Sufficient amount of free hard disk space is necessary for stable system operation, fast startup, multitasking, and processing large amounts of data. Every time you download a program or save a file, they take up some space on the hard disk eventually filling it up. If less than 30 MB of free disk space are left on the hard disk you might experience such problems as overall system slowdown, program hang-ups, or in extreme cases, system crashes. Therefore, it is important to delete unnecessary files on your hard disk regularly to keep your system stable.

How to free up hard disk space:

Clean out temporary files

Go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup where you can choose which drive to clean (it is advisable to clean all drives if you have more than one). Disk Cleanup lists different folders storing files that could be deleted without harm to your system including temporary files and temporary Internet files. Next to each folder you will see the amount of space taken by the files contained in that folder. Before deleting the content of the folder, you can read description of the folder and view its files. Choose the folders you want to clean and press OK to delete their content.

Empty your mail programs of spam or unused emails

Hundreds of received email messages on your computer take up a lot of hard disk space. Delete those that are not important on a regular basis.

Empty your recycle bin

Recycle Bin can be cleaned with Disk Cleanup. But it is advisable to clean up Recycle Bin more often as some files and data are disposed daily; empty your recycle bin to completely remove deleted files from your system. Right-click on the icon of Recycle Bin on your desktop and choose Empty Recycle Bin option.

Programs take the majority of space on the disk. If you are an experienced user you can remove unnecessary programs yourself, if not, ask a competent person for assistance. Uninstall the programs that consume space on your hard drive and that you don’t use. Go to My Computer>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs to see the list of programs currently installed on your computer. Choose the particular program to uninstall it safely, accurately, and completely from the Windows OS.

Note: To see how much free space you have on your hard disk follow the path Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>DriveSpace. A pie graph will show you the amount of used and unused space for each of your drives.