ANA said:
What are the best ways to free up HD space in XP besides of course
deleting stuff you don't need (or using external HD for large video
files)?
Example, I totally appreciate System Restore feature but should I
really leave it at default 12%?
I posted a question separately about deleting .tmp files but my
objective is larger than that as I would like to free up as much
unnecessary HD space as possible on this old yet nice notebook
(30GB of which 5 GB is left). Yes I have about 15-20 GB of music,
video, photos that I'd like to keep on it if possible.
System restore - I'd put at about 5%.
You can keep the music/videos/photos - but know that is just wasted space
unless you use them often and know - either way - you should have external
backups of this stuff (external drive, CD or DVD or something).. Just in
case. You could use NTFS compression for such folders - but you will take a
penalty for it. You could even look for an inexpensive (relative)
replacement notebook HDD and swap it out with one twice the size of the one
you have.
Unless you use it - hibernation can be turned off and the space recovered.
TMP files, uninstall files for patches, applications you do not use,
compacting your Outlook Express databases, etc. That can help a little.
Any old/unused user profiles on there? What size is your temporary internet
files set to in internet explorer? Do you clean them out each time you
exit?
Find out what might be using the space..
Do you have hidden and system files visible?
How's your system restore settings?
Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?
Other ways to free up space..
SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/
DX Hog Hunt
http://www.dvxp.com/en/Downloads.aspx
JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html
Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.
If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed..
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:
Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but yuor
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..
How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312
You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..
When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:
- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.
You can control how much space your System Restore can use...
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest 5% or
higher.
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.