I'm running into a serious storage issue on my laptop. I only have about 2 GB of free space left out of 237 GB total. My personal files and Steam mods should only account for around 185-200 GB, but I keep seeing large amounts of mystery files that I can't track down. I've tried deleting and reinstalling files, plus using various cleaning apps, but nothing seems to work. This problem has been affecting my laptop's performance; even with just one tab open, the processor usage spikes to 100%. I'm also worried it might be a virus after I briefly installed McAfee, especially since I deleted it quickly, but the files lingered for months after. Any advice?
2 Answers
You definitely need more free space than what you currently have if you want Windows to run smoothly. Considering your user data is taking up most of the drive, it seems like you might be overloading the OS. Windows itself uses around 15-20 GB, and you also have temp files and swap files that need space too. Try breaking down your data and see what's essential. Move unnecessary files to an external drive to free up space. Also, use the Disk Cleanup tool, making sure to clean system files!
Have you tried using tools like WizTree or WinDirStat? These programs can show you exactly what's taking up space on your laptop. Just be careful not to delete anything until you confirm that those files are not needed. It's a useful way to track down those mystery files!
That does seem excessive! It might not be normal, but it could also just be a big database or something. You should investigate it further.
I gave WizTree a go, and it showed some huge files I didn't even know existed. Like, there's this file taking up 100 GB! Do you know if that's typical?