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System cleaning windows 10. How to clear the application cache from the Windows Store

Does it load fast HDD or solid state drive? Want to free up space on your Windows 10 PC? In this guide, we will discuss all the ways to free up hard drive space in Windows 10.

You can free up gigabytes (GB) of disk space on your computer — it's not difficult at all. In this article, we will list all possible ways free up space on your Windows 10 PC.

Here are 16 Ways to Free Up Disk Space in Windows 10.

You know about this and probably have already done so. If not, remove unnecessary programs and apps right away to free up disk space. Some of the programs can reserve GB of valuable disk space.

By going to the application " Options» → « Applications» → « Applications and features», You can view the used disk space, applications and programs. You can also uninstall apps and programs directly from this page.

You may want to consider deleting not very useful installed applications to free up disk space in Windows 10. Refer to our Windows 10 guide for instructions.

2. Turn off hibernation to free up disk space

Before you get started, let's make it clear that we only suggest turning off the hibernation feature if you are not using it or do not know what the hibernation feature is.

The hibernation function on startup creates a file hyberfil.sys which is the size of the RAM on your PC. For example, if your computer is equipped with 8 GB RAM, the sleep function takes about 7 GB disk space, decent size, isn't it.

Remember that this feature is enabled by default in Windows 10, but by default it is not added to the Start menu. So make sure it is disabled if you are not using it.

Here's how to turn off the hibernation feature.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt as Administrator by typing CMD in the search box Start / taskbar, right-click the element "Command line" and choose "Run as administrator".

Step 2: At an elevated command prompt, type:

and press the key Enter to turn off the hibernation function and free up space.

You can use instead Command line - PowerShell

3. Disable or remove system restore points

System restore points come in handy if you want to restore your Windows 10 PC to an earlier date to fix possible problems... Depending on the number of restore points and the space allocated for the system restore point creation function, this takes up GB of disk space. Again, turning off System Restore is not recommended, especially if you know how to use it!

But there is one point, you can delete all restore points except the last one, if you do not want to disable this feature. There are also ways to delete individual restore points.

Here's how to turn off System Restore.

Step 1: In the search box Start / Taskbar enter and press the key Enter.

Step 2: Go to the tab "System protection"... In chapter "Protection parameters" select the drive and click "Tune".

Step 3: In the dialog box that appears, select and click Apply.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 for other drives to completely disable System Restore for all drives and free up disk space in Windows 10.

4. Empty Trash

You probably know that when you delete a file in Windows 10 by selecting the file and then pressing the Delete key, the file is moved to the trash. While the file is in the Recycle Bin, it continues to consume disk space. You can recover valuable disk space by allocating less disk space to the Recycle Bin and by deleting all files from the Recycle Bin.

If you often use the combination Shift keys+ Del to delete files without moving files to the Trash, you should probably disable the Trash. We also recommend configuring Windows 10 to automatic deletion old files from the recycle bin.

Like older versions software, old drivers are unnecessary and take up disk space. Luckily, Windows 10 makes it easy for you to uninstall old device drivers. Please see our instructions for uninstalling old device drivers in the Windows 10 guide for step by step instructions.

Step 1: Open up This computer... Right-click on the drive where Windows 10 is installed, and then click "Properties".

Step 2: Click the button Disk Cleanup.

Step 3: In the next dialog box, click " Clean up system files ".

Step 4: When you see the results, check the box next to Device Driver Packages and press the button "OK" to remove the Driver Packages files.

6. Delete the Windows.old folder

If you recently upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7 / 8.1 or upgraded to latest version Windows 10, you will most likely have a folder called Windows.old in the root directory of your system drive.

The Windows.old folder contains data from previous versions Windows and it takes at least 10 GB disk space. If you are sure that you do not need data from previous Windows installations, you must delete the Windows.old folder to free up a significant amount of disk space.

10. Removing unused user accounts

A new user account usually takes up very little disk space. Depending on the number of files and size, the user account can take up several MB or GB of disk space.

In short, if you have an unused user account on your PC, you can delete it, although you can get very little space by doing this. You can always create a new one account when you need it. To delete an account, open "Options"→ "Accounts" → "Family and other people"... Select the account you do not want and click "Delete".

Compressing disks is probably not a good idea, especially if you don't want to degrade overall performance. However, if you are experiencing an acute shortage of space, you can do so to free up space.

12. Find large files and delete them if you don't need them.

Find large files pretty simple. Find out how to find large files in Windows 10 for step-by-step instructions. Delete large files as well as small files that you no longer need.

Step 1: Open File Explorer. Browse to the drive or folder where you want to search for large files.

Step 2: Click on the search box to see the tab "Search".

Step 3: Click the Search tab to view all search options.

Step 4: Click on "The size", and then select one of the filters. As you can see, there are seven filters in total: Empty (0KB), Tiny (0-10V), Small (10-100KB), Medium (100KB - 1MB), Large (1-16MB) , Huge (16 - 128 MB), Giant (> 128 MB).

If you select the filter Giant (> 128 MB), File Explorer will automatically search for all files larger than 128 MB.

What if you want to search for all files larger than 500 MB? Just. In the search box, enter size:> 500 MB to view all files larger than 500 MB. Similarly, use size:> 1 GB to find all files larger than 1 GB.

Finally, to find all files larger than 1 GB but less 5 GB(you can set any size), just type in the search box size:> 500MB<5GB ... You can of course change these values!

Delivery Optimization files are files that were previously downloaded to your computer. You can delete these files to free up disk space in Windows 10. To delete Delivery Optimization files:

Step 1: Open up This computer... Right-click on the drive where Windows 10 is installed, and then click "Properties".

Step 2: Click the button Disk Cleanup.

Step 3: When you see the results, check the box Delivery Optimization Files and press the button "OK" to delete Delivery Optimization files.

Temporary files that applications are not using can also be deleted. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Open the app "Options"... Go to section System → Storage.

Step 3: Please select Delete temporary files not used by my applications.

Make sure no other options are selected, and then click "Clear now"... After a few seconds, you will see how much space you have recovered by deleting temporary files not used by applications. As you can see in the picture above, we got about 2.3 GB of disk space.

15. Removing duplicate files and folders

Finding duplicate files on your computer is not an easy task, but there are programs that can help you find and remove duplicate files and folders. We offer a program dupeGuru to find and remove duplicate files.

16. Use an external drive or cloud service

Last but not least: You can move photos and videos to an external drive or cloud service to free up disk space with Windows 10.

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Cleaning the operating system of temporary files is a habit that has survived since the popularity of XP and earlier versions of Microsoft's OS. With Windows 10, the situation is a little different, but the idea of removing everything unnecessary from the working system is hard to root out, which is densely ingrained in the minds of users.

Basic moments

Do the top ten need cleanup and how can it be more competently carried out? Let's figure it out. What kind of unnecessary load can the system be freed from? Usually we are talking about:

deleting temporary files of the OS itself;
destruction of the remnants of the activity of third-party programs (most often browsers);
cleaning the registry from errors;
an attempt to free up disk space by removing garbage;
way to speed up your computer in the same way.

Windows 10 is the new and, to some extent, the most advanced operating system from Microsoft. In theory, it should be smarter than outdated versions and itself to ensure that the garbage files that accumulate during its operation do not slow down the system. In one of the interviews, the company's employees themselves reacted extremely negatively and with concern to one of the most popular third-party programs for cleaning the registry and temporary files, citing the fact that dubious utilities should not be allowed to "encroach" on data, and even more so on the registry.

These words are not so empty and are not an attempt to protect your offspring from "left" applications. Indeed, some "tweakers" can lead to violations of the stability of Windows 10, and some of them are simply blocked during installation. The situation has reached the point that some small utilities for configuring the system, which have long become familiar, may lead to the need to reinstall the latter.

What Microsoft itself offers

Therefore, the first step is to evaluate the built-in capabilities of the OS, with the help of which the system partition can be cleaned up. You cannot get into the registry on the recommendation of the creators of the operating system. All that remains is to clean up the temporary files and free the C drive to make some room for something more useful. Windows 10 itself offers an interesting and rather informative tool that was not present in older operating systems - "Storage".

Hold down the Win + I keyboard shortcut ..
In the opened window of all OS parameters, open the "System" section.
Here select the appropriate tab:

As you can see, here you can visually examine the contents of the hard drive or SSD and understand whether cleaning is needed. By clicking on any of the disks, you can get exact information about the number of files of a particular type. At the very bottom of the list there is always an item "Temporary files", as well as a button for emptying the Trash, as a nested option. Using them, you can free up the specified amount of space on the storage medium.

The second way to clean up a disk in Windows 10 is to right-click on the disk icon and select Properties. Here, on the main tab, it's hard not to notice the Disk Cleanup button.

Pressing it by itself will not lead to irrevocable changes - Windows 10 will only scan the media for something that can be safely removed. At the end, it will give out a list in which you can select those items where you need cleaning.

Be careful: what if you need it from the previously installed system (if any), because without removing the check mark from the "Previous settings" item, you can immediately lose this folder. Although, over time, it will itself be liquidated.

There are two main methods by which you can clean the system of excess accumulated junk.

Third Party Applications

As mentioned above, the installed programs should be used only at your own peril and risk: only you are responsible for the performance of Windows 10 after they "pass" through the system partition. CCleaner remains the most popular utility since Windows XP. This is what Microsoft programmers don't like. The application has a simple and intuitive interface:

The items "Cleanup" and "Registry" are the most cherished for those who want to clean up their Windows 10 from garbage. But before you rush to temporary files, carefully monitor the installed checkboxes:

Failure to do this can result in the loss of important data. For example, in the screenshot just above, a checkmark stands in front of the Trash files, as well as passwords and forms saved in the browser. After the "Analysis" button is pressed and then the "Cleanup" button, the browser will return to its initial state, only bookmarks will be saved. Therefore, be careful.

This concludes a short tour of the system cleaning capabilities. Use only proven and reliable methods and avoid little-known suspicious applications and utilities.

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Many personal computer users find their device slows down over time. It takes longer to open folders or launch programs. This is due to the fact that a lot of unnecessary files have accumulated on the computer, the existence of which they do not even suspect. It is to delete these files that there are programs for cleaning your computer.

Removing garbage on a personal computer using third-party programs

When we talk about "garbage" on a computer, we are not talking about unnecessary programs or games on the hard drive. Usually this concept includes:

temporary files - they are created by many programs during their work. They should be removed after exiting the application. Unfortunately, this does not always happen automatically, and over time, such files begin to take up more and more space, and the system - to work slower;
browser cache, as well as other data - any browser stores many different files. This is information about visited pages, download history and other user actions. You can delete most of the information through the browser itself, but computer cleaning programs will do it faster and better;
incorrect registry paths - after installing any program, an entry about it appears in the registry. And it will remain there even if the program is removed. Cleaning the registry removes all unnecessary entries, and also fixes errors that may occur there over time.

It is to remove this kind of "garbage" that there are programs for cleaning personal computers. They are usually very easy to use and run automatically.

The computer must be periodically cleaned not only of dust and dirt, but also of unnecessary files

The best programs to clean your Windows 10 computer

Since the issue of cleaning a computer is relevant and was such before, there are many programs that are designed to help the user in this difficult matter. And programs for Windows 10 also exist in a huge number. Consider the most popular and effective computer cleaning programs.

Do not expect miracles from optimization programs. Of course, cleaning the system makes it run faster, but it won't overcome the technical limitations of your hardware.

CCleaner

CCleaner is probably the most famous program from the category of "cleaners":

distribution method - free (with extended technical support in the paid version);
the presence of the Russian language - yes;
link to the official website - https://www.ccleaner.com.

A huge number of users regularly use it to maintain their system. The key features of this program include:

I myself regularly use CCleaner to clean my computer. The context menu, which opens when you right-click on the shopping cart, seems especially convenient to me. It can be used to quickly clean up files on your computer or data inside the Trash. Considering that the program is completely free and does not limit its functionality in any way, I consider it one of the best options for cleaning your computer.

Video: unobvious features of CCleaner

Advanced SystemCare

Advanced SystemCare positions itself as a program to speed up your computer and has the following features:

distribution method - free (with advanced functionality in the paid version);
the presence of the Russian language - yes;
link to the official website - https://ru.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper/.

Basically, acceleration is achieved using the same cleaning of the system from "garbage". The main advantages of this program are as follows:

The disadvantages of this program, in my opinion, are also enough:

The amount of garbage that the program itself leaves on the system does not allow me to take it seriously. It is too intrusive, and besides, removing it from the system completely is not an easy task. The choice is always yours, but such an attitude towards my users, for example, is not to my liking.

Ashampoo WinOptimizer Free

If you need software for regular system maintenance, Ashampoo WinOptimizer Free is an excellent choice. Her main data:

the presence of the Russian language - yes;
link to the official website - https://www.ashampoo.com/ru/rub/pin/3606/System_Utilities/Ashampoo-WinOptimizer-Free.

This program embodies more than a decade of experience in optimizing Windows systems.... With its help, you can perform:

optimization of the registry;
comprehensive disk cleaning from garbage and temporary files;
detailed system configuration in all aspects;
defragmenting the hard disk.

Beginners will be able to quickly master the basic features of the program, while more experienced users will have access to fine-tuning the entire system. A small disadvantage of the WinOptimizer Free application is the not very user-friendly interface.

In addition to cleaning the system, WinOptimizer Free optimizes computer performance and protects files from unauthorized changes.

Revo Uninstaller

The Revo Uninstaller program is primarily designed to properly remove programs from your hard drive:

distribution method - free (there is a paid version);
the presence of the Russian language - yes;
link to the official website - https://www.revouninstaller.com.

When you uninstall programs or games yourself, a lot of garbage remains on the system. Revo Uninstaller is designed to help you remove the application completely. It consists of various modules, each of which does its job:

If you accustom yourself to remove applications from your computer only with the help of such utilities, then there is practically no need to clean your computer. Still, the standard Windows application for uninstalling programs is not efficient enough.

Video: an overview of the features of the Revo Uninstaller

Wise Disk Cleaner

Quite a handy program designed to make the process of cleaning the system easier. It is well suited for those users who do not need dozens of additional features and just want to clean their system. Key features of the app:

distribution method - free;
the presence of the Russian language - yes;
link to the official site - https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-disk-cleaner.html.

The cleaning process itself is literally one click away. The rest of the capabilities of this program have already been encountered in similar tools. The only thing that can be highlighted is the ability to set up a timer operation, as well as two cleaning modes:

TweakNow PowerPack

A comprehensive program, the main purpose of which is to optimize the entire system. Here are its characteristics:

distribution method - free;
the presence of the Russian language - no;
link to the official site - https://www.tweaknow.com/PowerPack.php.

Cleaning from "garbage" is only one of the possibilities, which does not really stand out against the background of others. The main advantages of the program are as follows:

There are also disadvantages of this program:

the interface is implemented only in English;
Although the program supports Windows 10, it was originally intended to optimize older versions of this operating system and not all of its capabilities were fully transferred to the top ten.

Auslogics Registry Cleaner

A simple utility designed primarily for cleaning the registry from damaged or unnecessary entries:

distribution method - free;
the presence of the Russian language - yes;
link to the official website - https://www.auslogics.com/ru/software/registry-cleaner/download/.

Of course, this feature is also available in larger programs, but if you only need to clean the registry, Auslogics Registry Cleaner will do the job better than others. Of course, a restore point will be created before deleting the registry paths in case something goes wrong.

Auslogics Registry Cleaner is an effective tool for cleaning the Windows 10 system registry

Kaspersky Cleaner

Kaspersky Cleaner is a utility from the developers of the well-known antivirus program:

distribution method - free;
the presence of the Russian language - yes;
link to the official website - https://free.kaspersky.com/?product=pc-cleaner.

The program has an extremely simple and intuitive interface. Any user can follow the instructions to easily clean their computer. The following features of this utility can be distinguished:

System mechanic

System Mechanic is rather a whole complex for taking care of your device, but you have to pay for full functionality:

distribution method - shareware (many features are available only in the paid version);
the presence of the Russian language - no;
link to the official website - http://www.iolo.com/landing/adwords/system-mechanic-special-offer/.

The program consists of nearly fifty separate instruments. Many technologies that are used here are unique and not found in competitors. The rich toolkit of the application allows you to:

optimize your Internet connection and speed of its work;
find and remove viruses and spyware utilities;
deep clean the registry;
speed up the loading of Windows 10 and all its programs;
recover deleted files, even if they were deleted from your recycle bin;
configure hidden Windows 10 settings.

This program is intended for advanced users and is not recommended for beginners. It is nonetheless a decent tool that you can use to clean up junk from your system.

The System Mechanic program has a very wide functionality and is intended for advanced users.

With the help of System Mechanic, I manage to perform full home system maintenance, and the ability to restore deleted files once saved several hours of my work. But at the same time, I would consider it as a one-time tool, and not as a program for permanent use. For quick cleaning, there are much more convenient applications that have already been mentioned in this article.

Video: Optimize Computer Performance with System Mechanic

Any operating system needs maintenance from time to time. Getting rid of "trash" on your computer should become as familiar to you as cleaning the house. Fortunately, there are many handy programs out there to help you get the job done without the need for special knowledge and time consuming.

Cleaning Windows 10 of temporary files or other junk is an activity that users get used to when using the operating system XP and other earlier versions of the OS. If you believe the words of the developers of this program, then everything is completely different here. However, users who are already accustomed to cleaning their computer still ask themselves the question: "How to clean Windows 10"? Today we will try to answer this question and make it quite simple.

Is a cleaning procedure required on personal computers or laptops with a Windows operating system? How to properly delete all unnecessary files from your device?

First, let's take a look at the types of junk found on modern computers. Most often, devices are cleaned of the following files:

Temporary files of the Windows 10 operating system itself;
Residual files of various programs installed on the computer;
Cleaning the system registry;
Removing garbage from local disks.

It is safe to say that Microsoft Windows 10 operating system is not only the latest version, but also the most functional operating system. In theory, this version is much smarter than the older versions, and therefore it must itself control the junk files that accumulate on local disks and slow down performance. Interestingly, there have been concerns by software developers about using a third-party application to clean up your computer. In their opinion, you should not trust your computer and registry to questionable programs.

There is some logic in this statement and it is clear why developers protect their product from third-party programs. Unfortunately, many applications began to be hacked, and scammers add unwanted software to them, as a result of which the entire operating system fails.

So what's the best Windows 10 cleaning? Standard or third-party capabilities? This issue is discussed in detail in the video below, which also provides information on all methods. Below the video you will find the text version:

Standard OS cleaning capabilities

Let's start by discussing the standard operating system tools that will allow you to clean up. We will not touch the registry in any way, as this is not recommended by the creators of the software. Therefore, we will delete temporary files and free up the local disk.

To do this, you can use an interesting enough informative tool that is not available on previous operating systems. The functionality is called "Storage".

First of all, simultaneously press the two keys "Win" + "L".

Then, after the window with the operating system parameters opens, go to the "System" section.

We select the tab we need.

The user gets the opportunity to thoroughly examine the files on the hard disk and conclude that it is necessary to delete something. By clicking on one of the disks, the user will receive the most accurate information about how many files there are in total on the computer and what type they are. At the very end is the function of showing "Temporary files" and "Trash". Thanks to them, it may turn out to clean up a little space on the hard disk.

Another way to clean Windows 10 involves the following steps:

Click on the disk icon with the right mouse button;
We select "Properties";
Click on the "Disk Cleanup" item.

Everything is extremely simple!

In this case, you should not forget about the folder, all of a sudden, for some reason, it must be saved on a computer or laptop. If you do not need this folder, then feel free to put a tick in front of it, and you will free up space immediately in the amount of 3-15 GB, depending on how much your previous OS weighed.

We have described two standard options for cleaning Windows 10 with our own hands. Now let's talk about third-party applications.

How to clean Windows 10 with third-party programs?

It was already noted above that you can use the Clean Master only by taking full responsibility for the possible consequences. This application has a simple and intuitive interface. And if you download it from our site, then the interface is also in Russian.

This application is not approved by the developers, as it affects the system registry, which is not always a good thing. Therefore, the user should carefully consider the need to use this software. And if you have already chosen, then monitor its work, since situations regularly arise that, as part of the optimization, the utilities delete the necessary files - system or user.

Now you know how to clean Windows 10 with standard tools and third-party applications. If the Wedge Master did not suit you, it has powerful counterparts. Such as . You can choose any solution. So that you do not have to constantly return to this question, we recommend setting up the automatic operation of these tools, which will allow you to entrust all processes to programs.

In the course of its operation, the operating system creates a lot of temporary data that is stored on disk (usually the C drive) in the form of files and registry entries. These can be files of service packs, archivers, shadow copies, content downloaded from the Internet, etc. Third-party programs behave in a similar way, such as browsers, which cache website data. Some temporary files are deleted automatically after a certain time, others remain on the disk until they are forcefully deleted.

If the user does not perform regular maintenance and cleaning of the C drive, the free space on it becomes less and less, up to the point that the disk eventually turns out to be full of temporary files to the eyeballs, which excludes further writing to it of any data and reduces its performance. There are two ways out of this situation - either increase the size of the system partition at the expense of the user volume, or perform a comprehensive cleanup, which is more preferable. Let's see how to free up some space on the local C drive in Windows 7/10.

What can be removed if the disk is full

The system volume contains many important files that ensure the normal operation of Windows, so you should be very careful when doing deep cleaning. What can you remove from drive C to free up space and keep your system running smoothly? We will conditionally divide all its contents into three groups. The first includes files that can be deleted without fear. The second is made up of files, the deletion of which, although it will not damage the system, but under some circumstances can still cause certain problems. The third group includes files that cannot be deleted, as this can make programs and the system unusable. You can clean up the C drive without negative consequences by deleting:

Cart Contents.
Library catalogs.
Temp and Downloaded Program Files folders in the Windows directory.
Cache of browsers and some third-party programs.
Sketches of icons.
Logs and memory dumps for system errors.
Old files of the Chkdsk utility.
Bug reports.
Files created by the Windows debugger.

With some caution, you can delete shadow copies () created during the installation of updates and stored in backups, files of previous system installations (Windows.old folder), unnecessary components and applications, folders of uninstalled programs in the ProgramData, Program Files and Roaming directories, MSOCache folder Microsoft Office... If not used and quick start, you can delete the file hiberfil.sys in the root of the C drive, having previously disabled these functions in the settings. Deleting the paging file is acceptable but not desirable pagefile.sys... You cannot delete other files and folders on the C drive so as not to disrupt the operation of the system.

Cleaning up garbage and temporary files using Windows

First, let's take a look at how to clean the C drive of unnecessary files in Windows 7/10 using the operating system itself. For these purposes, Windows has a built-in utility cleanmgr.exe, which can be launched both through the properties of the section to be cleared, and through the "Run" dialog box. After the utility scans the disk for obsolete files, check the boxes on the "Disk Cleanup" tab and click "OK".

If you click the "Clean up system files" button, reports, device driver packages, error dumps and additionally restore points, with the exception of the most recent, will become available for deletion.

For a deeper and more thorough cleaning of the C drive from garbage, you can use the built-in console utilities Dism and vssadmin... The first allows you to delete temporary data from the WinSxS folder, including backups created before installing Windows updates. To do this, use the following commands executed in the CMD console launched as an administrator:

DISM.exe / online / Cleanup-Image / StartComponentCleanup
DISM.exe / online / Cleanup-Image / SPSuperseded
vssadmin delete shadows / all / quiet

The first command does the same thing as the cleanmgr.exe utility, only more thoroughly.

The second removes all backup service packs from the WinSxS folder.

The third command can delete all restore points, including the last one.

However, you should use these tools with caution, since after executing the indicated commands, you will no longer be able to roll back the system to a working state or a previous version.

Note: before cleaning the WinSxS folder, it is recommended to set its true size, thereby making sure that it really needs cleaning. To do this, run the command on the command line Dism.exe / Online / Cleanup-Image / AnalyzeComponentStore and compare the actual size of the component store with the size metric in the properties of the Explorer.

After updating Windows to a newer version, a folder appears in the root of drive C Windows.old which can take up significant disk space.

The contents of this directory are represented by copies system files installing a previous version of Windows. If you are determined not to go back to the old version of the system, you can delete the Windows.old folder. This is done again either with cleanmgr.exe or using the command line. In the first case, you need to find and mark on the "Advanced" tab the item "Previous Windows installations", in the second - run the command in the CMD console running on behalf of the administrator rd / s / q c: /windows.old.

You can get a little extra space on the C drive by removing unused components, the same ones that can be accessed by the classic Add / Remove Programs applet.

The standard Dism utility is also used here. To select and uninstall an unused Windows component, run two of the following commands in the CMD console running with elevated rights:

DISM.exe / Online / English / Get-Features / Format: Table
DISM.exe / Online / Disable-Feature / featurename: NAME / Remove

The first command lists all the components in the system, the second removes the selected item. In this example, its name must be substituted for the string element NAME.

Manual removal of programs and files

With the exception of Windows 8.1 and 10 universal apps, almost all desktop programs are installed in the folder Program Files... If the program is no longer needed, it should be removed so that it does not take up space on the disk, only this must be done either using a standard uninstaller or using special third-party programs. Nevertheless, after uninstalling applications, their folders with configuration files, the weight of which can reach several hundred megabytes, may remain on the disk. Such data must be deleted manually.

Let's say you have removed Microsoft Office or Skype from your computer and want to get rid of all their "tails" left on the C drive. To do this, carefully check the Program Files and ProgramData directories in the root of the C drive, as well as the folders C: / Users / UserName / AppData... If the folder name matches the name of the remote application, you can delete it.

The AppData folder is a little more complicated. This hidden directory contains three subfolders: Local, LocalLow, and Roaming. The first stores files created in the course of the work of various programs. You cannot clean it entirely, as this will most likely lead to the loss of saved application settings, however, half-empty folders of uninstalled programs can be safely deleted. It is also safe to clear the contents of the folder located in it. Temp.

The same applies to the LocalLow and Roaming folders, only those directories that belonged to previously uninstalled applications can be deleted from them.

Note: clearing the contents of the Local, LocalLow and Roaming folders, you lose user settings and data saved in their cache. For example, after deleting its folders in the user profile, you will lose the current messenger settings and part of the message history.

As for the removal of universal applications, they are uninstalled using the standard tools of the system itself or the CCleaner program, which will be discussed below. You can also move some universal applications from drive C to drive D if they support this feature.

Transferring desktop programs to another volume is also possible, for these purposes there is a special utility SteamMover which you can download from the developer's site www.traynier.com/software/steammover.

Using CCleaner

Many novice users are interested in how to delete unnecessary files from the C drive using third-party programs, as well as which of these programs are more effective and safe in this regard. These can be recommended CCleaner- simple, fast, convenient, and most importantly safe disk and registry cleaner for Windows. This program allows you to delete temporary Internet data and Windows itself, the contents of the thumbnail cache and DNS, Index.dat files, memory dumps, chkdsk fragments, various system logs, obsolete prefetch files and many more non-essential data.

With CCleaner, you can clear the system registry from incorrect entries, optimize, enable, disable or remove browser extensions, analyze the contents of hard drives, search for duplicates and, of course, uninstall unnecessary applications, including universal ones.

The CCleaner interface is very simple, so even a novice user will not be difficult to deal with its simple functionality.

Considering, however, that the main purpose of CCleaner is still cleaning, all its additional tools have limited functionality. If your C drive is clogged with something incomprehensible, and you want to find out what exactly, then for these purposes it is better to use specific utilities, for example, Scanner, JdiskReport or their analogs, showing more accurate information about the file structure of the media with the ability to navigate through the subdirectories.

Other ways to free up space on the C drive

Clearing the driver store

The above steps are usually enough to free up enough space on the system volume, but what if the C drive is still full? What else can you do to get more space? One option is to clear the contents of the folder FileRepository located at C: / Windows / System32 / DriverStore.

This directory contains copies of device drivers that have ever been connected to the computer, and may also contain outdated drivers. Before removing driver packages from the FileRepository folder, it is highly advisable to create a complete list of them and find only outdated versions in it, and leave the rest untouched. It would also not hurt to create a complete copy of all drivers installed on the system. To list the DriverStore drivers in a file, run the following command from an elevated command prompt:

pnputil.exe / e> C: /drivers.log

Compare the driver versions in the list and remove only the outdated ones.

To remove the selected driver, immediately run the command in the console pnputil.exe / d oem№.inf, where # is the name of the driver in the list.

If an error is displayed in the console when uninstalling a driver, then the driver is being used by the system. You do not need to touch such a component.

As an alternative to the command line, you can use free utility Driver Store Explorer, just designed to remove old unused device drivers.

Disable hibernation

With hibernation mode, the user can quickly return to work in running applications, on the other hand, its use requires allocation on system disk significant space, slightly less than or equal to the volume random access memory... If the availability of free space on the hard drive is a priority for you, hibernation mode can be disabled by deleting the hiberfil.sys container file.

Run the CMD console as administrator and run the command in it powercfg -h off... Hibernation will be disabled and the bulky hiberfil.sys file will be removed.

Note: the hibernation file can be compressed at most twice with the command powercfg hibernate size 50.

Disable paging file

In addition to other hidden system objects in the root of the C drive, there is also a file that can be deleted under certain conditions. This is the swap file pagefile.sys... This file plays the role of a buffer of RAM, and if some application does not have enough RAM for its work, its data is temporarily written to. Accordingly, if there is no swap file, the heavy application will slow down a lot or simply freeze while waiting for the faster RAM to be freed. Therefore, it is not recommended to disable and delete the paging file, unless the computer has a very large amount of RAM.

If your PC has more than 10GB of memory, or you are not going to run resource-intensive applications, you can try carefully disabling swap. To do this, open Extra options system and on the "Advanced" tab in the "Performance" block, click the "Options" button.

This will open another window. Switch to the "Advanced" tab in it, and then click the Change button in the "Virtual memory" block.

Uncheck the "Automatically select paging file size" checkbox, enable the "No paging file" radio button, save the settings and reboot. The pagefile.sys file will be removed.

Deleting the MSOcache folder

Users who have installed Microsoft package Office, at the root of the system volume is hidden folder MSOcache, the weight of which can reach several gigabytes.

This folder is a cache office suite and contains files that you may need to recover Microsoft work Office if damaged. The MSOcache folder is not involved either in the launch of Microsoft Office or in the work with documents, so you can delete it in a standard way... Consider only if Microsoft Office is damaged for some reason, you will have to restore the work of the package with installation disk with its distribution.

Shrinking the contents of the system volume

You can free up some free space on the C drive without deleting anything at all. Instead, all system files can be compressed. To do this, just open the properties of the C drive, check the box "Compress this drive to save space" on the "General" tab and click "OK".

To compress system files in Windows 10, you can use the function Compact OS by executing one of two commands in the CMD console launched as an administrator:

compact / CompactOs: query
compact / CompactOs: always

The second command performs the same actions as the first, but in forced mode. It is used if you really want to shrink the system volume, and the first command rejects the operation, considering it inappropriate. Compression is completely reversible and to return file system to the normal state, it is enough to execute the reverse command compact / CompactOs: never.

In addition to NTFS compression, LZX compression is available in Windows 10, but it has a number of drawbacks, due to which it has not become widespread. LZX compression is applicable to files and directories that are read-only, but an entire system volume cannot be compressed with it due to the risk of an unbootable system.