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Hard drive full

Husq430x

Hey all

So as the title explains my hard drive (C:) is full up and I'm wondering where to go from here. So the hard drive currently syncs with dropbox (C drive therefore contains dropbox files). That means that if I remove stuff from hard drive it also goes from Dropbox at same time? The laptop is just a year and a half old with 256gb memory and no room to fit another one in there. I would take comfort from not interfering with dropbox files. So is there a way I can stop syncing for a moment while I move files from C drive to an external drive? And then just start syncing again?

And should size of C drive on laptop match the size on external drive when they are moved over? Just so I know they moved over correctly. I fear losing some files in the process because I did try it with some folders (copying them) but when I opened the external drive many folders were empty! Any suggestions advice much appreciated as I'm not great with I.T

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Spear

256GB isn't much, but unless you're actively storing a lot on there, it shouldn't be an issue.

Run Treesize Free and see where the space is being used up:

https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free

magicbastarder

one thing worth doing anyway is to open up disk cleanup (under start>all apps>windows tools>disk cleanup) and run that - select 'clean up system files' too as this can free up several GB.

if your system is healthy, this should usually remove a few GB, but not much more than that; you've something else going on which needs to be addressed.

Husq430x

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283501#Comment_122283501

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283472#Comment_122283472

Thanks Spear

Husq430x

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283501#Comment_122283501

Thanks Magic

Woodcutting

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058356662/hard-drive-full

256GB memory, do you mean the c drive has 256GB of space. I presume it's an SSD? Can you get a bigger one and copy everything to it. I don't know how that would affect Dropbox though.

magicbastarder

i assume a folder on the C drive is synched with dropbox, not the entire C drive…

smuggler.ie

get bigger drive(512GB or even 1TB, 2TB), clone, swap.
some preparations might be required, but you keep your settings, files and programs as they were.

samsung SSD come with cloning software, you will require USB enclosure(depending on current drive type it will be 2.5' or m.2 )
you will have to dismantle your laptop to swap drive once cloned.

Once happy with clone , you can wipe original drive and use as additional external storage in the enclosure you got for this job

magicbastarder

totally premature to talk about replacing the drive till the OP understands what's filling the space.

extra-ordinary_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058356662/hard-drive-full

Just buy an external HDD and offload some of your data to it. Only concern with size of external is if it's big enough.

here's one: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Group-Classic-512GB-Solid-State/dp/B08K3NP2LK/ref%3Dsr_1_2?crid=2998TOIKFTDBX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YRoJWlARsDPcJAsWmHlUhqubtuYUYu3mqYEpEpUFBhu3SFEeg_kWNO1EEtHi2aqtwI1CW8SieA5ez4OtHrHKCvdW3aAiwEivrdfCxulTHqafH0iPAtxp-OM5bLMnQ41OSwHAJd8eISmTfkrDU15tpZ4ZpIKsKoGhQsByGXNC72iyYEvamkodaTRqb9lQzbK-upP6sNvXqdG97LPSRSMVh-k8IqSdJSADR9NbZSfUh-A.06_NZPLqJKdzEHRxWMcY_CWxFZ2fgjNsbcZqscd6YZs&dib_tag=se&keywords=TeamGroup+CX2+SSD+512GB&qid=1718924059&sprefix=teamgroup+cx2+ssd+512gb%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-2

You'll need a connecting cable as well - https://www.amazon.de/Sabrent-2-5-inch-Optimized-Supports-EC-SSHD/dp/B011M8YACM/ref%3Dsr_1_1_sspa?crid=2NO6U9PKL7EQA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.l4gykXIhTbs1G9ASCjIAyt9lN5IeeGZzAseqHz9aTp5yqsz15m0zccEqTxYofY4hsngLFruCAG2wpAQqIVZ7WFE_TlMqiNAu2gN9rOmWOXDwwQIAFK6fy9jW_LaXFFOxsSLMOM1XifBAR-iNRuAX4S5N-Pv8c0v_LSN5DM4DycO_ziV-TL882dC5lRpuRY5FWZ3NDnV4diKLRA0nXNFUISLzMwlC-sfb-cle6PC5z18.vR7I-N4tk17mzuVUNwKtXd8jHX0kVP38S4OPeGc8Zeg&dib_tag=se&keywords=sabrent+sata+usb+adapter&qid=1718924175&sprefix=sabrent+Sata%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

With 256 GB internal storage in your system you should never really let used space get too far above 200GB

Also, why have you got Dropbox synced with your laptop? I thought the whole reason for having cloud storage was to have cloud storage!

Esel

Bad reviews on that SSD.

Husq430x

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283635#Comment_122283635

Thanks Woodcutting.

Its an SSD

Husq430x

Magic

So within the C drive there is a Dropbox folder (amongst other folders) that has all my work in there. I've it saved in folders by year.

Everything is synced with Dropbox in the cloud so I don't lose anything

Husq430x

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122285681#Comment_122285681

Thanks-extra ordinary

Yeah I got a 5TB external storage box. So this should be big enough! Good point about not stuffing the 256gb to the limit. I must watch this in future. So if I used dropbox directly from the cloud? I would need to save back to the cloud everytime. Is this normal? I'm not sure. I guess by having work on the hard drive I can do a bit and save it if I'm out of internet/wifi area or its out of action. And then as soon as I'm back in connection everything gets updated in the cloud. But there might be an argument for not working without internet also. Its very unlikely that Dropbox will suddenly shut down?

magicbastarder

Have you run treesize yet?

Husq430x

Magic Spear

Just did it now. Handy little tool! Mcafee is contained within program data and takes up 77.5 GB. Do I need this? I have windows defender? And if I stay on trusted sites that should be ok? Anyway Dropbox is just taking up 40GB.

I can probably delete some files that were used to install programs. Just fear messing things up!

Spear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122289103#Comment_122289103

There's no valid reason for Mcafee to have 77.5GB of space used. I suspect it's probably quarantining loads of files needlessly. If you hit the little arrow and expand it for the Mcafee folder it may provide more info. Also in Mcafee itself there should be a quarantine tab somewhere, which should list what it's keeping.

Husq430x

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122289165#Comment_122289165

Thanks Spear

There's a text log file with 65.8gb. Can I delete this?

Spear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122289339#Comment_122289339

Yes, log files are always safe to delete.

What a terrible piece software it is that it generates logs like that. If you didn't properly investigate this, it could have lead to you doing rash things such as deleting other legit data, or spending money on needless hardware.

Esel

….

magicbastarder

In the first screenshot, there's possibly another 7GB to remove, the win 10 upgrade folder and the one above it; they're 5 years old so if related to an OS upgrade, probably no longer needed

Husq430x

Thanks Guys

Saved me a lot of hassle here. I should keep an eye on this going forward.

Enjoy the weekend

Capt'n Midnight

Sometimes Search take up more space than you'd think.

https://superuser.com/questions/59864/stopping-microsoft-search-from-eating-my-hard-drive

If thing were drastic and you understand the implications :

Depending on your usage and how fast your computer boots up , you could turn off hibernation.

Alternatively you could install more RAM and turn off the pagefile