Free Space on Your PC's Hard Drive

Posted: April 07, 2015

[caption id="attachment_11890" align="alignright" width="359"] Image from pcworld.com[/caption] Running out of hard drive space on a PC can incite panic. However, if space is running low don't rush out and buy a new hard drive, or even a new PC, just yet. These tips can help clear up junk files and make space on your hard drive. Lincoln Spector, writer for PC World, shares how to clear up space on your computers hard drive.

Free up space on your SSD or hard drive

I've already discussed how to free up space in Windows itself and in your various installed programs. This time, I'm concentrating on libraries and data files. If you're like most people, these take up most of your space and most of your waste. But there are limits to my advice. I can't tell you exactly what to remove; that's a decision you'll have to make for yourself. All I can do is suggest some techniques and free tools that can make the job easier.

Finding the biggest waste

You want this job to take minutes, not hours, so concentrate on large files and large folders. A 1K file takes as long to delete as a 1GB file, but the 1GB file will free up a million times as much the space. Large folders often contain large files. And even if they don't, they might contain very large numbers of obviously pointless small files. To find the large files and folders, I suggest you use Mind Gem's Folder Size. With its pie-chart display, drill-down capabilities, and its Windows/File Explorer integration, it handles the job easily and quickly. Read the entire article Free up Space on Your SSD or Hard Drive on PC World.