Free Up Disk Space Windows 8.1 To Install Windows 10

In order to fix C: drive is full after Windows 10 update, try the solutions presented in the following text. Run Disk Cleanup to free up disk space. Disk Cleanup is a Windows built-in tool that can help you to delete files like system files, previous windows installation, Recycle Bin and so on to free up disk space. Free up & increase hard disk space. Here are some steps you may take to reclaim lost disk space in Windows 10: Run Disk Cleanup Utility. Uninstall programs. Use junk cleaner for more options.

  • How to Upgrade your Windows 7/8/8.1 to Windows 10 for Free

by Vlad Tiganasu 5 years ago

How to Upgrade your Windows 7/8/8.1 to Windows 10 for Free

As you might already know, Microsoft is very close to the official launch of its latest version of Windows operating system (on July 29, 2015). Windows 10 will come with many great features, including the improved Start menu, design, Cortana voice assistant, a new web browser (Edge) that will replace the old Internet Explorer, DirectX 12 and more. Microsoft also stated that this will be the last version of their OS with following releases of updates and other improvements.

If you are a licensed user of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1, then you are lucky, because you can upgrade your old operating system to the new Windows 10 for free (well, at least for a year), instead of paying $199. Also, if you don't want to wait until the release date, you can try the technical preview (basically, a beta version) which you can easily download via the Windows Insider program (which I will describe below).

If you decide to get the technical preview build, I recommend that you install it on a virtual machine to test it out, rather than using it as your main operating system, because you might encounter errors and compatibility issues.

Reserve a free copy of Windows 10

Get Windows 10 app

If you decide to upgrade your old operating system to the new Windows 10 (why not?), then, all you have to do is simply reserve a free copy using the new Get Windows 10app. The update will be available on July 29, 2015, but you'll be able to decide upon the installation date for yourself. To reserve the copy, simply click on the small Windows icon from your system tray (view image above), click on the 'Reserve your free upgrade' button and just wait for the official release date. You can also provide your email address if you want to get the confirmation letter or cancel your reservation at any desired time.

Reserve a Copy

On July 29, 2015, you will receive a notification that will tell you that Windows 10 has been downloaded on your PC and is ready to be installed.

If you don't see the 'Get Windows 10' app in your tray, then make sure that you have Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8/8.1 installed on your system and download all the available updates for your OS.

Join the Windows Insider program

Before you continue reading this part, you should know that the technical preview is an unfinished (beta) version of Windows 10, mainly meant for testing and feedback. Therefore, you might encounter errors, compatibility issues, application crashes and other problems.

If you are curious about the new features of Windows 10 and don't want to wait until the official release (like I was), then you can easily get your hands on a free technical preview, which is, basically, a constantly updated beta version.

First, you will have to join the Windows Insider program using your Microsoft account. Once you do that, you will receive an ISO (disc image) file containing your free copy of Windows 10 Technical Preview. You can burn the file to a DVD or a USB flash drive and install it on your PC or use it with your favorite virtual machine.

Free Up Disk Space Windows 8.1 To Install Windows 10

Windows 10 Technical Preview installation process

If you don't know how to install Windows or just want to avoid any possible mistakes (although the chances for mistakes are very small), then I will describe the process below. Basically, all you have to do is click the 'Next' button over and over again while selecting the desired settings.

Step 1

After burning your Windows 10 disc image file to a bootable DVD or USB flash drive, restart your computer and follow the on-screen instructions (press any key to begin setup).

If your system boots your current version of Windows OS instead of launching the installation process, then you need to access your BIOS and change the boot order to make DVD or USB drive the first one.

Step 2

Free Up Disk Space Windows 8

From the first window that will appear, choose the desired language, keyboard input type and click 'Next'.

Language and Keyboard

Step 3

Click on the 'Install Now' button.

Install Now

Step 4

Now you are given two options: either upgrade your existing operating system to Windows 10 tech preview or install a fresh copy. In case you are using a virtual machine to test the new OS or want to install a fresh copy without changing any of the previous settings, then you should select the 'Custom' option.

Options

Step 5

Next, you select the drive where Windows 10 will be installed. You can either choose an already existing disk partition (which you should format) or create a new one. Once you have selected the partition, click on the 'Next' button again.

Select Partition

Step 6

Wait for the installation to finish (it should take somewhere around 10-20 minutes, depending on your computer's specs)

Step 7

After the installation is over, your system will reboot. Then you can begin the customizing your operating system. If you are familiar with most of the Windows features, you can click on the 'Custom' button and select which options you want to be enabled. Otherwise, simply use the 'Express Settings' and continue.

Settings

Step 8

Sign into your Microsoft account. It is highly recommended that you to do that, as you won't be able to use many of the new Windows 10 features otherwise (which is the point of installing the technical preview, isn't it?)

Free Up Disk Space Windows 8.1 To Install Windows 10 Free

Sign In

Step 9

Choose if you want to copy the settings and Windows Store apps from another PC or use it as a new PC and test all the new features without importing any previous settings.

Step 10

Wait for your settings to be applied (a colorful screen will appear) and start exploring the new Windows 10 features. Do not forget to try out the new Cortana voice assistant.

Windows 10 Desktop

Conclusion

Even if you are a hardcore fan of Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1, or you have read bad reviews and checked out forums where users don't recommend Windows 10, you might want, at least, to test it out for yourself and make your own opinion. After all, it doesn't take much time to install the new OS.

The free reservation of the Windows 10 is only available for users that have a genuine copy of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8/8.1.

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Compared with HDD, SSD enables you to enjoy faster reading and writing speed, better performance and reliability, and stronger durability. However, SSDs often have smaller storage than HDDs. In 2018, SSDs were available in sizes up to 100 TB, but less costly, 120 to 512 GB models were more common.

[Top 6 Ways] How to Free Up SSD Space in Windows 10/8/7

That is to say, the commonly used SSD is 120 to 512 GB. Because of the small size, SSD gets full easily. Most people are looking for ways to free up SSD space.

Before you free up space on SSD, find out what's taking up space on your SSD first.

What's Eating Up SSD Space

There's nothing worse than running out of space. The following steps can help you figure out what's taking up space on your SSD in Windows 10.

Step 1. Go to 'Start > Settings > Storage'.

Step 2. In the Storage window, you’ll get a view of the space usage situations on all your drives and partitions as shown in the image below:

Step 3. Select the SSD, often it includes C drive. Click on it to see what’s taking up the most space on the partition.

You have figured out what's taking up space on your SSD, follow the tried-and-true solutions to free up SSD space.

Solution 1. Clean Up SSD Junk Files in Windows 10/8/7

The easy and fast way to clean up junk files is to use third-party software. With reliable junk file cleanup software, you can easily remove files that are eating up your SSD space in Windows 10/8/7. EaseUS Tools is my recommendation. With this software, you can easily get rid of SSD junk files without any cost. In addition to system cleanup, this software also supports large file clean up, disk repair, and more.

Follow the steps to clean up SSD junk files and system:

Step 1. DOWNLOAD and install EaseUS CleanGenius on your Windows computer. On the home screen, navigate to 'Cleanup' and click 'Scan' to start cleaning up the system and make your PC as good as new.

Step 2. The software will start scanning all over your computer to find idle data files that take a huge amount of disk space, including useless large files, junk files and Windows invalid entries. This process won't take long.

Step 3. When the scan is complete, you can choose unwanted files among the scan results, which are put in categories of Junk Cleanup, Registry Cleanup and Plug-in Cleanup. After the selection is done, click 'Clean'.

Solution 2. Disable System Restore to Free Up Space

System Restore is a Windows feature that can help fix certain types of crashes and other computer problems. However, it could take up much space and this approach is not very effective. If there is something wrong with your system, a system clone utility is a better choice. Here, I advise you to disable System Restore.

Step 1. Right-click 'This PC' and then click 'Properties'.

Step 2. Select 'System Protection' on the left pane.

Step 3. Select the disk you want to turn off System Protection for and click 'Configure'

Step 4. Select 'Disable system protection', and click 'OK'.

Solution 3. Empty Recycle Bin to Get More Free Space

As a matter of fact, deleted files often go to Recycle Bin. It will remain there until you empty the Recycle Bin or restore the file from it. It's obvious that these files are taking up your SSD and HDD space. To empty a Recycle Bin:

Right-click on the Recycle Bin icon located on your desktop and select 'Empty Recycle Bin'. You can also create an auto-deletion to regularly empty Recycle Bin:

Win10 free up disk space

Step 1. Open Start, do a search for Task Scheduler, and press 'Enter'.

Step 2. Right-click 'Task Scheduler Library' and click 'New Folder'. Name the folder My Tasks or anything descriptive. (You want to do this to keep your tasks organized and separated from the system tasks.) Right-click the newly created folder and select Create task.

Step 3. On the General tab, enter a name for the task, such as 'Empty Windows Recycle Bin'.

Step 4. On the Triggers tab, click New to create an action that will trigger the task.

Step 5. For the purpose of this guide, I'll select and configure On a schedule, but you can pick from a number of trigger actions, including At log on, At startup, On an event, and more.

If you're using the schedule option as a trigger, consider using the Weekly or Monthly option, which will give you some time to recover deleted files.

Step 6. On the Actions tab, click 'New'. Then, follow the steps below:

  • Under Settings, on Programs/script enter cmd.exe.
  • Under Settings, on Add arguments enter the following argument and click OK:
  • /c 'echo Y|PowerShell.exe -NoProfile -Command Clear-RecycleBin' Then click OK to complete the task.

Once you completed the steps, the task will run automatically at the trigger condition you have configured.

Solution 4. Use Disk Cleanup to Delete Temp Files

Temp files could also occupy lots of SSD space. Using Disk Cleanup to delete various temporary files, which are no longer needed is a good idea.

Step 1. Open 'Start', search for 'Disk Cleanup' and select the top result to open the experience.

Step 2. Select files that you want to delete from the C drive or other drives. Then, click the 'OK' button.

Solution 5. Disable Hibernation in Windows 7

Windows 7 still had the Hiberfil.sys file. The Hiberfil.sys is a hidden system file located in the root folder of the drive where Windows is installed. The Windows Kernel Power Manager creates this file when you install Windows. But it still takes up lots of space. Having Windows 7 installed on an SSD means that it will boot in seconds, so you won't need hibernation anymore. To make hibernation unavailable, follow the steps below:

Free Up Disk Space Windows 8.1 To Install Windows 10 Download

Step 1. At the start, search for cmd. Right-click 'Command Prompt', and then click 'Run as Administrator'.

Step 2. At the command prompt, type powercfg.exe /hibernate off, and then press 'Enter'.

Step 3. Type exit, and then press 'Enter' to close the Command Prompt window.

Solution 6. Uninstall or Transfer Programs to Another Drive

If some apps or games are taking up too much space, removing apps that you don't need is another way to reclaim additional space on your device. You can uninstall them by the following steps:

Open 'Settings > Apps > Apps & features'. Select the app or game that you want to remove and click the 'Uninstall' button.

There's a better choice, move the apps or games to another drive. You can still keep the programs and free up SSD space at the same time. To easily transfer programs to another drive, download EaseUS Todo PCTrans and follow the steps to move all wanted apps to another hard drive or partitions to save space:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo PCTrans and select transfer mode

On the main screen of EaseUS Todo PCTrans, go to 'App Migration' section and click 'Start' to continue.

Step 2. Select apps and another drive to transfer

1. Select the source partition and tick applications, programs and software (marked as 'Yes') that you'd like to migrate.

2. Click triangle icon to select another drive or disk as your target device and click 'Transfer' to start the migration.

Step 3. Finish the migration process

When the transferring process finishes, click 'OK' to complete.

You can restart your PC to keep all the changes, and you should be able to run your migrated apps on the other drive again.

You can also transfer disk space from one partition to another to solve your problem. No matter where are the partitions, you can always add space to SSD. If they are on the same disk, you can easily add space to another drive. If they are not on the same disk, you need to convert the drives to dynamic ones to add space to SSD.

Extra Tips - Extend Your Drive with EaseUS Partition Master

In addition to cleaning up space, you can extend or increase your hard drive or partition with a professional tool. EaseUS partition software is my recommendation. With it, you can easily resize, create, extend your hard drive, or SSD space with ease. Follow these steps to extend your partition.

Step 1. Check for free space

To devide a disk partition into multiple ones, you must ensure that there is adequate free space to be allotted.

Step 2. Shrink a disk partition to create unallocated space

How To Gain Disk Space Windows 10

By doing so, start with the 'Resize/Move' feature. Right-click on a partition with a lot free space and select 'Resize/Move'

Drag either end of the partition rightwards or leftwards so you can shrink its size as the red arrow does, in order to get ample unallocated space. You can visually know how much space you've decreased in the 'Partition size' area. Click 'OK'.

At last, you need to click the 'Execute xx Operation' on the top menu and then 'Apply' to save all the changes. Go back on the main window, there should be unallocated space appearing under the same disk of the shrinked one.

Step 3. Create a new partition on unallocated space

Free Up Storage Space Windows 10 Hp

The last step is to turn the unallocated space into a usable partition drive with a recognized file system. Right-click on the unallocated space and choose 'Create...'.

Get More Disk Space Windows 10

Customize the partition information by choosing a drive letter, partition label, file system (NTFS, FAT32, EXT2...) and many more settings in the Advanced Settings. Click 'OK'.

Free Up Disk Space Windows 8.1

Finally, cick 'Apply' to confirm that you want to create a partition on the unallocated space. Repeat the whole steps to partition a hard drive in many more partitions.