How to Free Up More Space on Your Hard Drive with the Updated Windows 7 Disk Cleanup [1]
Microsoft just updated the Windows 7 system utility Disk Cleanup. It can now remove the old system update files that accumulate in the hidden system folder WinSXS. These files can take up a lot of space. For example, I just removed 4 GB worth.
The new version of Disk Cleanup is part of today’s (8 October, 2013) monthly Windows update and is described at this Microsoft page [3] . Here is a review of how to use the Disk Cleanup utility:
- There are several ways to access Disk Cleanup. One way is to enter “cleanmgr” (without quotes) in the Start search bar.
- Select the drive you want to clean up.
- Windows will go through the process of calculating what space can be saved.
- The Disk Cleanup interface with some options of files to delete will open.
- More options can be seen by clicking the button “Clean up system files”.
- The dialog box shown in the graphic below will open with additional options for files to delete.
- Check the boxes by the files you want to delete.
- Click “OK”.
- A box asking “Are you sure…” will open. Click “Delete Files”.
- Windows will start deleting files.
A restart may be required. This new Disk Cleanup feature will only remove Windows Update files that are no longer needed. General information about the Disk Cleanup utility is at this link [4].
And there you have it – more space on your hard drive.
Get your own favorite tip published! Know a neat tech tip or trick? Then why not have it published here and receive full credit? Click here to tell us your tip. [5]
This tips section is maintained by Vic Laurie [6]. Vic runs several websites with Windows how-to's, guides, and tutorials, including a site for learning about Windows and the Internet [7] and another with Windows 7 tips [8].
Click here [9] for more items like this. Better still, get Tech Tips delivered via your RSS feeder [10] or alternatively, have the RSS feed sent as email [11] direct to your in-box.