Hello dear friends! Now I will talk about a problem that probably everyone has encountered. This is when drive C is full, and I will tell you what needs to be done in such cases, and what can be removed without affecting the operation of Windows. I've been asked more than once What can you delete from drive C?, otherwise it is filled to the limit, and the system shows a window with warnings.

Let's go in order. Why drive C? Because, in 99% of cases, the Windows operating system is installed on this disk, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s Windows 7 or Windows XP. During the Windows installation process, we split the hard drive into partitions; I wrote about how to do this in the article “Be sure to split the hard drive, do not make one partition for the system and for storing files.

We create a partition and set its size. The point here is the culmination, depending on how much memory you allocate to the local drive C, the time it will take for it to be completely full depends. Previously, I always allocated about 30 GB for the C drive, but almost all computers now come with hard drives ranging in size from 500 GB to 1 TB. And in such cases, giving the system 30 GB for the C drive seems stupid to me. I’m currently giving away 100 – 150 GB for the system disk.

But as practice shows, even these 150 GB fill up very quickly and drive C turns red, which means that it is completely full, and then the questions begin: what can be done, what can be deleted from the local drive C? Although I always say, don’t save any videos, photos and other heavy files to the system partition. And it is advisable to install games on other partitions; now there are such games that they take up several tens of GB.

What is the danger of a full C drive?

Nothing bad should happen. The computer will run slower, and Windows will warn you that there is no memory on the system disk. In short, there will be many unpleasant moments in the operation of the computer. Do we need it? We'll decide :).

What can you delete from your local C drive?

This is probably the most important question in this situation. Many people want to delete information, but are afraid to delete something they need. After all, the operating system is installed on this disk, and many are afraid of harming it.

You know, I have seen many computers in which the disk on which Windows is installed is filled to capacity. Well, there’s a lot there, it’s like this on almost all the computers I’ve encountered. And you look to remove this unnecessary thing, and it seems like everything is needed :), sound familiar?

1. First of all, it is worth remembering that all the information that is stored on the desktop, in the “Documents”, “Pictures” and “Music” folders, is stored on the local drive C. Be sure to check these folders first. If there are heavy files there, such as movies, music, photos, etc. Then move them to local drive D, or E. In most cases, these folders contain files that fill partition C. And I have also seen a bunch of movies on the desktop more than once, is it so difficult to copy them to another partition?

Go to “My computer” and click on top “Delete or change a program”. A window will open with a list of installed programs and games. Click on “Size” to sort the list by the size of installed programs and games. Remove everything you don't need, I'm sure you'll find something like that. If there are very heavy games, then remove them and install them again, only selecting a different partition for installation.

3. We remove garbage from the system. If Windows has not been reinstalled for a long time, then several GB of garbage and temporary files have probably accumulated there. In order to remove them, you can use a good program CCleaner. I always clean my computer with this program from time to time. You can download it on the Internet, just type in Google “Download CCleaner”. Install the program and start cleaning the system. I will not dwell on this in detail now; I will write about this program later.

4. Empty the trash, as an option to free up a couple of MB :).

These are the main (in my opinion) methods, by doing which you can free up quite a bit of memory on the local drive C. You can also disable it, or move system recovery to another drive, or, but it seems to me that these are not very effective options and you need to use them as a last resort.

To summarize everything written above, I want to say that it is possible to prevent the local drive C from becoming completely full. And this is very easy to do.

Are you copying or downloading a movie from the Internet? Don’t be too lazy to select drive D, E, or whatever you have for saving. No need to save it to your desktop. When installing the game, change the installation location from drive C to another partition, this is a matter of a few seconds, and in the end it will help protect the system disk from redness and ensure stable operation of the computer.

Also, when saving files to partition C, it is worth remembering that in case of problems with the operating system, you can lose all the files. Because when installing Windows, partition C is usually formatted. I think you will also be interested in reading ““, it should come in handy.

And finally, do one more thing, it’s unlikely to add memory, but it will put things in order, and the computer will work faster. Good luck!

Also on the site:

Disk C is full. What to do and what can be removed? updated: January 12, 2015 by: admin

In the life of every user, sooner or later there comes a moment when running out of free space on drive C and a similar message pops up. At the same time, the computer begins to slow down terribly, many programs do not work correctly or do not work at all. It is advisable to avoid such a situation, but if it has befallen you, in this article I will tell you how to deal with it - free up space on your system disk without damaging the system.

1. Windows temporary files

The first thing to do in such cases is to delete temporary Windows files. To do this, you need to delete all the contents of the folders:

\Temp
\WINDOWS\TEMP

for Windows XP:
\Documents and Settings\<имя_пользователя>\Local Settings\Temp
\Documents and Settings\<имя_пользователя>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
\Documents and Settings\<имя_пользователя>\Local Settings\History

for Windows 7, Vista:
\Users\<имя_пользователя>\AppData\Local\Temp
\Users\<имя_пользователя>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files
\Users\<имя_пользователя>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\History

In all “beast builds” of Windows, the location of the temporary folder may differ. To find the temporary folder, follow these steps:

Start -> Run(for Windows XP)
Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Run(for Windows 7, Vista)
In the Run window, in the Open field, enter the following text: %TEMP%
Click on the button "OK«.

It is best to delete files using a file manager such as Total Commander because: a) folder Local Settings usually hidden and the user may simply not find it; b) in a folder Temp There are several files that cannot be deleted because they are currently in use by the system. For Windows Explorer, this becomes an impossible task and it cannot completely clean the folder:

For Total Commander, both of these issues do not pose problems.

2. Windows update files

After operating system updates in the folder \WINDOWS\ There are still many folders whose names begin with “$...” You can also delete them all:

3. Browser cache

Internet browsers Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer (especially version 6) sometimes leave behind a huge amount of garbage on the system disk, which is also sometimes useful to clean. This is done like this:

for Mozilla Firefox: Tools -> Erase Recent History. Select item "All", press "OK":

for Opera: Settings -> Delete personal data. You can expand the list " Detailed setting", press " Delete«:

for Chrome: Chrome menu (toolbar) -> Tools -> Clear browsing data. Select the item " for all time", press the button "Clear history":

for Internet Explorer: Service -> Delete browsing history, or Service -> Internet Options -> General -> Browsing history -> "Delete" button...

In this way, you can clear drive C from several gigabytes of garbage, which consists mainly of many thousands of small (up to 10 kb) files, which can significantly slow down the operation of browsers and the computer as a whole.

4. Downloading browsers, torrent clients, DC, MediaGet, DownloadMaster, etc.

By default, all program data loads files onto the “C” drive, which very quickly leads to its clogging. To prevent this, it is necessary to configure the paths for saving files from the Internet “not on drive C” in each such program.

for Mozilla Firefox: Tools -> Settings -> General -> Path to save files:

for Opera: Settings -> Advanced -> Downloads - > Save downloaded files to:

for Chrome: Chrome menu (toolbar) -> Settings -> Advanced settings:

for uTorrent: Settings -> Program settings -> Folders

For other programs that download anything from the Internet or local network, the setup principle is the same.

5. Mail program databases (TheBat, Mozilla Thunderbird, Microsoft Office Outlook, etc.)

With intensive exchange of information using email programs, the size of their databases can grow to incredible sizes over time. It is advisable to take this point into account at the stage of installing and configuring these programs, but if you haven’t done this, it doesn’t matter, you can still fix it.

for TheBat: Mailbox -> Mailbox Properties -> Files and Directories:

for Microsoft Office Outlook: Tools -> Email Accounts -> View or change existing accounts-> Create Outlook data file:

You can check whether everything is correct and at the same time delete an unnecessary file from drive “C” here: Tools -> Options -> Mail settings-> Data files:

For other email programs, everything is configured according to the same principles.

7. Temporary program files

Programs that work with large amounts of data, such as disc burning programs (for example, Nero Burning ROM), video (for example, Pinnacle Studio), audio editors, image processing programs (for example, Adobe Photoshop) during their work create temporary files of large size (the so-called “cache”) and, if there is not enough free space to create them, they refuse to work normally, and various failures occur. To prevent this, you need to promptly transfer their temporary files to another disk:

Nero Burning ROM: File -> Presets -> Cache:

Pinnacle Studio: Settings -> Project Options:

Adobe Photoshop: Editing-> Settings -> Performance:

8. Games

From the very beginning of using a computer, you should make it a rule: “If possible, do not install games on drive “C”! Moreover, modern games take up several DVDs, and after installation they can take up several tens of gigabytes. After installing several of these games, you will run out of free space on any disk, no matter how large it is:

9. My Documents and Desktop

This problem dates back to the dinosaur days of the very first versions of Windows. 8 generations of the operating system have already changed, and user folders are still located on the system drive. Moreover, it has worsened: starting with Windows Vista, additional folders have been added to them, such as “Pictures”, “Videos”, “Music”, “Downloads”, “Games”, “Contacts”, “Searches”, “Links” ...

There is also no standard procedure for transferring all user folders to another local drive. There are only a few possibilities, for example, in Windows XP you can move the “My Documents” folder:

Quite experienced and novice PC users have a bad habit of saving the necessary and most needed files on the desktop. A dozen or two gigabytes of information on your desktop is, unfortunately, not at all uncommon! What can you recommend? There is only one thing - to completely refuse to use these “wonderful opportunities” and keep all important information NOT on drive C. Moreover, the probability of losing information stored on drive “C” is much higher than on any other logical drive.

10.Programs

Review the list of installed programs and remove those that you will no longer use, especially large ones:

11. Sleep mode

If all else fails, disabling the use of sleep mode will save from 1 to 5 additional gigabytes.

for Windows XP: Start-> Control Panel -> Appearance and Themes -> Screen -> Screensaver -> Power -> Sleep Mode. Uncheck " Allow use of sleep mode»

for Windows 7, Vista: Start -> Control Panel -> Power supply -> Setting up a power plan -> Put your computer into sleep mode -> « Never". You can also disable the sleep function. Select "Change advanced power settings" and in the window, find sleep mode and turn it off. After disabling “Hibernation Mode,” you can delete the hidden hiberfil.sys file in the root directory of the system disk. It’s a little easier to do this with help: just enter the command “ powercfg -hibernate -off«.

12. Other

Large files can appear in any other place on the system disk, where you wouldn’t expect to see it:

• log files of some programs can grow to many tens of gigabytes;
• one of the users may safely hide and forget the “collection of videos”. Where is the best place to do this? Of course, somewhere in the wilds of system folders on drive “C”;
• some program or plugin for Photoshop stores its database (10-100 GB in size) in a user folder;

In such cases, it is necessary to check the size of all folders (including hidden and system) and find the “culprit” by eliminating. Using the Total Commander program, this is again easier to do: just press the Ctrl+Alt+Enter key combination in an open folder and the size of all attached files and folders will appear in the palm of your hand:

Another case: the folder for temporary files of Avira antivirus has grown to an incredible 16 GB:

13. Basket

Emptying the Recycle Bin is a fairly obvious way to clean up disks of already deleted files, but sometimes quite a large number of files accumulate there, which also negatively affects computer performance.

13. Cleaner programs

There are a huge number of programs that promise, with the click of one or maximum two buttons, to solve all the user’s problems with computer performance and raise it to unprecedented heights. As practice and common sense show, these programs can only solve some (or rather only 1, 2 and 3, and some other little things) from the problems described above, which in this particular case may well not be the most important problem. Although automating this process saves time: it is much faster to automatically delete temporary files than to clean them out manually. Standard disk cleanup program ( Start -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup) is slightly worse than alternatives (eg CCleaner).

14. What else do they write about on the “Internet”

On “our Internets” there are also many fables, myths, unverified facts and outright misinformation. These, from my point of view, include:

• deleting, resizing, moving the swap file;
• deleting backup copies of system files, drivers;
• removal or modification of operating system components;
• removing duplicate operating system files;
• formatting drive C.

It is not advisable to touch operating system components without a clear understanding of what exactly you are doing and why.

15. Summary

Long gone are the days when you could put Windows, a bunch of programs and a lot of data into a 1 GB hard drive and still manage to work and play games. The amount of memory on the average user's hard drives has already crossed the mark of several terabytes, but the problems remain the same. Well, artificial intelligence will not soon replace experience and common sense. Keep an eye on the free space - for comfortable operation of the operating system there should be at least no less than 1/3 of the disk capacity, or no less (or preferably more) several gigabytes. The final step of this work, to achieve an even better result, is to carry out.

What to do if drive C is filled with something unknown? Let's look at the following situation: you have a red line on drive C, that is, your system disk is almost full, but you have already done all the known cleaning methods.

You used the CCleaner program, deleted programs, went through all the hidden folders, but the computer again shows that the system disk is full and you cannot figure out where the dog is buried. What to do in this case? Let's try one more method.

I will say right away that this method is not entirely for beginners, but in principle any PC user can use it, you just need to be careful and not take hasty actions.

Using this method, I freed up 26 GB on my system disk, deleting unnecessary files that I didn’t even know about.

How to find garbage on the system disk

So, we need a special, free utility, Win Dir Stat Portable. It will help you detect what is taking up space on your system drive. You can download the utility from this link

//yadi.sk/d/rWqlEyUy3ZPkjD

After you have downloaded the archive, you need to unpack it. Move the cursor over the archive and right-click and select “Extract to current folder”

Select scanning individual disks and select the desired disk.

The file scanning process begins. This may take some time.

When the process is complete, you will see colorful fragments of your files.

We look at which fragments take up a lot of space and click on them to track the path. We also look at what these files are and whether we can delete them without harm to the system.

If you don’t know what the files are, you can write their names on the Internet.

It doesn't matter what capacity the hard drive installed on your computer has. Sooner or later the time will come when the free space on the hard drive approaches a critical minimum. And if you are reading this article, it is quite logical to assume that you are faced with some kind of trouble, which can be succinctly characterized by one short question: “Disk C is full: what to do?” Probably, on top of everything else, you have begun to be overwhelmed by various system messages that have been popping up on your monitor screen with predictable frequency for some time now. Finally, the computer slows down seriously, and only memories remain of its former performance. Well, it's time to act! Determination coupled with attention, as well as the effective methods described in the article, will help you cope with the digital problems that arise with the ease inherent in experienced users.

When drive “C” is completely full, you need to clean it of “digital garbage”

The fact is that in the process of its work it constantly stores certain amounts of data in specially designated areas of disk space, where quite significant amounts of data can accumulate. As you understand, such folders need to be cleaned periodically.

Note: here and below, all descriptions and action scenarios are designed for use in the Windows 7 operating environment. However, given the universality of the methods presented, literally all the material in this article is applicable to other Microsoft operating systems.

Let's start implementing our plans

However, the issue raised "Filled" requires further consideration.

Where do gigabytes go: system restore checkpoints

There is no denying that the “system rollback to a stable state” feature implemented in Windows is a truly useful and often-in-demand operating tool. However, everything should be in moderation. At the same time, the default settings provide for a non-stop process of saving system copies. After the next OS updates, critical changes in the registry, and also according to the established schedule, a special Windows service with pedantic precision sends a control “cast” of the operating environment to the backup storage. If we take into account the fact that most of these copies will never be used, we can conclude that disk space, as a result of excessive reinsurance, is simply wasted, which leads to the fact that the user begins to think about resolving the issue: “Disk C is full : what to do?".

• Log in to your control panel.
• Activate the "System" section.
• Follow the link located on the left side of the “Protection...” service window.
• Select the system drive and click on the “Configure” button.
• After you click on the “Delete” button, all recovery checkpoints will be erased from the hard drive.

Attention: this action is not recommended for those who often resort to the rollback functionality. But nothing prevents you from reducing the reserved volumes to 3-6% of the total capacity of the system partition. In this case, copies of the control points that were last saved will remain.

Virtual memory reserves: is the paging file size justified?

So, now you know what you need to do first when the graphical occupied space sensor in Explorer shows that drive C is full. However, in order to achieve the maximum possible release of system space, you should resort to one more method - move the paging file directory to another location, or reduce the size of the reserved area of ​​​​the hard drive.

• Open the Control Panel menu.
• Go to the "System" section.
• In the left part of the working window, activate the “Advanced...” item.
• In the “Performance” block, click on the “Options” button.
• Open the "Advanced" tab.
• Click on the “Change” button.
• Select the system drive and uncheck the “Automatically select...” checkbox.
• Activate the "Specify size" option.
• Based on the actual amount of physical memory, specify a value equal to the RAM capacity parameters.
• Confirm the change with the “Set” button and restart the computer.

When transferring to another hard drive partition, you must first activate the “No paging file” option. Then you need to select a new directory and repeat the above process. Well, it's time to move on to the next step in solving the “Drive C is full” problem. What to do next?

Clearing the system log and more: software “helpers”

When installing various software, as well as during its use, the Windows OS constantly saves the parameters and settings of the changes made, and therefore the volume of registry data grows. However, not all entries in the system log can be considered necessary. So, in the case of the process of uninstalling a program, some (and often the value is expressed in significant megabytes) system information about the uninstalled object continues to take up much-needed space for the user, so to speak, in vain. Unfortunately, if you need to correct such an unfavorable situation as “disk C is full,” Windows 7 (like any other Microsoft version of the OS) is powerless, since it does not have a standard software tool. Therefore, it is necessary to enlist the support of a specialized program.

CCleaner - free but effective

• Download and install this application on your PC.
• Open the “Register” section that interests us.
• Click the "Search for Problems" button.
• After a short scan, activate the “Fix” button.

You can be congratulated - a practical answer to the question of whether drive C is full: what to do, received. However, not quite in full. Therefore, dear readers, we follow further.

Hidden threats: what fills disk space

The process of detecting new malicious code itself is an incredibly time-consuming task for an experienced IT specialist. The average user can only guess what kind of virus is filling drive C? Agree, this is a somewhat difficult situation? However, the problem can be resolved with the help of one or several special anti-virus utilities that can detect and destroy this kind of “digital infection”.

Well, open your browser and download these applications: AVZ, Dr.Web CureIt!, HitmanPro, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) and Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 2015. They are all good in their own way, and each of them has its own disadvantages , which is understandable. After all, as you know, there is nothing ideal in the world. Therefore, to achieve the maximum effect of thorough cleaning and in order to get an effective result, use two or three utilities in succession. By the way, all of the above anti-virus tools are equipped with an intelligently understandable interface, and even if you are new to the computer field, you will be able to cope with debugging and launching the scanning functionality. Remember that inactive assumptions like: “Why is drive C full?” - a waste of time. Try, try, and you will succeed!

In conclusion

So, now you know where to look for missing gigabytes of disk space. However, you should not overuse some of the cleaning methods described. Especially when it comes to the swap file or an intensively used registry repair service. Only a reasonable approach and justified actions when performing the optimization process can guarantee you stability in the operation of your OS. Now you have the necessary knowledge and a clear idea of ​​how to react to a difficult situation if drive C is full. You should already understand how to clean it of accumulated “digital garbage” and how to neutralize the virus threat. However, don't stop there. Improve your knowledge and expand your computer horizons. All the best, use your hard drive efficiently!

What to do if drive C is full, and what the consequences are, we’ll talk in this article.

New wheels, old problems

When terabyte HDDs appeared on the market, the problem of lack of free space seemed to be solved forever. That was 2007, and already in 2008 the South Korean Mtron Storage Technology released the first SSD drive (128 GB capacity). It took time for the invention to establish itself on the market. SSDs of the first generations were expensive, common budget models were only 60 GB, and it became clear that users prefer to buy them just for the system drive, because the speed of solid-state drives is significantly superior to any HDD.

The issue of lack of space has again become acute.

What is the danger of the message that drive C is full? On HDD, this is an increase in defragmentation, which directly affects performance. SSDs are not subject to defragmentation, but if there is a lack of space, the number of operations increases. Although stories about SSD wear and tear are mostly a myth (in 99.9% of cases the controller fails faster), intensive background recording and rewriting also does not contribute to operating speed. So, no matter what type of disk you have, it is not advisable to let it fill up to capacity.

Built-in tool or third-party

Windows has a handy tool for getting rid of accumulated junk. To get to it, you need to right-click on the icon of the desired drive in Explorer, open “Properties” and select “Cleanup” there. After scanning, Windows will display a list of items that can be removed. We recommend that you immediately click “Clean up system files”; without it, the list will not be complete. In addition, the largest files are usually system files: downloaded updates, error dumps, etc. After checking the boxes for everything you want to get rid of, click “Ok”.

Windows 10, starting with version 1709, introduced the Memory Sense feature. It can be found and enabled in Settings, after which the system itself begins to periodically clean out temporary files, the recycle bin and other regularly appearing garbage.

If you enter the query in Google: drive C is full, how to free up space, the search will return a bunch of different utilities. There really are a lot of them, ranging from widely used ones like CCleaner to unknown programs. But here’s the thing with all these cleaners. If you use them with the default options, they will clear almost as much as the built-in wizard - well, except that they will also take over browser caches (Windows only clears the Internet Explorer cache). And if you delete other files, you risk getting problems, including slowing down the OS. CCleaner honestly warns about this - how many programs do not display notifications?

You can conduct an experiment: run a third-party cleaner and check only those options that are not included in the built-in cleaning. It will be surprising if there is at least 50 MB of “garbage” there. As for the history of the Internet, in the same Mozilla Firefox the default cache size is 350 MB. He can't take up any more space. In the options of any browser there is usually an option to change the storage size and delete history.

Nobody forbids using third-party utilities, just remember that their “incredible efficiency” compared to built-in ones is another myth. The system tools are quite sufficient.

Other sources of waste

Often the culprit for the fact that the primary disk is full is various software. Firstly, programs that for some reason do not clean up after themselves. Utilities for updating drivers are especially prone to this problem. Even if they are deleted, the system usually retains backup copies of all old drivers and installation files for new ones that the program downloaded. When using driver packs, pay close attention to where it downloads what and where it creates backups. We will return to drivers later, but for now the second potential problem is antiviruses. They put files in quarantine, sometimes also back up data and, most importantly, are updated daily. It's funny, but for some reason, a similar bug occasionally happens to a variety of antivirus manufacturers: old databases are not deleted, new ones are simply added to them, until the disk is completely clogged. If a place begins to disappear suddenly and in large quantities, we recommend that you pay attention to the installed protection.

When it comes to drivers, Windows has a long-standing known feature. The system stores all copies of them ever installed. This is similar to the result of driver update utilities, but the difference is that the Windows storage is protected, and you won’t be able to simply delete anything from there. Such storage in itself is not a problem. This can happen if your system is five years old or more, and the backup has swelled to obscene sizes.

A script called pyWinClobber will help here. For its work it uses the system utility PnPUtil. Download the archive from GitHub, unpack it and run driver_cleanup. A command line window will pop up, listing all the drivers in the storage and indicating the amount of space that can be freed. If you agree, press y.

Bottom line

To prevent disk C from becoming full, it is enough to clean it once a month using:

• system master;
• third-party utilities (optional);
• hands;

Manual cleaning means removing tails from any programs if you used them. Windows 10 owners can enable Memory Sense, allowing the system to perform monthly maintenance on its own. By following these simple guidelines, you can be sure that even on a 60GB SSD you will never run out of space.