Solved Local Disk C Storage error

Hi mates,
I am new around here but I have a serious problem.
My Local Disk C max storage is 72.8 GB and I have 5 folders in the Local Disk C which are Perflogs, Program Files, Program Files (x86), Users, Windows. Of which Perflogs is empty, Program Files - 2.18 GB, Program Files(x86) - 6.36 GB, Users - 7.11 GB, Windows - 20.2 GB. If you add it up you get 35.85 GB but the total available space in that drive is 72.8 GB and I have 7.2 GB of free space which means I do not have record of files which size 29.75 GB.
Why this is a serious issue for me is that my computer is slow by which I mean completely slow, if I manage to get some space in C drive my computer may speed up, just a hope. Mine is a 64bit Windows 8 PC.
These are the pictures showing what I mentioned above.

Click on View and check Hidden items. This will likely show several more system folders that are taking up some of your space.

You should also run Windows' "Disk Cleanup" on the drive checking the option to Clean up system files. If you have CCleaner already installed, you can use that. This is one of my favorite disk cleanup programs but I don't recommend installing a new cleanup program that takes up even more disk space when you are already critically low on disk space.

While 72GB is technically enough for the OS, it is not a lot. You might consider moving your documents and temp folder to a different drive. If you have programs installed on this drive you don't use, uninstall them.

Some might suggest you modify your page file. I don't recommend that (even if you had gobs of RAM). W8 knows how to manage the PF very effectively and efficiently.

If the above measures don't help, you can see what is consuming your disk space with a program like 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.


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If this is the system listed in your System Specs, note that 4GB of RAM is not very much. This is even more significant if you are using integrated graphics. While adding more RAM won't help with your disk space, more RAM will allow the system to manage more data in RAM instead of banging on the slower page file as often.

Itaregid said:

Click on View and check Hidden items. This will likely show several more system folders that are taking up some of your space.

Click to expand...

Oh, yes now the problem is solved but the issue is I want to free up some space too

Itaregid said:

You should also run Windows' "Disk Cleanup" on the drive checking the option to Clean up system files. If you have CCleaner already installed, you can use that. This is one of my favorite disk cleanup programs but I don't recommend installing a new cleanup program that takes up even more disk space when you are already critically low on disk space.

Click to expand...

I used the system clean up and it cleared 408 MB which technically isn't much but drops of water make an ocean so it is something.

Itaregid said:

While 72GB is technically enough for the OS, it is not a lot. You might consider moving your documents and temp folder to a different drive. If you have programs installed on this drive you don't use, uninstall them.

Click to expand...

As a matter of fact, none of my personal files,documents or folders are there on Local Disk C or its extensions like the desktop. It is completely clear. All the space occupied is installed applications and system files.

Itaregid said:

Some might suggest you modify your page file. I don't recommend that (even if you had gobs of RAM). W8 knows how to manage the PF very effectively and efficiently.

Click to expand...

Yup exactly. I got many suggestions to modify it, at first I don't know how to and I felt it to be risky.

Itaregid said:

If this is the system listed in your System Specs, note that 4GB of RAM is not very much. This is even more significant if you are using integrated graphics. While adding more RAM won't help with your disk space, more RAM will allow the system to manage more data in RAM instead of banging on the slower page file as often.

Click to expand...

Yes, It is the system listed in my specs. I do not know which graphics I have, my bad but it is Nvidia. I cannot afford a higher end pc right now, but will get a better one soon

One more thing, there is this folder called "appdata" In C:\Users\Roopesh which is 20.2 GB in size can you tell me what is it for?


Receiving your reply was such a relief, for a moment I thought none would respond.
Thanks for your reply! :thumb: and don't go away I still need help from you

Your WinDirStat image is too small for me to see, but when you say it shows the same thing, the same thing as what? Note the program will tell you exactly which folders and files are taking up the most space. Just drill down on the folder names shown in the top half of the display.

AppData is a very important system folder you must not delete. But 20GB is huge. Mine is just 2.4GB so I suspect there is something in there taking up too much space. You can use WinDirStat to drill down and see what it is, and if it can be deleted.

Going back to Windows Disk Cleanup, make sure you check Clean up system files, then make sure select all the temporary file options and previous Windows installation files.

For an even more thorough cleaning of temp files, you can go to Start > Run > %temp% and click OK and you can safely delete everything in that temp folder. Windows will not let you delete any file that it is currently using so no worries that something might break. Note this command will delete all the unused temp files and folders found in the temp folder under AppData.

I do not know which graphics I have, my bad but it is Nvidia

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with NVIDIA but that was not the point. The point was if you are using a separate graphics card (which will come with its own RAM installed on the card) or integrated graphics which is a graphics solution integrated with the motherboard that typically steals ("shares") a significant chunk of your system RAM, reducing the amount of RAM available for Windows and your CPU to use.

It is easy to tell if you have integrated graphics or a graphics card. If integrated, you connect your monitor to a connector located in the computer's rear panel I/O area - the same area of connectors where you connect the mouse, keyboard and speakers. If you have a graphics card, you connect the monitor cable to a separate card installed in the expansion slot area. But again - this has nothing to do with your shrinking disk space.

Itaregid said:

Your WinDirStat image is too small for me to see, but when you say it shows the same thing, the same thing as what? Note the program will tell you exactly which folders and files are taking up the most space. Just drill down on the folder names shown in the top half of the display.

Click to expand...

That issue is solved, there is no shrinking space anymore, Thanks :thumb:

Itaregid said:

AppData is a very important system folder you must not delete. But 20GB is huge. Mine is just 2.4GB so I suspect there is something in there taking up too much space. You can use WinDirStat to drill down and see what it is, and if it can be deleted.

Click to expand...

I don't know what to delete because all files are weird with random extensions. I see game files taking a lot of space which means I should uninstall the games or delete directly?

Itaregid said:

For an even more thorough cleaning of temp files, you can go to Start > Run > %temp% and click OK and you can safely delete everything in that temp folder. Windows will not let you delete any file that it is currently using so no worries that something might break. Note this command will delete all the unused temp files and folders found in the temp folder under AppData.

Click to expand...

I deleted all my temp files before I even posted this thread.

Itaregid said:

I do not know which graphics I have, my bad but it is Nvidia

Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with NVIDIA but that was not the point. The point was if you are using a separate graphics card (which will come with its own RAM installed on the card) or integrated graphics which is a graphics solution integrated with the motherboard that typically steals ("shares") a significant chunk of your system RAM, reducing the amount of RAM available for Windows and your CPU to use.
It is easy to tell if you have integrated graphics or a graphics card. If integrated, you connect your monitor to a connector located in the computer's rear panel I/O area - the same area of connectors where you connect the mouse, keyboard and speakers. If you have a graphics card, you connect the monitor cable to a separate card installed in the expansion slot area. But again - this has nothing to do with your shrinking disk space.

Click to expand...

I have a graphics card, not integrated. My monitor is connected to a slot below the place where my mouse,keyboard,speakers are connected. Will this have something to do with the slow speed of my computer?
Its connected like this,This is not my pc but the way it is connected is that place.

I don't know what to delete because all files are weird with random extensions.

Click to expand...

If in a temp file, they can be deleted.

If you cannot determine what a file or folder is for through Bing Google, a trick I learned many years ago when wondering if safe to delete an unfamiliar file or folder is to simply rename the file or folder by appending the name with the date and the word "delete", then see if something breaks (get a file not found error). To illustrate:

Then, I just go about my business for the next few days and see if everything is still working. What typically happens for me is I forget about it until weeks or even months later until I stumble on the file or folder again. By appending the folder or file name with the date and the word "delete" I can see how long it has been since I renamed it, and "delete" tells me my intentions. If all has been working since that date, I know it is safe to delete.

If something breaks, since I only "appended" text to the name instead of totally renaming it, I don't have to remember the original name - I can easily see what it was, and simply cut off my appendage. I mean rename it back and be good to go.

Note if one of those odd files names is several gigabytes in size, it most likely is not being used.

Thanks for the help Itaregid! It really helped me. My issue is solved

Great! What ended up being the problem?

Itaregid said:

What ended up being the problem?

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hmm, I didn't get what you mean?

??? I mean, what is "it"? That is, what was taking up all that space?

Itaregid said:

??? I mean, what is "it"? That is, what was taking up all that space?

Click to expand...

The app data, the temp files which were not in %temp% ended up taking 20.2 GB

Ah! Okay, thanks for that. I suspect this is a one-time event caused by a sudden shut-down or system freeze, a wayward update, or something else. So I would check your disk space every so often to make sure it does not happen again.

That said, free disk space on your boot drive will always be a concern because you have such a small drive there to begin with. So even through normal creep with program updates, temp files and such, free space will slowly disappear. Windows needs lots of free space just to operate in. Many recommend at least 30GB at all time and I think that is reasonable.