How to Free up Hard Disk Space on Windows Vista

As the Windows Vista OS becomes more entrenched in the market, fewer users will look towards older operating systems. This guide will present a range of methods to troubleshoot a lack of hard disk space your computer may suffer from; Vista...

Method 1 of 4:

Disk Cleanup

  1. Disk Cleanup analyzes your hard drive to look for unneeded files and folders that are of no further use to your computer. Over time, these files collect and may need to be cleaned up once in a while. Features such as Temporary Internet Files can take up a lot of sometimes valuable HDD space which is why your computer may need a 'clean up'.
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    Click Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools.
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    Select Disk Cleanup.
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    Choose which files to clean up, either My files only or Files from all users on this computer, in the window that will appear. Then click Continue when a new window prompts you to go through with the operation (this window may not appear if User Account Control turned off).
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    Select the hard disk drive that you want to clean up in Drive Selection in the dialog box and click OK.
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    Wait while Disk Cleanup calculates how much space that you will be able to be cleaned up. This may take a few minutes to complete, so be patient.
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    Click the Disk Cleanup tab, and then select the check boxes for the files you want to delete. You can view these files before deletion by choosing View Files or View Pages for a file you have highlighted.
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    Click OK and then Delete files to confirm. Disk Cleanup will begin deleting the files.
Method 2 of 4:

Uninstalling Programs

  1. The obvious way to reclaim hard disk space. You may find many preinstalled programs with a new Windows Vista computer are of no use to you. While they sit in your bad books, they can be using a fair amount of hard drive when installed.
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    Click Start>Control Panel.
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    Select Programs (or Uninstall a program - skip to Step 4).
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    Select Programs and Features.
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    Choose from the list of programs and software you intend to uninstall by clicking and selecting Uninstall from the options above. Alternatively, you can begin uninstalling the program by double-clicking.
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    Select Continue when a window appears. If you have User Account Control turned off, this may not be necessary.
Method 3 of 4:

Deleting Shadow Copies and System Restore Points

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    Click Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools.
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    Select Disk Cleanup.
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    Click Files from all users on this computer in the window that appears.
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    Select the hard disk drive that you want to clean up in Drive Selection in the dialog box and click OK.
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    Wait while Disk Cleanup calculates how much space that you will be able to be cleaned up. This may take a few minutes to complete, so be patient.
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    Click the More Options tab.
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    Click Clean Up under System Restore and Shadow Copies.
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    Click Delete in the window that appears.
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    Click OK in the Disk Cleanup window.
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    Click Delete Files in the window that appears.
Method 4 of 4:

Deleting Windows.old

If you have ever installed Windows over a previous Windows installation, setup will rename the Windows folder of the previous Windows installation to Windows.old. This folder is not critical to your computer.

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    Open the Run dialog. Press ⊞ Win+R on your keyboard.
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    Open the root of your main drive. Type C: into the Run dialog and click OK.
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    Right click the folder named Windows.old and click Delete.
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    Delete the folder. Click Yes on the Delete Folder dialog.
Update 04 March 2020
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