In today’s digital world, computers can fill up fast with an assortment of pictures, MP3s, and videos whose files consume large portions of a hard drive. Unfortunately, other files and programs can fill up available storage space with unnecessary files. A few programs in Windows can take care of this problem and optimize your computer’s storage space.
Disk Cleanup
Disk Cleanup can safely remove most of the unnecessary files that accumulate in various places in your computer’s hard drive. Disk Cleanup can be found in the Accessories directory under Programs in the Start Menu. Any type of file found through that program can be selected to be removed.
Disk Defragmenter
Also called Disk Defrag, the Disk Defragmenter can help consolidate files that a computer scatters pieces of throughout the hard drive, as well as compressing files that haven’t been used in a while. While this utility won’t free up quite as much space as the Disk Cleanup utility, it can help the functionality and speed of your computer. Disk Defragmenter can be found in the same directory as Disk Cleanup.
System Restore
Windows integrates a utility called System Restore that as the name might suggest, can restore your computer should something cause it to crash or become otherwise difficult to operate. If only it was that easy! The program is often clunky, and Brainspiral Technologies, Inc. hasn’t had much luck with it. If you are concerned about backing up your files, please contact us about better methods of doing so. That being the case, it is best to limit the amount of space consumed by this utility. You can adjust the amount of space consumed by this utility through its interface found under the System icon in the Control Panel.
If you have any questions concerning freeing up storage in Windows or setting up an effective and thorough backup system, please feel free to contact us. We can recommend methods beyond what is presented here for freeing up storage as well as products and methods for backing up your files.