What to do if the free space in disk C becomes lesser in Windows XP?

How to increase free space

Grade for recommendation

Difficulty

Remove data to Disk D

☆☆☆

☆

Remove My Documents to Disk D

☆☆☆

☆

Run Disk Cleanup

☆☆☆

☆

Remove data to the external storage mediums

☆☆☆

☆☆

Delete the unused files

☆☆

☆

Change the location of the temporary files created by softeware

☆☆

☆☆

Compress large capacity files

☆☆

☆☆

Set the capacity of Recycle Bin

☆☆

☆☆

Organise Mailings

☆☆

☆☆

Disable Hibernation

☆☆

☆☆

Confrim the capacity of virtual memory

☆☆

☆☆☆

Delete system recovery points

☆☆

☆☆☆

Uninstall the unused software

☆

☆☆

Remove the software installed in Disk C to Disk D

☆

☆☆☆

Set the using region of system recovery points

☆

☆☆☆

Run System Restore

☆

☆☆☆

■

Remove data to Disk D

Remove data which are saved in the Desktop or My Documents to Disk D.

Note:
Only remove the files of data added.
When removing data, please note that some important system files are in Disk C.

1. Right-click data on the desktop and click Cut.
   
   
2. Click Start, and then click My Computer.

Note:
Double-click the icon My Computer to open it if it is located on the desktop.

3. Double-click Disk D.
   
   
4. Create folders in Disk D to save files.
   Regarding how to create the folders, please refer to the following related information.
   
5. Double-click to open the created folder.
   
   
6. Right-click the blank area in the folder, and click Paste.
   
   

■

Moving My Documents to Disk D

The location of My Documents is normally in Disk C.
You can increase the free pace by changing the location of My documents.
Regarding the operational steps, please refer to the following related information.

Related Link

How to change the location of My Documents in Windows XP?

Reference information

If the above method「Remove data to Disk D」is used， only a part of data in My Documents to Disk D can be moved.

■

Remove data to the external storage mediums

If external storage mediums which can write, record or save data (like CD-R/RW、DVD-R/RW、Memory Stick, etc) are available, use them to save data.
Delete data from Disk C after they are moved to the external storage mediums.

■

Run Disk Cleanup

Please run Disk Cleanup to delete the unnecessary files.

Internet Temporary Files

Downloaded Program File

Recycle Bin

Temporary Files

Please refer to the following related information.

Related Link

How to perform disk cleanup in Windows XP?

■

Compress large capacity files

Use compression tool to compress the file when saving large capacity files in Disk C. Then the file will be smaller.

Note:
For Windows XP or Windows Me， compress the files with the tools included in the operating system.
Right-click the large capacity file, click Send to-Compressed (zipped) Folder.

■

Delete unused data

Delete the temporary unused data.
Please save the important data in external storage mediums or Disk D.
Regarding how to save data in external storage mediums, please see「■ Remove data to the external storage mediums」, regarding how to save data in Disk D, please see「■ Remove data to Disk D 」.

■

Set the capacity of Recycle Bin.

Users can restrict the capacity of the Recycle Bin by performing the following settings.
If the files or the folders are above the capacity of the Recycle Bin, they will be deleted in chronological order.

1. Right-click the icon of Recycle Bin in the desktop, and then click Properties.
   
   
2. When Recycle Bin properties appears，click Global.
   
   
3. Select Use one setting for all drives，drag the slider for Maximum size of Recycle Bin(percent of each drive) towards the left to adjust its percentage.
   
   
4. Click OK.
   
   

■

OrganiseMailings

Change the location of mailings to Disk D..

1. Click Start, and then click My Computer
2. Double-click Local Disk(D:)
   
   
3. Create new folders in Disk D.
   Regarding how to create new folders, please refer to the following related information.

Note:
We recommend a simple name for the storing data folder.
(Like:Outlook Express、mail, etc)

4. Open Outlook Express.
5. Click Tools and then Options.
   
   
6. In Options，click Maintenance, and then click Store Folder…….
   
   
7. When Store appears，click Change.
   
   
8. When Browse the Folder appears，click + of Local Disk(D:).
   
   
9. Select the folder created in step 3.
   
   
10. Click OK.
    
    
11. When Store Location appears，please confirm whether the location has been changed to the appointed folder of Disk D, and then click Ok.
    
    
12. If the following message appears, please click Ok.
    
    
13. Click OK in Options to close the dialog box.

The above settings will be effective after the restart of Outlook Express.

■

Disable Hibernation

After enabling the hibernation, the information on the operating state of the computer will be saved in the hard disk.
After disabling the hibernation, the information on the operating state will not be saved, so it can increase the free space of hard disk.
Regarding how to disable Hibernation, please refer to the following contents.

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance.
   
   
3. Click Power Options.
   
   
4. When Power Options Properties appears，click Hibernate
   
   
5. Deselect Enable hibernation.
   
   
6. Click OK.
   
   

■

Confirm virtual memory

The virtual memory occupies part of the space in hard disk.
Therefore，if the virtual memory is overlarge, the free space will diminish.
To change the settings of virtual memory, please note the operation mode to avoid the run-time error caused by the system.
Regarding the setting methods, please refer to the following related information.

■

Moving the software which is installed in Disk C to Disk D.

Note:
Sony cannot guarantee the running state of the software after it’s moved to Disk D.

The locations vary for different software.

■

Delete system recovery points

Note:
The steps are based on Windows XP.

Users can increase the free space by deleting the system restore points.

1. Click Start，click All Programs → Accessories → System Tools → Disk Cleanup.
2. In Select drive，click of Driver，and select Disk C.

3. Click OK.
4. When Disk cleanup for (C:) appears，click More Options，click Clean up…… in System Restore.
   
   
5. When the following message appears，click Yes.
   
   
6. Return to Disk Cleanup，click Ok.

■

Set the using region in System Restore

Note:
The steps are based on Windows XP.

If users enable System Restore, the system will create restore points regularly.
Therefore，the free space of the hard disk will diminish.
To retain more disk space, please reduce the disk space used in System Restore.

Note:
After changing the settings of system recovery points, the information on the former saved restore points will be deleted.

1. Click Start，click All programs → Accessories → System Tools → System Restore respectively.
2. When System Restore appears，click System Restore Settings.
3. When System Restore in System Properties appears，choose (C:) in Available Drives and then click Settings.

4. When Drive (C:) Settings appears，move the slider of Disk space usage towards the left.
   If the space usage is set too small, the system may not restore, or the system recovery points cannot be created.
5. Click OK，and close all the dialog boxes.

Reference information

Users can increase free space by disabling System Restore.

Note:
After System Restore is disabled, all the restore points saved in the hard disk will be deleted.

1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance.
   
   
3. Click System.
   
   
4. When System Properties appears，click System Restore，select Turn off System Restore in all drives.
   
   
5. Click OK.
   
   

■

Uninstllunused software

Users can increase free space by uninstalling unused software.

Note:
It is not recommended to uninstall the pre-installed software.

For more information，please refer to the following related information.

■

Run System Restore

Note:
If some important data, software, and settings exist, it is not recommended to perform the operation.

Remove the important data to external storage mediums, and then run System Restore.
In addition， to increase free space in Disk C, change the capacity of drives during system restoration (this cannot be carried out in some models).
Regarding how to change the capacity of drives, please refer to related information of Change the size of Partition in the instruction book.

Please refer to the following related information during the system restoration.