out of 114.5 gb i have 74gb described as windows of which 50.7gb is described as installer of which 49gb is in 948 files starting with individual files of 225 mb ( 33fc89.msp etc)- are these the updates ? can these be deleted ?
the remainder of the 74gb is 7 in System 32
6.9 in winsxs
3.7 in software distribution
You can use Disk Cleanup utility to delete 3.7 in software distribution folder which holds Windows updates.
We have a nice tutorial on Disk Cleanup and all it's options. Have a look, it may help.
Open and Use Disk Cleanup in Windows 10
Also, how to clean up the Component Store. The WinSxS you mentioned.
And have a look at any of the other related tutorials listed at the bottom of either of these.
Freebooter's suggestion of TreeSize Free is a good one. When run as administrator it can show everything on your PC's drive, even what's in the hidden and highly protected System Volume Information folder. I prefer the Portable Apps version that requires no install.
TreeSize Free Portable (directory size and usage analyzer) | PortableApps.com
- I also use Dism++ in the last several years. Run it, use the default settings to be safe.
Click on "Disk Cleanup->Scan->Clean"
This will free up all remnants from WinSXS, Event logs, Cache files, Windows.old if existed, System Restore points, Software Distribution if existed, etc...- The main problem that you have is the hidden C:\Windows\Installer folder containing lot of orphan files with extension .msp/.msi occupying around 50 GB's. Those files are put there by Microsoft and software companies to perform update/patch/uninstall/repair/modify etc... and entries of those files are also added in the registry. If an entry does not exist in the registry then it is considered orphan. Look at the screen shot, I only have 1.59GB in the Installer folder and 0 orphan files.
Download: PatchCleaner , install, run to delete/move these orphan files.
NOTE: If you want to move, move somewhere else ie. external disk
I find it ironic, that a three years old third-party freeware does more, that Microsoft's own utilities. In my case, the PatchCleaner removed 6 GBs worth of orphaned files, with no noticeable impact to the system.
CAUTION: Do an image backup, prior to proceeding with this utility! Removing files from the "..\Windows\Installer" folder can break your system...
Be careful when using PatchCleaner. It has not been updated in ages and I have seen some people reporting broken Office installations after running it.
- Reduce paging file
- Windows built in disk cleanup
- use 7zip, right click Appdata -> "C:\Users\%username%\Appdata" > Properties > uncheck Hidden > Apply > File explorer > rigt click Appdata > Properties > screenshot its properties
- make sure your recycle bin is empty, some files still remain even after Emptying recycle bin, so, run 7zip > C:\$RECYCLE.BIN, delete that folder, itll clear the recycle bin 100%, dont worry, itll recreate itself, the second its deleted... but 100% empty, the ammount of space you will free doing this depends on how many files you deleted recently, even if you havent, give it a shot, I did this with a completely empty recycle bin and freed up 6GB believe it or not
- if you have any folders named C:\Nvidia or C:\AMD go ahead and delete them, they are just temporary installation files from when you first installed your drivers
- Download CCleaner and clean the registry as well as Custom Clean
- Take a screenshot of your C:\ folder
- Delete C:\Windows\minidump
- Right click and uninstall garbage from your start menu (stuff that you never use on ur start menu, theres no reason for them to exist on ur system)
Last edited by PolisP; 22 Oct 2019 at 11:26.
In addition to the above:
- Use Wise Disk Cleaner which cleans up stuff missed by Disk Clean
- Use CCleaner to delete unwanted restore points - or disable system restore
- Use Driver Store Explorer (RAPR) to find and delete old driver files, particularly large ones
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