Re: Low disc space

Rhian

The default allocation to System Restore is 12% on your C partition
which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right click your My
Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. Place the cursor
on your C drive select Settings but this time find the slider and drag
it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit. When you get to the
Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit.

Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary
internet files, especially if you do not store offline copies on disk.
The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to
offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer
select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files,
Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of days
history is held.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to
5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor
on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and
move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get
too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will
bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

You will have a Local Settings folder for each User Profile. As others
have said you will have a Temporary Internet Folder as well as the
others mentioned. You can use Disk CleanUp to remove unwanted files.
This should be part of your routine housekeeping procedures.

If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with
your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of
your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows
folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$
etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed
the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not
compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and
select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress
contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount
gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder
compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Rhian wrote:
Thanks Paul,

that's helpful, but what kind of applications to take up a lot of
memory usually, or how could I find out what programme is taking up
the space?

and when you say buy a larger disc would that be an external one or
can you get them put into your laptop?

Rhian

"Paul" wrote:

Rhian wrote:
Hi everyone,

I've got a really dumb I know nothing about computers question, so
please be patient...
I keep getting low disc space on my c drive and do the clean up and
delete some things but it's an ongoing problem that gets on my
nerves. Is there anyway to buy a plug in or something to give me
more harddrive space? so I don't keep running out of space.

Thanks for any answers
Rhian

1) Buy a larger disk

2) Disable utilities that squirrel away large amounts of disk
space for their own reasons. For various reasons, the space
used may not be apparent and accountable easily.

3) Enable drive level compression.

My guess would be, that some utility is using space up, as
fast as you free it. It is better to figure out what is
mis-configured on your system, than to find better ways
to "feed" the bad habits of such a program. For example, if
you enabled drive level compression, a couple days from now
you'll be faced with the same "shortage".

Paul


.

Relevant Pages

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