Windows 10: System files taking 185gb on brand new computer

Just set this PC up yesterday it has a 500gb ssd and system & reserved is taking up 185gb. I've ran disk clean up as admin several times, I've used WinDirStat to look for any abnormally large files there are none, cbs logs are normal size. I've g one though every thread on this topic google can show me and nothing has helped.


I have all the lasted windows updates, deleted all but the most recent restore point.

This is a fresh install of windows not an upgrade

:)

 

System files taking up 170 GB on a brand new computer

Hi,

I just got a new computer today. It came with Windows pre-installed (but not set up). After setting up, I updated the OS and installed three or four programs (Steam, Spotify, Chrome, and one video game that takes up about 13 gigs).

I noticed that half of my 500 gb SSD is already taken up, about ~220 gb. Yet, when I highlighted all of the folders in my C drive (including hidden folders) and checked their combined size was only ~50 gb.

After a lot of searching, I found that the "system" files are supposedly 170 GB. This is as reported in Settings -> System -> Storage -> "Show more categories" -> System & reserved. (See screenshot.) This, of course, makes no sense. Even being extremely
generous, there's no reason the system files should be more than 70 GB. Note that the system files should not include any windows update stuff, any apps I've installed, or anything involving system restore, as these are all different categories.

I've noticed, when searching other threads, that there is some canned advice that people tend to give which is clearly not applicable here. So,
before you type anything:

• Do not suggest Disk Cleanup. Aside from the fact I've already done this, if you read the above it should be clear that it won't fix this problem.
• It seems very unlikely to me that there is some file buried deep in the C drive that I have access to and can delete. If there were, it wouldn't make sense for windows to report that all of the files in my C drive are only ~50 GB. In any case, I've checked
  a couple such files, like Windows.edb, and they weren't large.
• Do not suggest deleting the hibernation file. I've already done this.
• Do not suggest checking system restore, unless there's some reason system restore might end up taking more than the percentage of disk space you can set as its maximum.

This computer is brand new -- literally got it today. There's clearly a deeper problem here than any of the typical issues listed above.

Note that third party programs like TreeSize and WinDirStat do not show any appreciable difference in the size of the files on my C drive.

Screenshots:

 

Playing MPEG files in brand new computer

Thanks for getting back to me. Here are the answers to your three questions:

• I am able to play the files on another older computer that was upgraded to Windows 10, I believe from Windows 7. On the old computer, the files appear in my Videos folder as thumbnails of the video. If I click on them, they immediately open in Windows
  Media Player, and both the video and audio portion play perfectly. When I moved the file to a brand new computer also running Windows 10, and I open the file from my Videos folder, it opens in Windows Media Player, but only the audio plays. There is no video.
  This is the case for all videos I have that are in mpeg format. When I try to open the mpeg files using Movies &TV on the new computer, I get the message: “Can’t Play. Choose something else to play. This item is in a format we don’t support. 0xc004f011
  Send Feedback”
• I get no error message in Windows Media Player when this happens. The file just opens and plays audio only. I get the error message noted in #1 when I try to open the file in Movies & TV.
• I have not made any significant changes prior to the issue. It’s a brand new computer and the problem existed the first time I tried to play a video. I noticed it when I was moving my files to the new computer and all the mpeg files didn’t turn
  into thumbnails in the video folder.

I have run the Windows Media Player Settings troubleshooter two or three times and it has not made any difference.



I have tried to enable automatic downloading of codecs, but when I go to Media Player>Tools>Options>Player Tab>Automatic Updates there is no option for “Download Codecs Automatically.” There is only the option to download automatically daily, weekly,
or monthly.



If it is a codec issue, then all I see in the Windows Support pages is to be aware of downloading codecs from the internet and I am scared. It would be nice if Microsoft provided a suggested safe source for codecs.



Let me know if there is anything you can do for me.

 

System files taking up 170 GB on a brand new computer

Your first screenshot did not drill down to see which files were enlarged under System, which is why I specifically asked to click on Storage usage > System files to see how they were broken down. Each one of those listings can be clicked to drill down.

I'm glad you got it fixed.