# Free up a lot of C Drive disk space - Tip for Windows



## Lionel Schmitt (Dec 17, 2022)

Hi!

Just found out that there can be a file called "*hiberfil.sys*" hidden on your c drive which can take up a ton of disk space.
In my case it was a whopping 50-60 GB !!! I read it mirrors the amount of RAM you have on your system. Although it should be even bigger then in my case.
But if it's true and you have a lot of RAM you really should be looking into this haha.

It's hidden. Somehow I don't even see it when showing hidden files. But I found it via the disk-search software "Everything".
https://www.voidtools.com/


This file according to my googling is being used by the "hibernate" power option (not sure what that means since I only use "sleep" mode, which seems to be something different).

The way to get rid of this file seems to be to deactivate the "hibernate" option.

A guide for that is found here

https://superuser.com/questions/460...-use-sleep-on-a-windows-7-instance-thats-on-a

hiberfil.sys is used by _Hibernate_, not by _Sleep_. The only surefire method of disabling _Hibernate_, and thus removing hiberfil.sys, on Windows Vista and Windows 7, is through the command prompt and the following steps:

Open a command prompt with administrative privileges.
Enter “powercfg.exe -h off”.
Exit the command prompt.

Worked well for me, I gained back my 50-60 GB of disk space! :D

There is another similar file called "*pagefile.sys*" that can take up a lot of disk space too, but it seems to be more important for the functionality of windows but under some circumstances could also be deleted, here is an article about it. I will be leaving it alone for now, but it might be relevant for you.








What Is Pagefile.sys in Windows? Should You Delete It?


The pagefile on Windows can take up a lot of space, but do you need it all or can you delete it without issue?




www.makeuseof.com





EDIT:

And YET another thing I found 
*
.tmp.driveupload *

Another hidden folder which can be found in "Everything" and it takes 140 GB of space on my system drive!!!!!

Most people including advisors on the microsoft forum say it can be deleted, although there is a warning that google drive or One Drive services may not work properly.
Since I don't use those I'll delete it, I'd recommend reading more before deleting but I have no time haha


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## Technostica (Dec 17, 2022)

I do the same on my desktop.
With SSDs being so fast and living in a country with a stable power supply I use sleep rather than hibernate.


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## ZeroZero (Dec 17, 2022)

Here is another tip. Ensure Windows is not putting your USB ports to sleep when unused. Windows does a bad job of this for a music system. It's in Power options Control Panel > Hardware > Power Options > Edit Plan Settings. There is more here: https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/...t-up-and-optimize-a-Digital-Audio-Workstation


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## PaulieDC (Dec 17, 2022)

Glad you posted this. I do that to every PC I build for someone (or set up for them if they buy retail). Coming out of hibernation has never been a Windows strong point although some may have no issue. Sleep is a better bet. We all need that!


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## PaulieDC (Dec 17, 2022)

BTW, here's another command that keeps Windows running smoothly... I run this once a month on every PC and laptop I use:


Open a command prompt with administrative privileges.
Enter “sfc /scannow”.
Let it run until finished.
Exit the command prompt.

It will either say that no issues were found, or that issues were found and fixed.


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## Bluemount Score (Dec 17, 2022)

PaulieDC said:


> BTW, here's another command that keeps Windows running smoothly... I run this once a month on every PC and laptop I use:
> 
> 
> Open a command prompt with administrative privileges.
> ...


It found some whatever issues and said they got fixed.

Thanks for the useful tips everyone. Deactivated the hibernate mode as well.


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## Ed Wine (Dec 17, 2022)

PaulieDC said:


> BTW, here's another command that keeps Windows running smoothly... I run this once a month on every PC and laptop I use:
> 
> 
> Open a command prompt with administrative privileges.
> ...


Follow this with:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

If an issue is detected then run this: 

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Requires Admin Privileges too.


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## blaggins (Dec 17, 2022)

Thanks for posting @Lionel Schmitt, this is a great optimization! I just freed up like 30gb on my overstuffed nvme boot disk. 

You can also move the page file to another drive if you've got a bigger internal SSD like I do (doubt it would be recommend for an external one) in order to maintain Window's ability to page out unused committed memory. https://www.windowscentral.com/how-move-virtual-memory-different-drive-windows-10


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## Lionel Schmitt (Dec 18, 2022)

And YET another thing I found.

*.tmp.driveupload *


Another hidden folder which can be found in "Everything" and it takes 140 GB of space on my system drive!!!!! That's about 15% of my entire c drive disk space hah

Most people including advisors on the microsoft forum say it can be deleted, although there is a warning that google drive or One Drive services may not work properly.
Since I don't use those I'll delete it, I'd recommend reading more before deleting but I have no time haha


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## SirKen (Dec 18, 2022)

I also like the following software to see which folders are taking a lot of space. It is very useful to locate the big offenders and plan accordingly.






TreeSize Free | JAM Software


TreeSize Free is a free disk space manager for Windows. The software shows you the sizes of folders including all subfolders.




www.jam-software.com


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## Double Helix (Dec 18, 2022)

Thanks for the above tips. Because I am likely the only person in the Western hemisphere who didn't know the difference between Hibernate v Sleep, I looked 'em up (from WindowsReport):







Unless powering down completely, I use Sleep; used to use Hibernate back when I had Windows 7
Just checked my power options, and Hibernate does not even appear (maybe the tech at SCAN Corporation who set it up deleted it)


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## sean8877 (Dec 18, 2022)

Thanks, freed up 13GB of space getting rid of that hibernate file (I never use hibernate on my desktop anyway).


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## vitocorleone123 (Dec 18, 2022)

I use wise disk cleaner. If you image backup your computer, you can use the system slim feature (or do it manually via windows) to delete unneeded update files and upgrade files etc, too, in addition to cache files etc.

You can also modify your system restore point settings in windows of short on space - or to take more space (that’s what I did because I’d rather have more points than less).

Wiztree is a nice program to visualize what’s taking space on your drive(s).


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## Lionel Schmitt (Dec 18, 2022)

Double Helix said:


> Thanks for the above tips. Because I am likely the only person in the Western hemisphere who didn't know the difference between Hibernate v Sleep, I looked 'em up (from WindowsReport):
> 
> 
> 
> ...


hah, I have a SCAN machine too and don't have the option either.
Even weirder I had such a huge file for it lol.


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## Ifness (Dec 21, 2022)

Thanks for posting this tip, @Lionel Schmitt ! I was able to free up 27gb on my C drive.


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