c drive nearly full

Oldbiggles

googler wrote: »

Please tell me/us;

What problem are you trying to solve?
What led you to run WinDirStat?


What understanding do you have of the basics of file storage on a PC? As in -
Do you appreciate that each type of file has a different file extension?
Do you appreciate that files are grouped in folders (or directories)?
Do you appreciate that folders can have subfolders?
We need to know where to start from.

I saw your response to a post here today and thought I would also do a check with WinDirStat. Mainly to see if I could identify some of the unnecessary files clogging up the PC which is 16 tears old with Windows XP.
I know a little about file extensions which I've learned about here from posters like 'closer' for instance. (I've noticed he/she no longer posts here).
I also know that files can be in folders and sub folders.

The largest percentage of files showing on the display is in Windows 44.7%.
The second largest is Documents and settings 17.3%
The third is programme files 12.8%
The fourth is <files> 11.1%.

I still have 32% free space available so it's not a real problem at the moment.

googler

Oldbiggles wrote: »

The largest percentage of files showing on the display is in Windows 44.7%.

I still have 32% free space available so it's not a real problem at the moment.

32% of ... what? What size is your hard drive, and how much data (documents, photos, music files etc.) do you tend to add weekly/monthly/annually?

Oldbiggles

googler wrote: »

32% of ... what? What size is your hard drive, and how much data (documents, photos, music files etc.) do you tend to add weekly/monthly/annually?

Pentium(R) CPU 1.60GHz. 1.00GB of RAM.(which was originally 2.56 MB but I upgraded as a result of info from this site and the amazing help and knowledge I've managed to learn here)
I don't download much, never had the need for downloading music I have a LP collection which suffices.
Automatic updates are the only thing being installed these days.


(I said my PC was old!)

consultant31

googler wrote: »

Can I suggest that you start your own thread for your own issue?

There's currently three posters asking for help here, two of whom are dealing with full drives - yours appears to be under the heading of 'new software installation woes' .....

Well actually, I was replying to a post by SouthUKMan, who asked someone else if they would like help to do a particular thing which I apparently ought to do myself. It doesn't matter though, I'll ask elsewhere.
Thank you

googler

Oldbiggles wrote: »

Pentium(R) CPU 1.60GHz. 1.00GB of RAM

That's not the hard disk size.

Go to My Computer, look under Hard Drives, and tell us what you see

grumpycrab

consultant31 wrote: »

Sarcastic??? What have I said that might lead you to think that?

consultant31 wrote: »

I have just (last night) upgraded to Windows 10 after putting it off for months as I'm scared to death of changing things ...

1. Why did you upgrade then?

consultant31 wrote: »

I would be eternally grateful for the instructions to delete the backup

2. You're a technophobe, scared of changing things and you want to delete the backup of the system you just came from? Nothing you have said makes any sense I'm afraid. You may hate Windows 10; or it may not work; so why would you want to delete the backup? DON'T delete the backup.

Oldbiggles

googler wrote: »

That's not the hard disk size.

Go to My Computer, look under Hard Drives, and tell us what you see

Is this what you mean: Total size =35.3 GB, Free space =11.5GB

googler

Oldbiggles wrote: »

Is this what you mean: Total size =35.3 GB, Free space =11.5GB

Almost one quarter of your hard drive is free space, so, essentially, I don't think you have much to worry about.....

If that's the situation after ... 16 years or so, I don't see any immediate cause for action unless you really, really, want to for the sake of it.

Jivesinger

Oldbiggles wrote: »

Is this what you mean: Total size =35.3 GB, Free space =11.5GB

I don't think you need to delete files.

I would perhaps suggest that a Defragmenting the disk is worth doing. Windows XP doesn't do this automatically if I remember rightly, and with my old XP setup, it did seem to improve things to run a defrag from time to time.

However do not defrag if the computer has an SSD-type disk - Windows XP doesn't understand these disks well enough, although Windows 7 and later is smarter.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/305781

Oldbiggles

googler wrote: »

Almost one quarter of your hard drive is free space, so, essentially, I don't think you have much to worry about.....

If that's the situation after ... 16 years or so, I don't see any immediate cause for action unless you really, really, want to for the sake of it.

Thanks, I do understand. When I saw your post to the other Op I just thought I would also inquire, more out of interest than anything else, it's just that I am fascinated by all the computer terminology used on this site in particular and even though I'm nearly past my sell by date I still like to learn new techniques where possible.

Thanks again for your time and help.

:beer: