10 Top Tips To Save Space On Your Hard Drive (Windows)
www.sterlingcreations.ca.
I hope that everyone is raring to go after a long holiday weekend and today
I have a great article to share with you. All about how to save space on
your hard drive.
I hope you enjoy reading it and that you get some great info out of it.
I wish you a great day.
+++++++++++++++
A Dan Thompson contribution
10 Top Tips To Save Space On Your Hard Drive (Windows)
Document Source:
Rich, July 22 2010 at
http://mintywhite.com/windows-7/7maintenance/10-top-tips-save-space-hard-drive-hdd/
I will include send space links that have all the programs and articles
mentioned in this article at the very end.
With multi-terabyte drives gaining prevalence in the bays of our PCs, a lack
of hard drive space is less of an issue these days; however, it seems no
matter how big the drives get, we still manage to eventually fill them. In
this guide, you'll learn ten top tips to save space on your hard drive.
I. Uninstall Unnecessary Software Programs
Although it's an obvious tip to start with, some serious space can be saved
by uninstalling
unnecessary applications. You have three options:
Option One:
Scan the list of installed programs manually
1. In Windows XP:
a. Click or press the Start button.
b. Press enter on or click Control Panel.
c. Press the letter a until reaching "add remove programs" or click this
option.
d. Arrow down through the list of programs available for uninstalling or
scan them visually.
e. When locating one to uninstall, tab to remove and press the space bar.
2. In Windows Seven:
a. Click or press the start button.
b. In the search box type the following without the quotes and press enter.
"control panel"
c. In the new search box type the following without quotes.
"uninstall a program"
d. A list of available programs is shown.
Arrow to one you wish to uninstall and press enter.
The program is uninstalled.
Option Two:
Use Revo Uninstaller to completely remove software and its traces.
This is found at:
http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html
Option Three:
Use the PC Decrapifier to remove typical "bloatware" applications from your
PC (works best with new brand-name PCs.)
This is found at:
Option Four:
Not sure what to uninstall? Ask in the forums.
II. Search for Duplicate Files
Over time, you may accumulate duplicate files on your PC. Use a program like
Easy Duplicate Finder to locate and remove these files.
This program is found at:
duplicate-finder-scans-your-drive-for-duplicates
III. Clear up old System Restore Points
System restore points are very useful but can take a lot of space on your
drive.
If you want to save space in a pinch, read this guide and learn how to
remove all but the last system restore point.
http://mintywhite.com/windows-7/7maintenance/clean-windows-system-restore-points/
IV. Turn off Memory Dump Files
If you maintain your own PC, and don't need to take it to a store when
something goes wrong, you can turn off memory dump files. If you have system
problems and need to analyze dump files, you can always turn them back on
again.
Here is a brief steps for this operation in vista.
If your computer crashes it will create a dump file. From this dump file you
can diagnose the source of the problem. It is unlikely you will need this
dump file; if you do, you can always turn the option back on. This guide
will show you how to save space by disabling memory dump files in Vista.
1. Press Start and type "control panel" without quotes in the search box
followed by pressing enter.
2. Type "advanced" in the search box without quotes and press enter.
3. Type Advanced in the search box.
4. Arrow down and press enter or Click on View advanced system settings in
the search results
5. Under Startup and Recovery, press enter on or click Settings
6. In the Write debugging information drop down, click (none) and press OK
You will now save space and not store useless information.
V. Change Personal Folder Locations
All recent versions of Windows utilize the (My) Documents file structure.
This means that all your personal files are: Saved on your operating
system's drive and can be lost if your PC is infected with malware.
This is Taking up space on your operating system's drive and can fill it
quickly.
You can change the location of your personal files in (my) documents to a
different drive, or partition of a drive; due to the issues listed above,
this is something highly recommended.
This procedure can be done by:
Relocating Personal Data Folders
To relocate your personal files, do the following:
1. Press the Start button
2. Click your account name in the right-hand menu
3. Right click a folder that you want to relocate and select Properties
4. On the Location tab of the properties dialog box, enter the address that
you want to relocate to
5. Click OK
Windows will ask permission to create the target folder if it doesn't
already exist, so click Yes. I advise moving all the original files to the
new location, unless you see a reason not to.
VI. Backup Files Remotely or on Alternative Storage Media
I highly recommend you back up your files on an automated schedule. I also
recommend you back up files that are used less on alternative storage media
(Optical media, external hard drives, off site servers etc.) I recommend any
of the following programs:
Mozy Online Backup
GFI Backup
http://mintywhite.com/software-reviews/security-software/gfi-backup-free-automated-file-backup-solution/
EASEUS Todo Backup
http://mintywhite.com/software-reviews/maintenance-software/todo-backup-protects-restores-data/
Ashampoo Burning Studio
http://mintywhite.com/windows-7/7maintenance/backup-ashampoo-burning-studio-6-free/
VII. Use the Disk Clean Up Tool
The disk cleanup tool that comes with Windows is a useful tool that searches
for junk files, unused installation files, temporary files etc. To get to
the Disk Clean up tool:
Go to Computer.
Right click a drive and click Properties.
Click the Disk Cleanup button.
Select what you want to clean up and click OK.
If you'd like to add a handy "Clean Disk" shortcut to the context menu of
the disk drive, follow this guide.
This involves changing the registry which can be scary for some including
myself.
But here is the brief tutorial that is linked in this article.
I have pasted in the steps below instead of having the readers go to the
link.
This little tutorial lets you add Disk Cleanup and De-Fragment to right
click:
Make Cleanup
1. Open Registry Editor(Winkey + R and write regedit)
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell
3. To add Cleanup, make a new sub-key and name it example DriveCleanup
4. Change Default Value to what you want that it shows in Right click
(5). If you want that it shows only when right click, make new string and
name it as Extended
6. Create new sub-key in DriveCleanup and rename it to command
7. Go to command key and set the default value to cleanmgr.exe /d %1
VIII. Use NTFS Compression to Compress a Complete Drive/Partition
I have included a link to the complete article regarding this hard drive
clean up tip since it is involved and would extend this article
considerably.
NTFS is the name of a file system used in Microsoft Windows and is, for now,
the standard file system for modern drives. Microsoft has a tool that
compresses less used files on an entire drive.
If you want to compress a whole drive, and potentially save a lot of space,
follow this guide.
Note: I don't recommend you compress the drive (usually C:\) on which your
operating system is stored.
Note 2: To find out the file system of your drive:
Go to Computer.
Right click a drive and click Properties.
Look for NTFS next to the File system label.
IX. Compress (Zip) Less-frequently Used Files
You can compress files on a file-by-file (or folder-by-folder basis.) If
you're looking for a good compression program, check this Winzip
alternatives post.
http://mintywhite.com/software-reviews/zip-tools-alternatives-winzip-winrar/
Note: some files compress better than others. For example: an MP3 or JPEG
file is already highly compressed and wont reduce, in size, much, if at all)
when zipped.
X. Take your Time During Program Installation
When you install software, take time to see exactly what you're installing.
A lot of the time, you can save a ton of space by selectively installing
only the components you'll need.
For example, when installing Microsoft Office, you can Customize your
installation:
Now you have the option to only install the programs you really need, you
can always install the other programs later.
SENDSPACE LINKS:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ifuhlb
File name: removing old system restore points.docx, (53 KB)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/f8psk5
File name: 10 Top Tips to Save Space on Your Hard Drive.txt, (9 KB)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/gmhpj6
File name: pc-decrapifier-2.2.5.exe, (1 MB)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/c9odv8
File name: THEPCD~1.TXT, (1 KB)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/e6nwva
File name: FixitCenter_Run.exe, (437 KB)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/scazfr
File name: Relocating Personal Data Folders.txt, (547 B)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/6y8xwy
File name: How to Use Microsoft Fix it Center to Fix Windows Problems and
Errors.txt, (4 KB)
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7fj74l
If you have any questions about the tips posted in Dan's Tech tips, please
contact Dan at the following email address:
_________________________
When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll remember and be
kind to someone else. And it'll become like a wildfire.
Whoopi Goldberg
_________________________
Did You Know?...
... that today is Dinosaurs Day? In 1841, anatomist Richard Owen presented a
paper to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in which he
proposed the name dinosaur (from the Greek words deinos [terrible] and
sauros [lizard]) for the fossilized reptiles.
_________________________
Random Fact:
In 1500 B. C. in Egypt, a shaved head was considered the ultimate in
feminine beauty. Egyptian women removed every hair from their heads with
special gold tweezers and polished their scalps to a high sheen with buffing
cloths.
_________________________
Mama's Brain Challenge:
Friday's Common Bond:
Colonel Klink
The Penguin
Mr. Peanut
Answer:
They all wore monocles
If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then
please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings
affecting your lives today, then please visit
http://www.sterlingcreationsdesk.blogspot.com. There you will get the
latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby
boomers. Security tips for home computer users. Home business
opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business
opportunities, business opportunities in Asia. You will also learn how to
obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your
knowledge and experience.
posted by Editor at
2:04 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home