Second HD

I have a HP pc that came with a 60G hd which is full.I deleted alot of material I didn't want (pics and music files) but it didn't really gain anything for space.I installed a second hd (Maxtor 200G) for additional storage.My question is, what is the correct way to transfer files from the "C" hd to the new "G" hd? I just cut and pasted some folders in my C/program files to the new hd but it still isn't gaining much space.What files can I move that would enable me to gain a significant amount of space? I would like to have at least 15% free space on the C hd and currently have only 4%.

 

Hello Rackster,

The OS and files will take up at most 5 - 6 gig, what's taking up the rest?

http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=50543 A way to add folder size to detail view - adds a Folder Size column.

How to: Bring up the drives and highlight the file or folder and move (drag) to the target drive - right clicking and drag will give you the choice of copy or move. Left click and drag is a default copy - when going from one partition or drive to another, otherwise within partition, its a default move

Regards - Charles

 

How do I find out what is taking up so much space?

 

Thru the detail view option instead of the default list option. I also gave you a way to see folder sizes in detail view. If you don't want to do that, then right click on every folder > properties.

Also in Tools (toolbar at the very top) > Folder Options > view tab (not be confused with detail view from above) > scroll down and change the options to display Hidden Files/Folders and to display hidden Operating System files. One of the large files is probably System Restore's SVI file. There is a way to control the size of that.

Regards - Charles

 

Be careful! You cannot just cut and paste Program Files. If you want to change the location of a program's folder you need to uninstall the program and reinstall it to the other drive (my program/application drive is E:, I have made a folder E:\Program Files so when a installation asks where to install I just change C:\Program Files\XXXXXprogram to E:\Program Files\XXXXXprogram...change the C: to an E: ). Some programs will still make a folder in the C:\Program Files folder, some files have to be stored on the C: drive depending on how complex the program/application is...so even if you change all your new installations to the G: drive there will still most likely be some space taken up on the C: drive.

There are utilities that claim to be able to "move" programs, but from my experience they need to monitor the installation and check all the changes that are being made. Even using those I would not have 100% confidence that the "move" could be done successfully. I just use the uninstall/reinstall method.
Something else...if you uninstall a program, it should leave your "saved" files intact, so, if you uninstall say a game from the C: drive and reinstall it to the G: drive, you then cut and paste the "Save Games" to the same folder in G:

Have you checked through Add/Remove programs in Control Panel to "cull" any old programs that you may no longer need? Some programs have an Uninstall listed when you go to Start -> Programs, others may be able to be uninstalled by rerunning the installation/setup program.

If I am getting short on space and cannot find if there are large numbers of temporary or storage files being put somewhere I just go through and uninstall programs that I don't need.

Consider smaller programs. Programs like Windows Media Player can be replaced with much smaller media players.

Find out about the "Compess old files" section of Clean Up. I generally leave it alone, someone may be tell us of their experience with it.

Matt

 

DiskData is a handy program for finding out what's using up your disk space. If you'd like, you can get the last freeware version of it here (toward the bottom of the page). I've used the freeware version for years but have never tried the new paid version so I can't tell you what's new or different in it. The screen shots of it at the first link are pretty much the same as the version I have though.

 

Thanks Zander, I've been looking for something like this to recommend. I use an early version of DiskPie from PCMAG which has gone shareware since.

Regards - Charles

 

If I may add, here's another handy program for finding out what's using up your disk space. I've used this one for some time and it's also free.

Scanner v2.6
http://www.steffengerlach.de/freeware/

This one's not quite as elaborate as "Disk Data ".

 

Clean the Disks

Hi,
Try running clean manager.
It might show you all the temporary and other unwanted files on the disks.
Also, amount of space to be freed will be displayed.

START
RUN
type CLEANMGR
press ENTER
select DRIVE that you want to clean.

Regards,

Sef