Maximize your hard drive free space

Please let us know how useful you find this tip by rating it below. Do you have a useful Windows tip, timesaver or workaround to share? Submit it to our monthly tip contest and you could win a prize!

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

If you create backups of computers either for a rollout image or for off-site storage, be sure to keep your hard drive free space at a maximum. Here are some quick tips.

1) Get rid of temporary files that aren't needed. With hard drive sizes so incredibly large, Internet Explorer now gives itself over 2 GB of storage space for temporary Internet files on a 160 GB hard drive. During imaging you only image the used space of the drive, so an extra 2GB could be important.

2) Keep the number of profiles on your computer to a minimum. Windows profiles can be quite small, but they grow rapidly if they aren't maintained. If you have 20 users on a computer, do they all need a separate log-in?

3) Many installers use the local settingstemp folder to store files during install. Unfortunately, not all installers empty that folder when they are done.

4) Turn off Windows Restore. It will use a large portion of your drive, which is pointless if you are using some other utility to store your backups.

This was first published in October 2005

Join the conversationComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.

    Disclaimer: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.

    Back to top