60GB boot SSD full, but don't save anything to it

[Jfin]

Gents, built my own machine last year and installed a 60GB SSD strictly for Win 7 only (have two other HD's installed for storage and programmes)

Lately im getting alerts to say my SSD is now full and after doing what I could through the tools on Win 7 I was only able to free up 5 GB's What the hell is on here? Win updates? Everything I do is directed to my HD on the E: drive

Alternative is to buy another - can you transfer the root HD to another HD? really didnt plan for this, I know 60GB isnt that large but it was only ever to use as a boot drive.

Suggestions anyone?

 

[fimbles]

System restore points or pagefile maybe?

 

[Jfin]

No System restore setup, excuse my ignorance but will need to google Pagefile

Pagefile, I have 8GB or Ram installed - would windows still require a pagefile ?

Fimbles thank you, you were correct of course - on further reading online win 7 will match your installed RAM and in my scenario I had 8GB so I was able to free up 5GB here leaving a 3 GB Pagefile instead.

thank you for your advice

 

[fimbles]

Happy you got it sorted

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[SNGX1275]

You probably did this from the start, but did you change location of stuff like Documents, Music, Movies, Photos to a different drive?
Its hard to imagine system restore, pagefile, and updates would fill up 60GB in a year. I've had my Win 7 installation since a few days after it was released. I have had to expand the partition a couple times, but I'm at 6.52 free of 60.2.

 

[Jfin]

Actually I did! My 8 year old had installed a few games and didnt think to change the Drive letter when prompted. how does this effect storage - and how can I remedy ?

 

[Per Hansson]

There is a folder on your system called WinSxS under the C:\Windows folder
Check how big this is, you can reduce it's size with this command from an elevated command prompt:

dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2592038

 

[slh28]

Windirstat is a really useful tool, it shows you your drive usage in graphical form and you can sort by size so you can see where the big files/folders are. It also shows hidden files which you can't see in Explorer (even if you select show hidden files in the options menu) such as the pagefile.

Speaking of pagefile try disabling it altogether or moving it to your HDD, You'll save a few GB on your SSD and I doubt you'll see any reduction in PC performance.

 

[SNGX1275]

I like slh28's idea. Any multi-drive system I have I always put the pagefile on a seperate physical drive. I thought about suggesting that here, but with it being an SSD I considered a possible performance hit.. But then again, with 8 gigs of RAM, I'm pretty sure you won't be doing much paging so I don't think there would be a big hit if any. And you would free up a few more gigs.

For the games, try to find the save game files. Keep those, but uninstall the game and then reinstall to a different drive. You really can't move things that required an installer after they've been installed.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Check for a Hibernation file as well as the pagefile. If you don't hibernate your system then you wouldn't need a hibernation file. If I'm not mistaken, Windows will setup hibernation by default. I always have to manually remove the file myself.

powercfg -h off

How to disable and re-enable hibernation on a computer that is running Windows

To make hibernation unavailable, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box.
2. In the search results list, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator.
3. When you are prompted by User Account Control, click Continue.
4. At the command prompt, type powercfg.exe /hibernate off, and then press ENTER.
5. Type exit and then press ENTER to close the Command Prompt window.

 

[Jfin]

There is a folder on your system called WinSxS under the C:\Windows folder
Check how big this is, you can reduce it's size with this command from an elevated command prompt:

dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2592038

Thats interesting I see about 8GB's in here, not too sure of where to find an elevated command prompt but will turn to google once more. Thanks for this im really learning stuff I should already know!

Windirstat is a really useful tool, it shows you your drive usage in graphical form and you can sort by size so you can see where the big files/folders are. It also shows hidden files which you can't see in Explorer (even if you select show hidden files in the options menu) such as the pagefile.

Speaking of pagefile try disabling it altogether or moving it to your HDD, You'll save a few GB on your SSD and I doubt you'll see any reduction in PC performance.

Thanks for the link and advice, will download this evening - Good idea on the pagefile move, had looked into doing but at the time couldnt figure out how to move it - again will turn to google on instructions. Cheers!

I like slh28's idea. Any multi-drive system I have I always put the pagefile on a seperate physical drive. I thought about suggesting that here, but with it being an SSD I considered a possible performance hit.. But then again, with 8 gigs of RAM, I'm pretty sure you won't be doing much paging so I don't think there would be a big hit if any. And you would free up a few more gigs.

For the games, try to find the save game files. Keep those, but uninstall the game and then reinstall to a different drive. You really can't move things that required an installer after they've been installed.

Interesting advice thanks, so even though the installed games have been relocated to my other drives it could still be taking up a chunk of my SSD (even though it isnt) but wont release the storage for other things? Have I got it right?

So by finding the save games and copying and removing games to re-install on my secondary drives it may help, Got it!

thanks for the advice!

Check for a Hibernation file as well as the pagefile. If you don't hibernate your system then you wouldn't need a hibernation file. If I'm not mistaken, Windows will setup hibernation by default. I always have to manually remove the file myself.

powercfg -h off

How to disable and re-enable hibernation on a computer that is running Windows

I use the sleep mode quite a lot, as it saves having to power down and up each time I need to leave the house and the wake up is immediate. (Is sleep and hibernation the same thing?) But agree, if my concern is space and this is hogging the drive I will also consider. Thanks for your time and advice.

 

[slh28]

I use the sleep mode quite a lot, as it saves having to power down and up each time I need to leave the house and the wake up is immediate. (Is sleep and hibernation the same thing?) But agree, if my concern is space and this is hogging the drive I will also consider. Thanks for your time and advice.

Sleep and hibernation are different things, I don't know any home users who use hibernation.

 

[Jfin]

Sleep and hibernation are different things, I don't know any home users who use hibernation.

In that case thank you, I will follow your instruction above and switch Hibernation off!

Warning You may lose data if you make hibernation unavailable if a power loss occurs while the hybrid sleep setting is turned on. When you make hibernation unavailable, hybrid sleep does not work.

will this do away with my option to sleep my PC?

 

[Jfin]

In that case thank you, I will follow your instruction above and switch Hibernation off!

Warning You may lose data if you make hibernation unavailable if a power loss occurs while the hybrid sleep setting is turned on. When you make hibernation unavailable, hybrid sleep does not work.

will this do away with my option to sleep my PC?

ignore, I have answered my own question, Sleep only pauses your PC

 

[leonard.jones]

Sleep and hibernation are different things, I don't know any home users who use hibernation.

with an ssd drive. sleep and hibernation are not as useful, as boot up times are so quick.

 

[MudButt]

I know this is an old post but check your windows restore settings and how much allowance it has for the drive. I got my "hidden" 60gb back and system restore wasn't even turned on for the drive. Simply delete the system restore files in Win7 by going to Right Click My Computer>>>Properties>>Advance System Settings (in left Column)>>System Protection (Tab). Select the drive you are missing space from and check to see what is the percentage defined to be used for the drive. I found in my case that even if system restore is turned off for the drive it is still using the defined space on the drive.