Find lost space on your disks

[Frands]

Hi,
If you are about to run empty for free space on your disks, you can scan and delete huge files you don't, need or just want to cleanup a bit, you can use this piece of free software. It is tested on Windows Xp, Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 10.

SpaceSniffer is a freeWare and portable tool application that lets you understand how folders and files are structured on your disks. By using a Treemap visualization layout, you have immediate perception of where big folders and files are placed on your devices. Treemap concept was invented by Prof. Ben Shneiderman, who kindly permitted the use of his concept into this tool.

Start:
http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/index.html

Features:
http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/features.html

Tips & Tricks:
http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/tips_and_tricks.html

Please read the text in the yellow box  ;)

Note: Please do me a favour, and don't delete any files you are unsure about ;)

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[Digerati]

Personally, if critically low on disk space, I find it counterintuitive to download and install yet another program that takes up more precious disk space when you are already critically low on disk space.

SpaceSniffer provides a pretty complex image and lots of imformation but provides zero advice for what is safe to delete. :(

The reality is, I find drive mapping programs interesting, but not useful for helping me free up space. And for SpaceSniffer specifically, I cannot really tell what to do from this image. Everything seems placed in a haphazard manner. Drilling down into My Documents, for example, is no less confusing. I find using Windows own File Explorer is easier.



If you need to free up disk space, I recommend using something you already have, Windows own Disk Cleanup.

Windows Disk Cleanup is a very effective tool that allows you to not only clean out clutter (cookies and temporary internet files) but it can clean out many unneeded files other cleaners don't like hibernation files, shadow copies, old System Restore points, old Windows Update and system files and more. And you don't have to guess what is safe to delete and what is not. But more importantly, there is nothing to download and install. You already have it.

To get a graphical map of your drive, SpaceSniffer works, but I actually find TreeSize, WinDirStat and Folder Size are all more intuitive to map out your drive(s) and see where the space is being used. Sorry.

But regardless, do not delete anything any of these mapping programs find unless you are sure it is not needed by your system - Google it first - or just use Windows Disk Cleanup - that's what it's there for.

[v_v]

I used to use SpaceMonger 1.4.0 for the same function as SpaceSniffer 1.2.0.2.  Both provide a similar visual graphic of "what" is using "how much" space on my hard drives.  That old version of SpaceMonger is still around, but I think that the newer versions are pay programs.  SpaceSniffer 1..2.0.2 seems to be a virtual clone of the older SpaceMonger.

A few years back I began to use TreeSize Free in combination with SpaceSniffer to help me to know "what" is taking up "how much" space on which hard drives.  For me the combination of the two works very well.  TreeSize Free provides more detail numbers about files but no comparable "visual graphic."  However these programs should only be used when dealing with data or documents.  By data or documents I mean all kinds non-executable files that are not part of some executable program.  One SHOULD NOT change or relocate executable programs and their associated files.  The executable programs are all linked to the registry and should not be moved.  One would probably need to uninstall the program and then reinstall it to a different location to move it properly.

Digerati's suggestions about the Windows Disk Cleanup are helpful.  There are also other cleaners available too, CCleaner being one of the most popular of the 3rd party cleaners.

To sum up, these programs---SpaceSniffer, TreeSize Free, etc---simply help one to analyze the usage of space on the hard drives.  Other programs will be needed to clean-up and/or de-fragment the hard drive.  Two of these extra programs Disk Cleaner and Disk Defragmenter are already supplied as a part of Windows System Tools.  So the basics are already available to Windows users.

v_v

[Digerati]

Digerati's suggestions about the Windows Disk Cleanup are helpful.  There are also other cleaners available too, CCleaner being one of the most popular of the 3rd party cleaners.

And I use CCleaner too, as it is, by far, one of my favorite tools.

But this thread was about freeing up space when you are about to "run empty for free space". And I never recommend downloading and installing yet another program that takes up more free space when you are already critically low on free disk space - not even CCleaner.

And even then, running any Disk Cleanup program is only a temporary measure. What really needs to be done is a bunch of programs need to be uninstalled and/or moved to a different disk, large files (like tunes and videos) need to be moved, or the user needs to buy more disk space.

Note too, unless you changed the defaults, Windows own defragmenter has been regularly keeping the disks defragmented. That said, all defragmenters need lots of free space to move files around and since cluster sizes in recent years have gotten tiny (4KB for disks 16TB and smaller), running a defragger to free up space really serves no purpose as no significant amount of space will be freed.

[plodr]

There is a portable version of CCleaner. I carry it on a stick to run on seniors' computers when I want to clean things up.
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds

[Digerati]

There is a portable version of CCleaner. I carry it on a stick...

Good point. I do too and you just reminded me that the version on my stick is out of date. ;)