Hey everyone, I'm having a bit of a mystery with my laptop's hard drive. I've got an HP Pavilion running Windows 10, and I've been trying to figure out where this extra 50GB is hiding. I've already moved all the larger games and applications to an external hard drive. I did a rough count of my art files, and they add up to about 35GB. However, when I check my Local Disk (C:), it shows that I have only 21GB available out of 476GB. I did some digging and found the size of my folders, which total approximately 398GB. Here's what I found:
- EADesktopDev: 1kb
- Games: empty
- inetpub: empty
- PerfLogs: empty
- Art folder: 36GB
- Program Files: 36GB
- Program Files (x86): 116GB
- Riot Games: 62GB
- SWSetup: 2GB
- System.sav: 5kb
- Users: 114GB
- Windows: 34GB
I can't figure out where the other 55GB is! Any ideas?
5 Answers
It sounds like you might be missing hidden or system files. The numbers you’re calculating only reflect visible files, and a lot of system files may not show up at all.
Have you considered disk partitioning? The missing space could be reserved for system files and recovery. For your main drive, Windows uses a smaller portion for system functions, which is why you may not see it available for storage. Optimization helps but a lot has to do with how the drive is partitioned.
That’s interesting to know! Makes sense why there’s less space available for me.
Also, providing some cushion for file organization is a big help too!
You might want to check out tools like WizTree or TreeSize; they can give you a clearer picture of where your disk space is being used. Sometimes hidden files can take up quite a bit of space that isn't immediately visible in Explorer.
Thanks for the tip! I had no idea those tools existed.
I like using WinDirStat too; it's pretty helpful!
Just wanted to add, I got WizTree and it's a total game changer!
If you opened the Users folder and see a significant amount of space there, it might help! For instance, I found a huge chunk in a personal folder. Maybe there's something you're not seeing?
Definitely check those folders! Also, don't forget to clean out C:WindowsTemp. It can hold a ton of unnecessary files.
And remember to check any Temp folders under your user profile too. They can accumulate a lot of junk.
It could also be hidden or system files that Windows automatically creates. If you're looking to clear out some space, consider a clean reinstall of Windows, but make sure to back up everything first!
That’s what confuses me! I keep deleting files and programs, but my disk space never seems to free up.