pctechguide.com

  • Home
  • Guides
  • Tutorials
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • Glossary
  • Contact

Use WinDirStat to Clean Up Hard Drive

Today’s hard drives are large and can store tons of files, pictures, videos, etc. But, even with all this space there still may be a time when you need to clean up because the hard drive is filling up. There are the obvious places to check like the Recycle Bin or use the Disk CleanUp tool. But, sometimes this isn’t enough.

What would be nice is if there was a nice, visual tool that could show you exactly what is taking up all the space on your hard drive, where the files are and what kinds of files they are. Well, there is just such a tool. It is called WinDirStat.

Download WinDirStat for Free

WinDirStat is a free tool that you can download by going here.

After you download and install it, the program will need to do an initial scan of your system. This may take several minutes to complete. Once the scan starts you will see a screen like the one below. It is going through the process of scanning all of your files and analyzing the space and file types.

 

You can opt to scan your whole computer or individual drives in the system. In the screen shot above, I have only scanned the C: on the computer.

Once the scan has completed, you will get a visual representation of the files on your computer. It makes more sense when you see it, but basically the bigger the block is the bigger the file is.

If you click on one of the file blocks, you can see what kind of file it is and whether it is safe to delete or now. Furthermore, file types are organized by color. In the case above, you can see that the green files are .ISO files. You can see they are taking up quite a bit of space and may be safe to delete or remove.

The tree view at the top will also tell you how much space each folder on your drive takes up. If you click on a folder in the tree view, it will highlight all the files below in the visual screen to give you an idea of where they are and how much space they take up.

The best way to really learn the tool is to download it and use it. It is very intuitive and easy to use

Deleting files from WinDirsStat is simple. You can simply right click on a file in the tree view or the visual view and select to delete it.

WinDirStat is a great tool to use to see what is taking up space on the hard drive, and what you can remove to free up space. It is one of the more useful free tools available out there, and it is safe to download as it is not bundled with junk you will find in other free tools.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Articles

Latest Articles

DVD DivX Codec

DIVX is essentially a limited-use, pay-per-view DVD technology. Marketed as a more affordable DVD format - with the financial backing of the Circuit City Stores retail chain - it allows a user to purchase a DIVX disc at a minimal cost and … [Read More...]

Digital Video Television Sound

The standard sound format for European digital television comes in the form of MPEG-2 Stereo. This system can carry two channels of CD quality digital audio. The quality of audio this delivers is little different to that possible using the NICAM … [Read More...]

Serial ATA (SATA) interface guide

In 1999 the Serial ATA (SATA) Working Group was formed, a group comprising companies as illustrious as APT Technologies, Dell, IBM, Intel, Maxtor, Quantum, and Seagate Technologies. Their aim was to form a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) storage interface for hard-disk … [Read More...]

The Impact of Modern Technology on Relationships

Technology has changed dating in tremendous ways. It has gradually become more immersed in the modern quest for intimacy. In 1995, only 2% of … [Read More...]

Benefits of Instagram as a Powerful Marketing Tool for B2B Brands

The ever-growing popularity of the social networking app Instagram makes it a popular channel for businesses to launch their services, advertising, … [Read More...]

6 Simple Ways to Improve Security of Windows Computers

Millions of Windows PC users experience some form of cybercrime every year. According to one study, there were 2,953 reported cyberattacks between … [Read More...]

2021 PC Hardware Releases to Bolster Your Gaming

If you are a PC gamer, then chances are you are looking to upgrade your kit over the coming year. However, a lot of money can go into building the … [Read More...]

New Transfer Feature in Dropbox Enable Sharing files with Third Parties

Dropbox has been a popular P2P sharing platform for many years. They don't announce new features as often as other applications, since they have a … [Read More...]

Ransomware Operators Find Data Theft Profitable

How valuable is your data? That’s not a question that organizations or individuals have to ask themselves all that often. You might know the market … [Read More...]

Guides

  • Computer Communications
  • Mobile Computing
  • PC Components
  • PC Data Storage
  • PC Input-Output
  • PC Multimedia
  • Processors (CPUs)

Recent Posts

Flashing the BIOS

The traditional procedure for flashing your BIOS from within DOS using a floppy disk is similar for all motherboard manufacturers. It starts by … [Read More...]

How to Remove BlueFlare Antivirus

Easiest Removal Option: Remote Repair: Paying an expert to remove this threat is always the easiest option. It's also the most expensive. … [Read More...]

Apple Launches New Site for EU Users to Request Data Records

Apple launched a privacy site where its in the European Union will be able to download the information and data that the technology company has about … [Read More...]

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2021 About | Privacy | Contact Information | Wrtie For Us | Disclaimer | Copyright License | Authors