My computer’s hard disk is running out of space

Cause: The hard disk is used to store information. The more information you store, the less extra space the disk has. Like a clothes closet, the more stuff you cram into it, the faster it runs out of room. The hard disk in your computer can hold a lot of data, but if you are storing lots of files, especially picture or video files, you can begin to run low on disk space.

Disk cleanup stops responding

Why does Disk Cleanup tool stops responding?

Cause: This problem occurs when there is an incorrect entry in the registry that is used by the Disk Cleanup utility to locate compressed files.

Important: This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

How To Reduce System Restore Space To Gain More Space On Disk

HOW TO REDUCE SYSTEM RESTORE SPACE TO GAIN MORE FREE SPACE ON DISK

System Restore is a component of Microsoft's Windows Me and the later editions like Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems that allows rolling back of hardware drivers, system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of system crash or malfunction.

For instance, if the computer does not work normal after you installed a program, you can do a system restore to a date before the installation of that program. That would remove the program and also get your computer to a state when it was working fine.

System Restore takes a snapshot of the system files, drivers and settings each time a restore point is created. When too many system restore points are created that occupies a considerably huge disk space.

You can remove the older restore points to free that disk space or just restrict the space used. To do that:

1. Right Click on “My Computer”
2. Go to “Properties”

3. In the Window that appears, Click on “System Restore”. You would see the drives on the computer as “C:\” , “D:\” etc.

4. Highlight the drive where you would like to free up the disk space and then click on “Settings”

     5. In that window, under the disk space usage, use the scroll bar to reduce the disk space allocated for “System Restore”

     6.The default size is 12% of the disk space. You can increase or decrease it as needed

The computer has to be restarted for the changes to take effect.

Use Disk Cleanup In Windows XP

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk by searching your disk for files that you can safely delete. You can choose to delete some or all of the files. Use Disk Cleanup to perform any of the following tasks to free up space on your hard disk:

1. Remove temporary Internet files.
2. Remove downloaded program files. For example, ActiveX controls and Java applets that are downloaded from the Internet.
3. Empty the Recycle Bin.
4. Remove Windows temporary files.
5. Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.

You can start Disk Cleanup, by doing any of the following:

Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type cleanmgr, and then click OK.

or

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.