Hard drive keeps filling up. What can I delete.

M

MrMoneyMaker

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Posts
120
My SSD drive keeps filling up, and I have no idea why. I have windows 10 and
I have a 120 gb SSD. I deleted my restore points, and have run the disk cleaner.
 
Have you scanned for malware.

If your computer is running just fine otherwise, you can look for a Windows.old folder and delete it. This folder allows you to roll back to a previous version of Windows. But again, if you don't need to roll back, it can be deleted if present. Note is typically auto-deletes after a period of time (I think 30 days) but some have reported it sticks around longer than that.

Is that the only drive in this system? 120GB is not very big. It is not tiny, but does not provide lots of room for Windows, all your apps, your data, and allow a sufficient amount of free disk space for Windows to freely operate in (for temp files, page file, etc.).
 
View attachment Sysnative Screenshot.docx

The 120 Gig C drive is a SSD Drive. I also have 2 1TB spinners. What is the best way to set up those 2
1 TB drives. Should they be partitioned, a RAID system, ?????.

I originally wanted the SSD drive just for the operating system, but for some reason, it keeps getting full.

Is there a way to move the USER accounts to the bigger drives. It appears that is what is taking up a lot of
the space.

I also tried removing emails from Outlook. I think Outlook is storing them on the drive. For some reason,
the program won't allow me to empty the trash in outlook. Any ideas?

How can I move some of this stuff to the F drive, which is what I want for my data and program drives. Is
there an easy way to do that without uninstalling programs and reinstalling them. Some programs do not
allow the choice of where it installs the program.
 
You attachment does not work. You might try something like http://www.mindgems.com/products/Folder-Size/Folder-Size.html]Folder Size[/url], TreeSize and/or my favorite, WinDirStat to map out your drive(s) and see where the space is being used. But I caution, do not delete anything unless sure it is not needed by your system - Google it first. These will tell you what is using up your space.

120GB is enough for your OS. In fact, it should be plenty for the OS and most your programs too (except big games). I have 64-bit Windows 10 Pro, Office 2007, Outlook 2007, all my security programs, the Windows managed Page File, and all my personal documents on my 256GB SSD boot (C) drive and have only used 70GB.

There is no need to partition your hard drives. Partitioning does NOTHING for performance or reliability. All it does is divide your files. Partitioning is really just for your convenience. But folders do the same thing.

RAID1 (mirror) duplicates everything from one drive to a second drive. It is NOT meant as a backup method or as method to improve performance, but to ensure uptime for mission critical systems. Because one drive becomes a mirror of the other, you in effect lose half your disk space. Your 2TB of space with 2 drives will become 1TB of space treated as 1 drive.

Please answer my questions above.

RAID0 (stripped) spreads your data across both drives. The idea is to improve disk access performance as the OS can access both drives at once. But if you lose 1 drive, you risk losing all your data.

Unless you need more than 1TB of space for your files, I recommend leaving both drives as separate drives with just one main partition. Then use the 2nd HD as a backup location for your SSD and the 1st HD.
 
Sorry for the screen shot not working. WinDirStat Capture.jpg

These are the largest files shown on Win Dir Stat.

Screenshot removed.

These are the Outlook files. Can I delete all of these Outlook OST Files

WinDirStat Capture (TEMP Files).jpg

WinDirStat Capture (Windows_WinSxS_Temp_Pending Deletes Files).jpg

WinDirStat Capture (Windows Files).jpg

I appreciate everyone's input.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have removed your link because it has nothing to do with this issue.

I note you still have not answered my questions.

Your .dat file is much bigger than normal. Mine, for example, is just 488Mb. The problem with .dat files is it is near impossible to determine what created it, and if needed. So I recommend you rename it to .dat.old then reboot and see if anything breaks.
 
Yes, I have scanned for malware. Malwarebytes, and also hitman pro. Avast is my anti virus. I searched for the windows.old folder, but
can't find one. Can I delete those Outlook OST files.
 
- Go through the emails. Save the content of each email to e.g. a *.txt file. Or save them as a separate *.eml file. Save the attachments, and then delete the email itself.
- Outlook has a build-in "Compact" function. I assume that MS has more info on that function on one of its "Outlook" support webpages. The Compact function won't delete any emails/data but simply removes all "un-occupied" space in the Outlook related files.
- What's in that "Comms\Unistore" folder ? Is that Outlook related ? It contains some 20 GB.
- The "Temp" folder that contains 3,4 GB: is that the "C:\Users\<--Username--->\AppData\Local\Temp" folder ? Piriform's Ccleaner is a good program to clean A LOT OF junk, perhaps incl. that one TEMP folder. Ccleaner allows you to preview what files Ccleaner thinks can be deleted before you actually delete those files.
- Delete the "C:\Windows\Softwaredistribution\Download" folder and its content. Can contains GBs.
- "Installer" folder: You can delete those files but when you have problems with a program then you'll need to re-run the entire installation program. My advice: don't do it.
- Run Piriform's Ccleaner. Very good program (see above).

- When in doubt: don't do it and/or GOOGLE it.
- Keep us posted.
 
My hard drive is now 100% full.
Here is an image of WinDirStat
WinDirStat C Drive Image.JPG

Here is the same image with the Unistore/data/3/p expanded. Each of those files underneath Unistore/data/3
look about the same.

WinDirStat C Drive Image Unistore_data_3_P.JPG

When I open them up, they appear to be emails and a lot of HTML code. Here are 3 examples.
Dat File Capture.JPG

Dat File Capture_1.JPG

Dat File Capture_2.jpg

I had gone into outlook and deleted all of the accounts. So outlook is not associated with any of my email addresses.

When I go into system, storage, it shows that mail has 22 mb, as you can see in the image.

System_Storage_.JPG

System_Storage_StorageUsage.JPG

When I go to Manage my storage, it opens up outlook, however nothing is in outlook.
I went into the Outlook options and mailbox cleanup, and ran all of the cleanup options listed, however
it still shows that I have 22 mb of mail being taken up on the hard drive.

That is roughly the amount that is showing up in the unistore/data/p and all of the associated files beneath it.

Do you think it is safe to just delete those files in the unistore.

I have a number of gmail email accounts. Does gmail store the emails on the hard drive. If so, how do you change that.
I don't need my hard drive filling up with emails.

Also, I have a 120 gb solid state drive for my c drive. Do you think that is large enough, as I have 2 1TB spinners.

If you recommend a larger drive, what are the steps involved in moving the old drive to a new, larger drive.
 
I don't know what is going on with your system. Your user profile is HUGE! Your .dat files are taking up 24GB, mine take up 437MB (.4GB).

I use Outlook extensively my Mail is taking up 570MB (which corresponds to the size of my .pst file) while yours is taking up 22GB. Do you save years and years of emails with large attachments?

No, gmail does not store emails on the hard drive UNLESS you use Outlook to pull those emails down from gmail.

As I noted above, 120GB is not big, but should still be plenty for W10 and your apps. Your one image is showing 20.4GB for videos - I would move them to one of your spinners.
 
What about all of those dat files under the unistore/data/3. Can I just delete all of those files.

I deleted the videos that I had on the c drive, and that freed up 12 GB of storage, however I see that most of the space being taken up is in that unistore/data/3 file and all the files associated beneath it.
Does anyone have any idea regarding those files and can I delete them. What about those lettered files. Does anyone know what creates them in the unistore. Were they created by outlook, and when I
deleted the email accounts in Outlook, they just don't get removed?

WinDirStat Unistore_data_3_files.JPG
 
I don't know enough about the intricate innards of Windows to know if safe to delete. It sure looks odd to me, making me suspect a corrupt user profile. Since you have freed up some space, you might install CCleaner and give it a try. Be sure to select the custom install option to opt out of any extras you don't want.

I would not delete those folders. When I am unsure, I rename folders or files and see if anything breaks before deleting. I append the word "delete" and the date to the end of the name. Then next time I stumble on the file or folder, I see my intent and can note how long the rename has been in effect. But if something breaks, I simply rename it back.

In the mean time, we have some Windows experts here. I will see if any can pop in and offer some suggestions.
 
Hi MrMoneyMaker,

Have you ever run the Windows Mail app, as opposed to Outlook? The Comms\Unistore subdirectories in AppData are for Windows apps. I believe the subdirectory labeled 3 is for your stored emails, but it would be from Windows' Mail and Calendar app, as opposed to Outlook. If you set up your Windows 10 installation with an Outlook account as your login, this app may already be populated with your email, even if you haven't used it before.

If you navigate to Settings > System > Apps & Features, limit the contents to your C: drive, and sort by size, which apps are at the top of the list? If you're using Outlook as opposed to the default Mail app, you may wish to either remove your accounts from Mail & Calendar, or uninstall the app entirely. You may also have the option to move the Mail & Calendar app, as opposed to removing it.
 
- Ah, I have (based on the previous reply) an idea what could be happening. I think that the Windows Mail app is run automatically upon start up (without any clear notice) in "IMAP" modus. That means that the Mail app pulls in your emails from the server but doesn't tell the mail server to remove those mails. And then Outlook is pulling in those same emails for a second time. Yes, in that way the amount of stored emails in the mail app keeps growing & growing.
- No, I would take a different approach. Before you do anything (e.g. un-stalling the app) I would open the Mail app and see what kind of mails have been stored (content & date etc.). If it's clear that those emails have been received before then you can make a decision what to do with those emails and the app (e.g. removing/disabling the app)
 
MrMoneyMaker, I have removed the second screenshot in post #6 as it contained 5 of your email addresses.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Willy. I did what you recommended. I had 5 email addresses in the mail app. I deleted all 5 of those email accounts. I did a Drive C Cleanup, including the system files. That freed up some additional space.
However, when I run theWinDirStat, I still have the same amount of data being taken up in the unistore/data/3 files. If I go to my System, Storage, C Drive, the mail still shows 20.2 GB. Next suggestion, and thanks for
the input.
 
- The Windows Mail app comes with Win 10 and is free. Perhaps that's the reason why it's (still) "a bit buggy". Outlook is not free and therefore MS has a GOOD reason to provide a "bugfree" Outlook program and to continue to provide support.


Try the following:
- Is there a pattern in the "Modified" & "Created" dates of those files ?
- Open Windows Mail and fiddle around a bit or/and write an email and save it. Then close the app. Then compare the "Created" & "Modifed" dates of the files involved before & after using Mail. Is there a pattern ? does that new email show up in one of the problem files ?
- Similar story for all the other installed apps. Perhaps those files are used by other apps ?

- Make a copy of the "problem files" on another drive and then change the name of one or more those "problem files" (like Digirati has said) and see if any problems arise when you open Mail.

- Can you compare the content (dates, times, text, etc) of those problem files (you provided a sample of that above) with the content you still have in Outlook ? Is that same info also found in Outlook ? That will help you to make a decision what to do with Mail (re-install, disable etc).
 

Has Sysnative Forums helped you? Please consider donating to help us support the site!

Back
Top