Please help - PC running out of disk space!

missk_2

Hi all
Can anyone please tell me where to get (quickly) some extra memory for my PC. It's saying it's running dangerously low. I've deleted a few things but I need to get extra space asap!

We don't really want the external drive idea if possible.

Anyone tell me where to look please? Or would I be better buying an external drive for resolving the issue now?

Thanks
missk

Blowsy

Please clarify whether you actually mean "memory" (ie RAM) or hard disk space.

If you're getting the error message "Dangerously Low on System Resources" (or similar) then it's more likely to be low memory which is caused by lots of (often unnecessary) applications running in the background that you won't be aware of.

To confirm that your problem is related to hard disk space then open My Computer, right-click on C: and select properties and look at the pie chart to see used space / free space.

Once you've confirmed let me know and I'll advise.

missk_2

Blowsy wrote: »

Please clarify whether you actually mean "memory" (ie RAM) or hard disk space.

If you're getting the error message "Dangerously Low on System Resources" (or similar) then it's more likely to be low memory which is caused by lots of (often unnecessary) applications running in the background that you won't be aware of.

To confirm that your problem is related to hard disk space then open My Computer, right-click on C: and select properties and look at the pie chart to see used space / free space.

Once you've confirmed let me know and I'll advise.

Hi Blowsy
Sorry it wasn't too clear. I'm not techie in any way as you can tell.

It's hard disc space. On my computer the pie chart is 69.8 gb used and 1.84 space free.

Any advice appreciated

Chippy_Minton

Click the big green arrow on this link to download CCleaner - http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/?2927

Untick Yahoo toolbar option when installing. Open it, tick everything on Windows and Applications tabs, close your browser and Run Cleaner.

Are there any programs you no longer use which can be uninstalled?

missk_2

Hi
I've uninstalled everything that I know we don't use. it doesn't seem to have cleared much space - I now have 2.04GB left. I'll give that link a try thanks.

Blowsy

missk wrote: »

Hi Blowsy
Sorry it wasn't too clear. I'm not techie in any way as you can tell.

It's hard disc space. On my computer the pie chart is 69.8 gb used and 1.84 space free.

Any advice appreciated

Missk, you can buy both internal and external hard disks - if you're not technical I wouldn't advise trying to install your own internal drive as it's fairly complex.

If however, you insist on trying then eHOW have a good video and here is a written guide and you can buy internal drives from Overclockers.

External hard drives tend to be a little more user friendly - here is a list of available external drives

Another alternative is burning your larger files (photos, movies, music) to a DVD if you have a DVD burner.

What are your thoughts?

missk_2

Blowsy wrote: »

Missk, you can buy both internal and external hard disks - if you're not technical I wouldn't advise trying to install your own internal drive as it's fairly complex.

If however, you insist on trying then eHOW have a good video and here is a written guide and you can buy internal drives from Overclockers.

External hard drives tend to be a little more user friendly - here is a list of available external drives

Another alternative is burning your larger files (photos, movies, music) to a DVD if you have a DVD burner.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks, that's great. I'm not technical and would definitely not try to install one myself! But OH is happy to do this type of thing and I'm not actually sure why he prefers to buy internal than external but I'll leave that to him.

It's just where can I buy something straight away - I'd rather be able to buy off the shelf for speed even though I'm sure it won't be very moneysaving. Know anywhere reasonable on the high street by any chance?

Oh and is there a best 'type' or make to go for or should we just choose on price? We have a Dell PC.

Burning the photos to DVD is a good idea, I'll take a look.

Thanks for the help.

frivolous_fay

My friend actually allowed her laptop to get so full it wouldn't even boot unassisted and she was about ready to chuck it in the bin!

She had a lot of music stored - for some reason a lot of it duplicated (once in itunes, and once on the desktop, doh) Photos are also a prime candidate for taking up space - mine take up about 1mb per pic.

Make sure you're also emptying the recycle bin once you've deleted stuff.

Blowsy

missk wrote: »

Thanks, that's great. I'm not technical and would definitely not try to install one myself! But OH is happy to do this type of thing and I'm not actually sure why he prefers to buy internal than external but I'll leave that to him............

Internal drives typically offer quicker read/write speeds that external.

You can buy off-the-shelf from PC World/Staples/Currys/Comet/Maplin/Dixons, they're all similarly price nowadays. In terms of brands, they're much of a muchness although the best known is Maxtor.

Ask the advise of the sales person in the shop, that way you'll have more leverage to return it if he recommends something that's incompatible (unlikely).

Hope this helps.

missk_2

Thanks for your help on this, it's much appreciated.

missk

Blowsy

NP, best of luck.