
Updated · Feb 07, 2023
Updated · Oct 16, 2022
Have you ever noticed how something’s eating up your disk capacity?
Let’s look at a particular case of what is taking up space on my hard drive with Windows 7 and how to fix it.
Read on below to figure out how to free up space.
Having enough hard drive capacity is essential because it can boost performance. However, some files, apps and features that are taking up space can be removed to increase your PC’s work rate.
Let’s look at the top three ways to see what’s taking up space in your storage.
Windows Explorer is a file management tool that browses all your computer files on Microsoft Windows. Each takes a certain amount of space on your drives assigned with a letter (C, D, or E). This app allows you to read from and interact with those disk drives, thus managing them.
Let me show you how to use it to see the state of your PC storage.
Firstly, you need to open the app by pressing the Windows key and the "E" button on your keyboard simultaneously.
Then you’ll see a screen with all your directories and your disk drives. The status bar underneath a PC storage drive indicates how much is occupied.
You can also browse files and folders inside it to see the space each one is using.
CMD (Command Prompt) is an аpp that lets you execute actions through command lines. It can show you how your data is allocated and how much space each file type takes up.
Run CMD as an administrator from the "Start" menu by typing its name in the search box. A black window will pop up where you have to input the following line:
fsutil volume allocationReport C:
Beware that "C" stands for the drive letter. If you want to check for another drive, replace it with the corresponding letter.
To see the amount of free disk space in Windows 7 for all volumes, type in:
wmic logicaldisk get size, freespace, caption
After each executed command, you’ll see a bunch of information, including data allocation and free space.
Data sizing comes in bits, bytes, terabytes, etc. The size in the above images is in bytes. That's why you see such large numbers.
Although Windows Explorer and CMD are valuable apps, they may be hard to use and inefficient.
However, using a well-optimized third-party program for such tasks could save you both time and effort.
Cleaner One Pro and CCleaner are similar apps with a built-in disk analyzer. This feature shows you exactly what your storage is using. Also, it can help you delete unnecessary temporary files and rarely used apps to clean up computer space.
As you can see from the image above, files are put into different categories. That makes cleaning up disk space even easier because you don’t have to waste time browsing your file system.
Finding out what is taking up space on my hard drive in Windows 7 is relatively easy. Now I need to find a way to clean it up.
Here are five methods to clean disk space.
Infrequently used apps clog computer memory. Therefore, uninstalling them will most certainly free tons of gigabytes of space.
Here’s how you can do it quickly:
Voila! Now you have more free space on your PC! However, some apps leave "junk" files that can be cleaned up with the tip below.
As we mentioned, apps may leave “junk” after uninstalling them. These are files that programs create for their processes, i.e., temporary files. Usually, our operating system deletes those when we close the program. However, sometimes during sudden crashes, this file deletion doesn’t occur, hence leaving data on your system.
Luckily, we’re here to help you! Let’s show you how to free up space on Windows 7 from “junk” files.
Wait for the process to clean up the hard drive.
Another quick and efficient method to clear space on the computer is by using third-party apps.
One of these is called CCleaner.
Once the process finishes, you will see more details in the middle of the window.
This feature is used to restore your operating system to a previous state. Microsoft Windows regularly creates a disk image, which you can later use to restore your OS. However, they could be pretty significant. Deleting them or reducing their size will free up storage space.
Here’s how you can do it.
Although this will save you tons of gigabytes in the future, you may lose important files if your OS “dies.”
If you have a lot of rarely used files on your PC, they’ll eat up vital storage capacity. However, if you don’t want to get rid of them, you can archive them to free up hard drive space.
Putting a computer file into an archive could reduce its size to 10% of its original amount. It uses a process called "data compression." The latter involves modifying structured data by re-encoding it to reduce size. This is a straightforward and efficient way to free up space on a PC.
Here’s how you can create an archive with 7Zip.
Poor data management will lead to a lack of PC storage capacity and the computer becoming sluggish. That's because your OS needs enough free space to operate smoothly.
So, knowing how to clean up Windows disk space will positively reflect your desktop computer’s performance.
Although the tips we gave you’ll surely help you free up Windows space, the problem might be elsewhere. So, if you’re running out of storage constantly, consider upgrading your hard disk to a bigger and faster solid-state drive.
Now that you’ve learned how to clean disk space, learn how to expand it.
There are several ways to free up Windows 7 disk space.
I found several ways to see what is taking up space on my Windows 7 hard drive.
If you're constantly running out of storage capacity, your computer will get sluggish. That’s because your operating system needs sufficient free space to run smoothly.
Deyan Georgiev
Deyan has been fascinated by technology his whole life. From the first Tetris game all the way to Falcon Heavy. Working for TechJury is like a dream come true, combining both his passions – writing and technology. In his free time (which is pretty scarce, thanks to his three kids), Deyan enjoys traveling and exploring new places. Always with a few chargers and a couple of gadgets in the backpack. He makes mean dizzying Island Paradise cocktails too.
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