder

I've seen another thread in this forum regarding PCDr (a folder within the ProgramData folder) and a couple of answers suggesting it could be either Dell software or malware. I have a Dell desktop myself, and I looked a bit more carefully at the contents of this folder when I realized that it was occupying about 57 Gigabytes (yes!) in my C drive, leaving my computer almost unusable (I have a relatively small C drive that is a solid state drive, and a bigger D drive). I noticed that essentially *all* of this space was taken up by 'dmp' files from PCDr, from a day in which I was presented a low disk space usage warning (a week ago), which is very intriguing (I am not quite sure whether it was the actual source of the low disk space warning, or a consequence of it).

BTW, other logs within this folder appear to clearly suggest telemetry-related software. Could somebody confirm what software this folder belongs to, how to remove it, and possibly how to report that it must be completely broken -if it can allow its own 'dmp' files to take up that much space- (there were thousands of such files in PCDr/6992). I doubt that this is malware though, since the logs and files offer clear glimpses as to the program's workings. However, there is no way to uninstall via the regular Windows 10 Programs and Apps, as far as I can tell. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks! (I've already deleted myself the 'dmp' files, but I want to prevent a new whole bunch from being created).

:)

 

ProgramData-filder backup

Hi,

The ProgramData folder is usually located in the C: drive of your device. To locate the ProgramData folder, you can perform the following:

• In File Explorer, click on the View tab.
• Click on Options.
• In the Folder Options window, click on the View tab.
• Under the Hidden files and folders, select Show hidden files, folders, or drives.
• Click on Apply.
• Click on OK.

Let us know how it goes after you've performed the steps.

 

ProgramData folder what is it?

Hi Kurtis,

The ProgramData specifies the path to the program-data folder (normally C:\ProgramData). Unlike the Program Files folder, this folder can be used by applications to store data for standard users, because it does not require elevated permissions.

The path can be on a volume other than the system drive and should not cause performance loss nor cause confusion to Windows , as long as it meets the following requirements:

• It must be on an NTFS volume.
• It can’t point to a drive that has a different copy of Windows on it.
• It can’t contain any serviceable components

Regards.

 

Programdata folder with USOPrivate and USOshared folder

On Windows 10 under the C:\Programdata folder I keep seeing the following folders USOPrivate and USOshared. Any idea what they are? Some articles on the net suggest they are malware. please confirm.