Full Hard Drive
Solvedjdlion Posted messages 62 Registration date Status Membre Last intervention -
Hello :-)
In my research, I mentioned "full hard drive" but I didn't find anything on the subject.
Here's a summary:
On my W11 PC, I have 4 1 TB drives on the motherboard.
One of them shows 931 GB usable, 881 used, and 50 free.
When I calculate (using WinDirStat) the visibly used total, I only get to 18 GB.
Where have the other 863 GB gone?
As a quick search on the internet reveals a lot of information, I'll look at what the forum "Comment ça marche" has to say! It's more reliable!
Thanks in advance to the curious experienced ones!
18 réponses
Hello,
TreeSize Free can also help to see what is taking up space
https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free
Hello Fabul :-)
Thanks for the tip.
Put to the test immediately!
Result: I found three folders whose properties are clear, so clear that the contents show zero bytes, files, and folders.
By expanding all of this on treesize, I see more clearly and I'll be able to clean up.
I deleted one that apparently was a duplicate backup.
There remain System Volume Information and WindowsImageBackup.
In the first, there are several dated folders. These are the restore points. I think we can delete, in treesize, all those that are dated earlier than the last one. Is that correct?
The second includes today's backup (203 GB). To keep, agreed, but in what case will it be useful and how to use it?
Finally, I wonder if the questions I am asking can be considered as part of the same topic or if they should be placed elsewhere in the forum?
See you and thanks again
Hello,
Restore points can either be completely removed or limited in size.
https://www.malekal.com/le-dossier-system-volume-information-comment-le-vider-les-problemes-de-virus-ou-utilisation-disque-excessive/
Using a WindowsBackup image doesn't make much sense because if the disk is bloated, then its image is too, and in any case, backups or system images should be made on an external device.
One should more generally question their usefulness; I only keep a backup of my data and installers for programs that I fear I won't be able to retrieve from an external device, along with a Windows installation key; a total Windows crash is fortunately not that common and reinstalling is not that time-consuming.
Hello,
I'm having trouble understanding your issue. Please post us a screenshot of your Disk Management.
Hello epango :-)
Here is the link for the screenshot: https://postimg.cc/dLR61gLN
Thank you for your suggestions.
Hello,
Did I not answer the question in <3>?
Restorations or old images are of course of no interest and should be deleted.
But we are here, as I said, in the situation of a snake biting its own tail; locally backing up an obese disk (which already contains such files) leads to bulky backups: reduce the size of the restoration file if you don’t want to delete it, make backups on an external medium rather than locally.
By the way, also check if there’s cleaning up to do on the disk of programs and data that have become unnecessary and which not only take up unnecessary space but are also backed up unnecessarily.
Right-click on the Windows logo, then click on Disk Management. It's the window that will open which you should post. Like this one. You can directly insert an image like here with the site's tools.
Screenshot to respond to epango
Thanks to brucine for this information that will be useful for me to delete the relevant folders.
You haven't captured the whole picture. We can't see the percentages of free space like in the Disk Management image above.
On disk 2, there is 79% of free space remaining, which is 749.91GB unused. I don’t see what your problem is.
I think there's a little confusion.
The disk in question is disk No 1 (F) which has 286 GB of free space.
The table visible on TreeSizeFree
The numbering of my disks seems to be wacky!?
So it's disk 1 (RESERVED) that has 286GB of free space. What does it contain that is special? Otherwise, you could move some items to, for example, disk 3 which has 75% free space.
Hello
To recap, the disk properties show a total capacity of 931 GB with 645 used and 286 free.
My actually available folders/files total 9 GB
According to TreeSize (table above), 3 folders that I do not have normal access to total 636 (246.9 + 203.8 + 185.3)
636 + 9 indeed makes 645
My point concerns these three folders
According to what I have read elsewhere, you shouldn't touch the first one.
The second one either if I want to have a backup of my system. Should it be updated since my system evolves based on the software I use, download, or delete?
The third is apparently a backup system
that I must have set up without really knowing what was being backed up. Is it about restore points? Is it useful to have this as the folder's size seems to be increasing every day?
Isn't it a brand-name PC? If so, which one? Maybe a backup system on your PC allows you to save, at fixed intervals, the contents of your PC to disk1 (F, Reserve) since there is a Backup folder with usage dates next to it.
The PC was assembled by a builder. No brand. What is written (TooQ) on the case does not provide any clues about the inside: ASUSTEK A-620M motherboard, AMD K19 processor, 15 GB RAM, 4 SSDs on the motherboard, all running Windows 11 Home 64-bit.
The designation AMD K19 is not the one commonly used for AMD CPUs. You have a motherboard powered by an A620 chipset, which has an AM5 socket that supports CPUs from the Ryzen 7000, 8000, to 9000 series. I don’t know why they installed 4 SSDs instead of putting more money into the motherboard, for example. You use your PC for photo processing. However, it's not the "Photos" drive that's full, but "Reserve," which contains a backup that is almost full. You might need to disable the backup so that everything you do is no longer saved on this SSD.
It’s impossible for me to talk about the components and their roles. I trust the assembler who always asks me to clarify my usage of my PC (as well as the family PCs). I’ve been dragging around since 2007 with a PC housed in the same Antec case, with periodic updates every three to four years.
The new little one, four times less imposing and lighter too, was built based on my actual needs, but I insisted on having the four M2 SSDs (useful or not?).
Regarding the three folders mentioned in my post from 8/5 at 9:52, the one called PC JACQUES. I opened it and got this
I chose Manage and got this
I will try to figure it out, but if you have any advice, I’m all ears!
For the WindowsImageBackup folder, when I open it, I get ... PC JACQUES. I infer that it may be necessary to do something here because it’s probably a duplicate???
Looking forward to hearing from you .... and thank you! :-)
This disk is used for backing up what happens on your PC. You probably have it configured to back up data after a period of use or on a specific day of the week. You have a system image that takes up the most space. It is interesting because it can allow you to restore your PC to how it was after a failure. Other files, we do not know what they contain. We might be able to delete some items from them, but they do not take up much space.
Finally, it is preferable to make backups on a mobile medium: mobile HDD or SSD. You may use your PC for photos; in that case, a medium reserved for photos makes sense. Otherwise, allocate less SSD space and choose an external backup medium with a larger capacity, like 2TB, for example.
Well, I think we've covered the topic. I'm going to make some decisions that will help me see things more clearly but, above all, that will prevent me from being on the verge of apoplexy with my hard drive.
Regarding a backup drive, I already have what I need for all my data, but it's about to reach its limit with 1 TB. By upgrading to 2 TB, I could combine it with the system backup.
On this topic, we were discussing with friends about the item we would take in case of a hasty departure. We all pretty much agreed: the backup drive!
I just want to thank you and the other participants.
Have a great weekend.
I will close the topic.