Windows 10: Serious cleaning of hard drive with Windows 10 (64 bit)?

Hi all,

I have tried free and paid software to actually clean up my hard drive but then I go looking around in file explorer and see tons of entries such as windows temp directories chock full of files that add up pretty quickly.

I presume most of the clean up software is on the safe side, so that they stay away from anything with MS or Windows involved. Yet I am constantly Googling things I find and get the runaround. Best to keep it or of no use you can delete it. It's a perplexing situation and novices to experts surely want lots of space on their main hard drives?

Is there actually any database or an actual free or paid software that actually cleans the whole drive including things like definitive answers on should I keep it or not?

It would be super to either have a database look up built or a software that actually tells the darn truth? LOL *Biggrin

Whether or not what I see is deletable sure as heck would give me space back.

I think the Windows community all over the internet are confusing a lot of people with opposite answers. What we need is authoritative answers that are actually correct.

I just don't get it. Somehow, somewhere somebody should be able to put an end to thousands and thousands of free and paid software that actually CLEANS the hard drive, safely and frees up maximum space.

I must say I am not aware of any database or software that actually does what I said above.

Also, I see software installed in Program Files or Program Files (x86) and I decide nah, don't want it and uninstall it. Only to be going into Users/chuck and finding it listed and having tons of files in the directory. What's up with that? I have tried many uninstallers and wonder, is it a no no to delete the stuff relating to something you uninstalled in the Users/Chuck directory?

I am so confused any more. I have been in computers since 1984 but unfortunately a sickness in 2011 wiped my brain clean. I lost all memories including my expertise in computers. I get a little trickle now and then but I am talking like a novice. LOL I am trying to relearn but it's very hard. I was off any computer from 2004 until 2010 due to the wife leaving AFTER I had a heart attack which leads to today's completely blocked artery, I ended up in a homeless shelter. I am not well and can only sit at the computer for just a bit. I have bad diabetes and sitting causes my legs to swell really bad. So I have to kinda watch how long I am sitting here.

Can some of the experts weigh in on this for me? And the others that probably ask the same kinds of questions?

Thank You!

Chuck

:)

 

Windows 10 Re-install

I just recently built a new computer, and I want to move the hard drive from my laptop over to that computer. The laptop was running Windows 10 Home 64 Bit, and the hard drive contains drivers for the laptop, but
not the new computer, meaning it will not boot from that hard drive. I have a USB Flash Drive for installing Windows 10 64 Bit, and if I installed it on that computer as an upgrade and not a clean install, would it keep all of my files, including Office?

 

Windows 10 on a dual boot system

Anil Madishetty,

You wrote:

"Just install a new hard disk and reinstall Windows 10 and it will reactivate."

Please re-read my original post. " I set up a second hard drive (freshly formatted) with a clean Windows 7 64 bit installation ..."

Windows 10 is "Reserved" on the primary hard drive, but not yet installed. Windows 7 64 bit is installed on both hard drives. See below

I am currently running a dual boot system on my primary hard drive. One hard drive partition has Windows Vista 32 bit and the other partition is Windows 7 64 bit.

The second hard drive (freshly formatted) has the fresh install of Windows 7 64 bit. Other than that, only basic tools (Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player, Java) are installed on the second hard drive. All of my Windows programs are installed
on the primary hard drive. Both of these hard drives are in the same machine.

My boot menu shows:

Windows 7 (on the second hard drive)

Windows 7 (on the primary hard drive)

Windows Vista (on the primary hard drive)

Should I disable "Get Windows 10" on the primary hard drive if I want to upgrade to Windows 10 on the
second hard drive, on the same machine?

My main concern about this new version of Windows is the lack of backward compatibility. I do not want to lose what I already have.

 

Hi Chuck,

For uninstalling applications I use REVO Uninstaller Pro. This application does not only delete the application and its obvious folders etc, BUT also cleans out leftovers in i.e the register.

Please note that these kind software(s) need to be used with care. Perhaps you can get a trial version of RUP and try it with installing a NON-ESSENTIAL application, reboot your PC and then use RUP to uninstall it.

You'll see a lot of 'junk' files, folders and registry entries that you didn't even know of existing.

Perhaps the TenForums genies can chime is for better applications for your needs!

Cheers

 

Third-party cleaners can cause problems if used indiscriminately. The safest way to clean out unnecessary files is Windows own Disk Clean-up. type DISK CLEAN-UP in the Search/Cortana box next to Start to find it.

For maximum cleaning, click its 'Clean up system files' button. This will produce a list of locations that are safe to clean. Click on each item, a description of what it's for appears below the list. If you think you'll not need it, tick its box to clean it. Look at each item in the list and choose the ones to clean, then click OK to delete all the selected items.

If you clean up system files you will also see a 'More Options' tab in Disk Clean-up. On this tab you can remove all but the latest restore point. Restore points can occupy a lot of disk space.

 

I like option 2 here:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...a.html#option2

I put the command line into a bat file and save it on my desktop, then right click on it and "Run As Administrator" when I want to run it:
%SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

I always just check every block.

 

Thanks for the additional info's @Bree and @NavyLCDR! Will give both a spin then.

 

I use treesizefree to see which directories are chewing up disk space.

I use patch cleaner to reduce the size of the windows/installer directory.

 

CCleaner is useful and reliable but I use on the registry with care. It also has a useful feature to selectively delete restore points. I saw another post on the forum recently about Wisecleaner and I now use that too but just in basic mode (select first tab). Treesize mentioned above is useful. I also use Autoruns to check/disable third party programs/services/tasks run at boot.

 

Hi chuck1959

Use elevated CMD





cleanmgr/sagerun:1 in CMD is good for general clean

%SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535 in CMD to pick what you want to clean





Some other comands

cleanmgr /verylowdisk

Cipher Command - Overwrite Deleted Data in Windows

cipher /w:[drive]:\[folder]

Wipe all free disk space on my F drive (a logical partition on a physical disk)

cipher /w:F:\

*Smile

 

That' the screens I needed for assurance, thanks for sharing!

Cheers