Clean Windows 8 install taking up 54GB

By McKay
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Grand Master

McKay

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My Windows folder is taking up 54GB. It used to take up 70GB. I've googled this problem and they were all solved by deleting page files, hibernate mode and system restores. I have done all these and it shrunk the total size from 70 to 54GB. There is no "windows.old" folder anywhere as this is the first ever install. The biggest culprit is System32 taking up 30GB, which is still far larger than the install size Microsoft claims. Something is clearly not right.

 

Any suggestions?

 

post-350302-0-38026900-1422147270.png

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Grand Master

Max Norris

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Just pointing it out I suppose, but that's hardly a clean install if that screenshot is accurate.  Well, maybe back in 2013 it was before you started using/tweaking/etc etc, but I'm going to assume you've actually used it over the past 17 months.  I literally did a fresh install on one of my systems here of 8.1 the other day, it took somewhere around 15GB, that's with adding a few optionals like Hyper-V and such along with the core install.

 

Have you looked at the Disk Cleanup utility, specifically the service pack and Windows Update cleanup options?  If the install has been around a while you may be able to recover a decent amount of space from that.  Also, one thing I have run into is the SoftwareDistribution directory.  Usually it takes care of itself, over time cleaning itself out and such, but did run into one system where the guy messed with "something" and it didn't do that anymore, winding up in a few gigs worth of downloaded updates that never got cleaned up.  Not something you'll typically want to mess with manually though, again it's supposed to do that on its own.  Also look at your system restore size as well, or even disable it if you don't want that safety net and have another backup.

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Grand Master

The Evil Overlord

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First, hey dude, nice to see you back

 

second

 

Try deleting the contents of the folder C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

Doing this, best method I've found, disable windows update, then delete contents of the folder and NOT the folder itself,

Delete all deletable files from %temp%

Run disk cleanup from system tools (not sure where that would be on anything newer than 7) remove shadow copies if needed and everything up to the last restore point

restart windows update and reboot, then it's your call if you want to defrag or not

 

Then format C: and get off BT internet :p

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Grand Master

McKay

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Just pointing it out I suppose, but that's hardly a clean install if that screenshot is accurate.  Well, maybe back in 2013 it was before you started using/tweaking/etc etc, but I'm going to assume you've actually used it over the past 17 months.  I literally did a fresh install on one of my systems here of 8.1 the other day, it took somewhere around 15GB, that's with adding a few optionals like Hyper-V and such along with the core install.

 

Have you looked at the Disk Cleanup utility, specifically the service pack cleanup option?  If the install is that old you may be able to recover a decent amount of space from that.  Also, one thing I have run into is the SoftwareDistribution directory.  Usually it takes care of itself, over time cleaning itself out and such, but did run into one system where the guy messed with "something" and it didn't do that anymore, winding up in a few gigs worth of downloaded updates that never got cleaned up.  Not something you'll typically want to mess with manually though, again it's supposed to do that on its own.  Also look at your system restore size as well, or even disable it if you don't want that safety net and have another backup.

 

When I say Clean, it's the only install, and it's always taken up this much room since day 1. I'm just getting to the point where it's annoying me enough to turn to help. When I first installed Windows, it was 70GB. I used the methods to gain back 20GB. Disk Cleanup gets run once a month and gets around 100-200mb. 

 

 

First, hey dude, nice to see you back

 

second

 

Try deleting the contents of the folder C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

Doing this, best method I've found, disable windows update, then delete contents of the folder and NOT the folder itself,

Delete all deletable files from %temp%

Run disk cleanup from system tools (not sure where that would be on anything newer than 7) remove shadow copies if needed and everything up to the last restore point

restart windows update and reboot, then it's your call if you want to defrag or not

 

Then format C: and get off BT internet :p

 

Hey mate, tried both of those and managed to claw back 600MB. 

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Grand Master

The Evil Overlord

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When I say Clean, it's the only install, and it's always taken up this much room since day 1. I'm just getting to the point where it's annoying me enough to turn to help. When I first installed Windows, it was 70GB. I used the methods to gain back 20GB. Disk Cleanup gets run once a month and gets around 100-200mb. 

 

 

 

Hey mate, tried both of those and managed to claw back 600MB. 

As it's system 32 and not 3.6GB I'm not going to advise any further, I have no idea why it's so big and deleting stuff from there would just cause disaster...

Do you still have the install disc?

(I would be more comfortable advising you to start over)

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Grand Master

McKay

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As it's system 32 and not 3.6GB I'm not going to advise any further, I have no idea why it's so big and deleting stuff from there would just cause disaster...

Do you still have the install disc?

(I would be more comfortable advising you to start over)

 

I can grab the .ISO again, however I don't hold out much hope seeing how huge it was when I first did. I imagine the next clean install I perform will be Windows 10. 

 

Also BT called up the other day and offered me BT Infinity for a "only

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Grand Master

Max Norris

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When I say Clean, it's the only install, and it's always taken up this much room since day 1. I'm just getting to the point where it's annoying me enough to turn to help. When I first installed Windows, it was 70GB. I used the methods to gain back 20GB. Disk Cleanup gets run once a month and gets around 100-200mb. 

Ah, I typically refer to "clean" meaning "just installed/pristine", so misunderstood there.  Could get one of those "disk space usage" tools to see what's actually taking up the space, the ones that draw the little map with which directories/files are the biggest, etc etc.. see exactly what's taking up the room. The system directories typically don't get remotely that large, I'm working on a 7 system now that's reasonably fresh-ish, between the x86 and x64 system directories it's using ~4GB.  And stupid question, but I'm also assuming you've looked at your home directory as well, made sure there's not something stored there that's using up a lot of space.  Between downloads, browser caches, various 3rd party software installs, etc etc, it can bloat up if you let it.

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Grand Master

The Evil Overlord

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~snip~

lol I would have done the same thing, VM is no angel but if their equipment fails they don't bend you over and stick it to you dry for the replacement

 

If you're going retail on 10, that's fine, but you could use the 8.whatever version .ISO as a practice run, worst thing that could happen is, you'll be back to square one, and as you won't be keeping it...

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daorbed9

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When I say Clean, it's the only install, and it's always taken up this much room since day 1. I'm just getting to the point where it's annoying me enough to turn to help. When I first installed Windows, it was 70GB. I used the methods to gain back 20GB. Disk Cleanup gets run once a month and gets around 100-200mb. 

 

 

 

Hey mate, tried both of those and managed to claw back 600MB. 

 

I installed 8.1 again last night.  Using 42GB with everything on (hiber, sr etc).  Unless you have multi-language support, which if you do thats why, then I couldn't tell you.  You could download this..

 

http://www.mindgems.com/products/Folder-Size/Folder-Size.html

 

Is it just inside System32 or deeper?  What else is eating it up?

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Grand Master

McKay

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Ah, I typically refer to "clean" meaning "just installed/pristine", so misunderstood there.  Could get one of those "disk space usage" tools to see what's actually taking up the space, the ones that draw the little map with which directories/files are the biggest, etc etc.. see exactly what's taking up the room. The system directories typically don't get remotely that large, I'm working on a 7 system now that's reasonably fresh-ish, between the x86 and x64 system directories it's using ~4GB.  And stupid question, but I'm also assuming you've looked at your home directory as well, made sure there's not something stored there that's using up a lot of space.  Between downloads, browser caches, various 3rd party software installs, etc etc, it can bloat up if you let it.

 

I installed 8.1 again last night.  Using 42GB with everything on (hiber, sr etc).  Unless you have multi-language support, which if you do thats why, then I couldn't tell you.  You could download this..

 

http://www.mindgems.com/products/Folder-Size/Folder-Size.html

 

Is it just inside System32 or deeper?  What else is eating it up?

 

 

Looks like the bulk of System32 is the DriverStore folder. Those look like NVIDIA drivers I guess?

 

 

post-350302-0-34351000-1422149749.jpg

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Grand Master

Max Norris

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Good lord, never seen DriverStore get to that size.  It keeps copies of current and previous versions of drivers (lets you roll them back for example if needed); I've usually had 2 or 3 gigs from that though on a system that's been used regularly and regularly updated, never near 30.  There are a couple tools that will let you remove older driver versions and such and let you reclaim space (DriverStore Explorer for example) but I've never personally had the need to try one.. could be worth looking at but I'd have a backup first, just in case. One of those things I'd be leery about messing with without a safety net.

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Grand Master

McKay

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Good lord, never seen DriverStore get to that size.  It keeps copies of current and previous versions of drivers (lets you roll them back for example if needed); I've usually had 2 or 3 gigs from that though, never near 30.  There are a couple tools that will let you remove older driver versions and such and let you reclaim space (DriverStore Explorer for example) but I've never personally had the need to try one.. could be worth looking at but I'd have a backup first, just in case. One of those things I'd be leery about messing with without a safety net.

 

I made an entire system image a few minutes ago, I'll check for NVIDIA updates and begin deleting.

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T3X4S

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OK - I'll ask the obvious -   Where did you get the install disc ?  Are you 100% it is untouched ?  It looks to be tweaked.

Also "nv_" drivers is not nVidia - I think in this case it is "non-volatile"

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Grand Master

McKay

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OK - I'll ask the obvious -   Where did you get the install disc ?  Are you 100% it is untouched ?  It looks to be tweaked.

Also "nv_" drivers is not nVidia - I think in this case it is "non-volatile"

 

The .ISO was from Microsoft Technet. 

 

I've just deleted 63 obsolete NVIDIA drivers and gained 18GB so far.

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Grand Master

McKay

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Yeah just use Rapr and remove all of those old Nvidia drivers... https://driverstoreexplorer.codeplex.com/

 

And BTW that is definitely not a clean install I just literally did a clean install of Windows 8.1 Update 1 no less then 15 mins ago and I am sitting at 22GB

And that's with Dropbox/Chrome/Adobe Reader/Teamviewer installed, and all drivers.

 

Yeah I used a wrong choice of words, I said clean because It's always been bloated to the 60-70GB mark and I didn't want the first answer to be "do a clean install".

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DeadEndAccount

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The amount being reported as being used is actually incorrect since it double counts many files which are hard links/soft links/junctions etc. so you'll need to find a tool that reports actually usage which excludes the duplication entries.

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ShadeOfBlue

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I agree that DriverStore Explorer is the answer (that or the built-in Windows "pnputil" utility). As you've discovered, the nVidia drivers are taking up a lot of space. You're far from the only person who is running into this issue. So, how did this happen in the first place? As it turns out, this is unavoidable if you manually or automatically keep the nVidia display drivers up to date. The problem is that they release one (or several) new versions each month. And each one is quite large. That starts adding up very quickly. You just have to keep cleaning up the old versions and/or stop updating so often.

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