my SSD is already running out of space

A size of 128 Gb for an SSD should be more than enough. In my case W10 + many programmes + 11 Gb restore points amount to about 38 Gb on the SSD. This might temporary increase to 55 GB when an upgrade has taken place (windows.old still present).
A few cleaning possibilities are already mentioned. I would add that I disabled file history and windows search (they may occupy a lot of space). For searching much better/faster searching programmes are available (for instance I use Wise Jetsearch). Regularly I image the SSD (Macrium Reflect) and backup the data disk to an external disk. Don't forget to put on the system protection of the C disk. Standard it is set off by Windows, but it may help to recover unwanted changes on your C disk.

I've just clean installed Windows 7 on a 128GB SSD on an old PC then upgraded it to Windows 10 FCU. The installation is c. 15GB for Windows and a few utilities. 128GB is quite adequate unless you are going to start installing large programs (e.g. games).

I'd replace that 128 GB SSD with a 512 GB. Then I'd no longer have to scrimp.
It's cheap, so go for it.

sygnus21 said:

There are many ways to go about moving files without need of extravagant tweaks or software depending on wants and needs. The simplest way is just to move the files and folders you want to another more spacious drive is a simple cut/copy paste job.

However for programs / system files I would NOT advertise cut / paste as this can cause system problems. If you want to move an installed program like say Photoshop from say C to D drive, it's best to uninstall and reinstall to a new location. This is because when you install a program, there are registry entries installed in the registry. Simply cutting a program and moving it elsewhere doesn't move those registry entries and thus now a cut program pasted somewhere else becomes broken cause it can't find its required registry entries. (keeping things simple). In this case, it's best to uninstall and reinstall the program in the location you want. User created files and folder like Word doc, photos, music files can easily be cut and pasted anywhere. Programs like Photoshop can't because of the registry entries.

The other way of moving things is moving OS folders to other drives like that linked in TrashZone's post. I personally like keeping all my OS files and folders on the same drive to include the Pictures, Documents, Music, and Videos folders. If stuff in the Picutres or Music folder gets too large I'll move them to save space. This is why, given today's prices for SSD drives, I wouldn't advertise anything less than a 256gig SSD drive. You can still keep the OS together, and add another HD for holding overflow and installing other programs likes games to another added larger drive.



During install of a program, you can tell it where you want to install by usually choosing "custom install" choosing where you want to program or game to install. Say you want to install a game - instead of letting the game install on C-Drive, you can instead choose "Custom install" and tell the game to install on D or a drive of your choosing. I do this all the time for my games because my C-drive cannot hold my entire game directory nearly 1TB of games.

I've also got all my music files on a different drive, even though the "Music" folder is located on C-Drive. That even though iTunes for example will install some files and folders to the Music folder on C, the actual music files are on my H drive. I simply tell iTunes to look in that folder to play music.

Again, plenty of options, it just depends on what you want to do.

Have you had any issues with this setup when the 6 monthly Windows 10 feature updates such as 1803,1809 etc are pushed through windows updates?
I have a small 128GB SSD that has Windows 10 on it. Im thinking about just keeping this for the operating system and maybe a couple of small Apps. If I install the Steam gaming platform and all Games to my 1 terabyte internal standard HDD (D:/Data) will I have problems with them being recognised after Windows 10 does its 6 monthly feature updates? Some people say that any Games or other programmes that are installed on the standard HDD may not be recognised afterwards. I ask because I know that even though the Games would be installed entirely on the D:/ data drive there are still going to be entries for the Games written onto the SSD C: system drive (such as Registry entries etc)

sportsfan148 said:

Have you had any issues with this setup when the 6 monthly Windows 10 feature updates such as 1803,1809 etc are pushed through windows updates?

None. And I've been doing that for years.

sportsfan148 said:

I have a small 128GB SSD that has Windows 10 on it. Im thinking about just keeping this for the operating system and maybe a couple of small Apps.

If you want more space a good 256gig SSD drive can be had for less than 80 bucks. This would give Windows plenty of breathing space and allow you to keep Windows and all its folders on the same drive. You could then add say a 2 or 4gig HDD drive and partition it for how you want to manage your actual data - put Steam on one partition, media files on another for example.

sportsfan148 said:

If I install the Steam gaming platform and all Games to my 1 terabyte internal standard HDD (D:/Data) will I have problems with them being recognised after Windows 10 does its 6 monthly feature updates?

You won't have any problems installing Steam and it's games on different drive. I've been keeping my games on a separate drive for years. In fact I've a dedicated 2TB SSD drive "G" (Games) that includes both Steam and Origin games. No issue at all.

This is an old thread.
Consider opening a new thread with updated information on the computer.

These are some links to manage or free up space:

Free Up Drive Space in Windows 10 | Tutorials
Move Users Folder Location in Windows 10 | Tutorials
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...up-drive-space
TreeSize Free - Quickly Scan Directory Sizes and Find Space Hogs

If the notebook is used as a desktop replacement and you are not having problems with BSOD then you can turn off hibernation.
If the notebook is at risk for low battery then you could lose open files without hibernation.
To see the amount of free space potentially achieved by turning off hibernation > open msinfo32 > scroll to page file space

sygnus21 said:

You won't have any problems installing Steam and it's games on different drive. I've been keeping my games on a separate drive for years. In fact I've a dedicated 2TB SSD drive "G" (Games) that includes both Steam and Origin games. No issue at all.

Does it matter how you setup the folder to save a game to on the D:/Data drive? If for example during game set up..by default the game wants to install to C:/Program files (x86)/Name of Game. Do you just change the drive letter from C: to D: like this D:/Program files (x86)/Name of Game? Or do you create your own folder of choice...for example D:/Games/Name of Game?
And if its a Steam game..could I ask the exact same question?

You can choose any folder or drive you like. You can also change the drive letter (what I do). Example....

G:\Program Files (x86)\Origin
G:\Program Files (x86)\Steam

Note the default folder structure :\Program Files (x86)\Origin, but the drive is G, instead of C. Or you can simply create a folder (Games for example) and tell the games to install there. It's really up to you.

And don't worry about patching, once the game/app knows where it's located, all subsequent patches, DLC, and so on will install in that folder. The one good thing about this is should you need reinstall the OS, the games on the other drive will still be there. You'll still need to reinstall the games or apps, and point to the game's folder (this is for registry purposes), but the games/app won't need to be downloaded again since they're already one that drive.

Hope this helps.