[Arther]

Hey all,

I recently noticed that I am starting to get a little low on hardrive space (at least by my standard), and was trying to think of ways to clean up my system to make sure i am not waisting any space. I am currently at 52gig free out of 150gig. One area i think could be a problem is pictures - I have about 7 - 8 gigs of picutres on my computer, and can't help but wonder if some of those are duplicates.

Is there a safe and easy way for me to clean up my computer to free up more space?


I only have one game installed on my pc right now, and its only taken up @ 18gigs but will eventually take up closer to 30gig's so i want to make sure i have enough space to safley run my pc and the game....

Back when i bought this hardive (WD 150gig 10k RPM HD) it seemed fine, but over the years and seeing how you can very large HD's for fairly cheap I do one day want to upgrade to a much larger HD. When that time comes will i be able to just transfer everything from my current HD to my new HD?? Or will have i have to start from scratch with a fresh install of W7-64bit...ect...??

Thanks for any advice!

[LiveBrianD]

You can use programs like Easeus todo backup to clone to a new hard drive without reinstalling Windows. I would download ccleaner and let it clean your browser history, temp files, etc. Also use the windows Disk Cleanup tool to delete system restore points.

[Rommel]

Its always good to look through your pc and see what is no longer needed to free up some space.

As far as performance goes, it is nornmal that in time a pc starts to perform slower than when we first get it.
I don't recommend messing with this part but some of that is registy.

What you can safly do is as Brian said, but also, if you didn't already, run superantispyware. It picks up cookies that arn't always removed when you click to delete them from your browser tools.
Also, in XP type, msconfig, or in windows 7 under the start button type it. Choose the boot tab. Uncheck programs that load during boot that you do not need running all the time.

This post has been edited by Rommel: 04 December 2011 - 03:44 PM

[LiveBrianD]

Note: I'm starting to have second thoughts about using ccleaner's registry cleaner. Right now, my desktop won't show me the login screen (just shows the image it has in the background there, but doesn't actually let me login), and I suspect that may have something doing. As a result, I'm now reinstalling windows. (Well, I was planning to change to AHCI anyway, so I'm doing it now)

You can also remove boot programs via ccleaner, which is how I usually do it.

[Rommel]

Rommel, on 04 December 2011 - 03:42 PM, said:

I don't recommend messing with this part but some of that is registy.

I agree Brian, thats why I mentioned it.

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 04 December 2011 - 03:54 PM, said:

Note: I'm starting to have second thoughts about using ccleaner's registry cleaner. Right now, my desktop won't show me the login screen (just shows the image it has in the background there, but doesn't actually let me login), and I suspect that may have something doing. As a result, I'm now reinstalling windows. (Well, I was planning to change to AHCI anyway, so I'm doing it now)

You can also remove boot programs via ccleaner, which is how I usually do it.

If you backed up the registry files, it is easy enough to put them back. I haven't had any problems using the registry tol in CCLeaner, but I don't use it all that often.

[LiveBrianD]

coastie65, on 04 December 2011 - 06:01 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 04 December 2011 - 03:54 PM, said:

Note: I'm starting to have second thoughts about using ccleaner's registry cleaner. Right now, my desktop won't show me the login screen (just shows the image it has in the background there, but doesn't actually let me login), and I suspect that may have something doing. As a result, I'm now reinstalling windows. (Well, I was planning to change to AHCI anyway, so I'm doing it now)

You can also remove boot programs via ccleaner, which is how I usually do it.

If you backed up the registry files, it is easy enough to put them back. I haven't had any problems using the registry tol in CCLeaner, but I don't use it all that often.

And that is where part of the problem lies - I get lazy and never bother to do that! Oh well, I got it working fine again. For some odd reason, under the Safe Device Removal Icon, I see my internal hard drives (didn't happen under the SATA controller's IDE mode).

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 04 December 2011 - 06:51 PM

[Arther]

Thanks for all the tips so far...

I do run superantispyware & Malwarebyts on demand at least once a week, and run MSE in real time. I try and delete browing history once or twice a week, and run diskcleanup every few weeks, and de-frag once every frew months. My system runs smooth - with very few problems so performance is not a problem, i was just starting to get a little worried because i am starting to get low on hardrive space and with this new up coming game i plan on playing taken up so much hardrive space i want to make sure i am not going to run into a problem with system running out of hardrive space.

I had planned on upgrading my motherboard, CPU and memory (this next year sometime). I guess i will be upgrading my hardrive when i do all the other stuff next year sometime. I am glad to hear i can do a clone of my current hardrive to the new hardrive when i get ready to upgrade next year....

So any other ways i can do a scan of my system just to make sure i don't have a lot of duplicate picuters, video's, music ect....

I read a few of the reivews for programs that were listed/recommended on pcworld.com but the few that were listed were either old reveiews/recommendations or they didn't have very good reviews...Not sure if any of these programs are good or worth the risk? any feedback is welcomed!

Thanks again.

[LiveBrianD]

CCleaner is the only cleaning tool I trust. And even then, I'm still a bit wary of the registry cleaner part (after something screwed up my windows install, and I suspect it).

[myloginname]

Especially with registry cleaning, you want to be very careful. Superantispyware is good, but it once messed up my computer somehow as well. Like LBD, the only thing I really trust is CCleaner.

I have heard of those little tools called "duplicate finders" or something like that, but even those can't be perfect. If you happen to get a new HDD, one thing that you will definitely want to do is to organize your photos in the first place, because that will prevent the problem.

[Arther]

When i do get around to getting a new HD - could i use one for just photo's, music, video's ect...and one for just installing games on? If so does that mean i would need to have more than one copy of windows 7? Or will the one copy i own know work for both HD's?

[Rommel]

Arther, on 06 December 2011 - 01:51 PM, said:

When i do get around to getting a new HD - could i use one for just photo's, music, video's ect...and one for just installing games on? If so does that mean i would need to have more than one copy of windows 7? Or will the one copy i own know work for both HD's?

When adding another HDD most times windows will see it and your good.
From here, just copy/paste whatever you want to move to the new drive.
I say copy/paste just as a precaution. You could cut/paste but it's good to know you have everything the way you want before removing something for good.

If everything transfers fine, which it should, delete what you moved off your main drive.

If your drive isn't seen when installed, that can be rememdied.

This post has been edited by Rommel: 06 December 2011 - 03:50 PM

[LiveBrianD]

Arther, on 06 December 2011 - 01:51 PM, said:

When i do get around to getting a new HD - could i use one for just photo's, music, video's ect...and one for just installing games on? If so does that mean i would need to have more than one copy of windows 7? Or will the one copy i own know work for both HD's?

You can have one install of windows with a license of it, but if you want to have some of your stuff on a different drive, you can. Just make sure you set the game to install to the second drive if that's what you want to do.

[gmnelson2009]

since this is a desktop and you have a place to put a second hdd and your original is a 10k rpm drive, I would leave it for a system drive and install a large second drive for data (it doesn't have to be an expensive 10k drive). after installing and formatting the drive, create a <users> folder with a sub-folder for each user, log in, select start/computer/<currentusername>/<select each folder in turn(documents, music, etc.)>/right click/properties/location/move, select the user's folder on the new drive and click <accept>. after moving all your folders, log out, then log in as the next user and repeat for this users folders (the system only lets you move YOUR folders, so you have to log in as each user to move their folders). you might also want to create a <programs> folder and use it for any programs that are 'portable' (i.e. you only have to expand them from their download format and use them without an 'installation' that makes entries in the registry etc.).

your original C:\ drive will have the OS and your 'installed' programs, while your secondary (possibly d:\) drive will have your personal data and will not be touched if you have to do a system restore or re-install. it's not really productive to put the programs on the new disk because if you have to restore your system, even though the program FILES are there, all the registry entries have been lost and it will not work. if you have a game or any other program that is a particular space hog you might make a exception to this rule while remembering the reason for it if needed, or checking to see if there are modules (saved games, themes, saved work, etc.) that could be relocated off the main program drive.