Newbie mistake, what do I do?

[MichelleZelda]

I got my PC in 2014, it is a high end notebook(that's an understatement) with two 256gb m.2 ssd's in RAID 0.

I don't make a habit of storing a lot of stuff on my computer, and have managed to stay within the size constraints of the drives, but am now concerned because I am nearing the capacity (I know it's a big no-no with ssd's) and realize I've screwed up. Is there a tool to help me put my file directories in better order, I have external storage I can use to assist with the process.

 

[Elixer]

What is "better order"?
At best, you may be able to move specific stuff, like vids or pics...

 

[MichelleZelda]

C:

NVIDIA
Perflogs
Program Files
Program Files (x86)
Program Data
Users
Windows
Windows.old

bunch of misc files

It's not as simple as moving things other than Program Files/Data and the Windows folder to the HDD, is it?

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you go into your Documents folder, are there a bunch of old ones that you can back up to a USB hard drive? (Ideally you'd get 2 x USB hard drives to be safe). That's the easiest way to get some space.

You now also have 3-4 years of temporary files created by programs and your browsers. Run Disk Cleanup (type C-L-E-A-N... after clicking the Window icon) to get rid of some of that.

If you have games installed from Steam, Origin, or UPlay you can uninstall some of the ones you are not playing right now.

 

[lxskllr]

Delete Windows.old after checking to make sure there's nothing needed of course.

 

[Elixer]

C:

NVIDIA
Perflogs
Program Files
Program Files (x86)
Program Data
Users
Windows
Windows.old

bunch of misc files

It's not as simple as moving things other than Program Files/Data and the Windows folder to the HDD, is it?

Yes, it actually is, but out of those you listed, only Windows.old can be nuked.
The other stuff has most likely been installed by programs, and they don't like things being moved on them. For those, you should uninstall, then reinstall them onto the spinner.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I got my PC in 2014, it is a high end notebook(that's an understatement) with two 256gb m.2 ssd's in RAID 0.

I don't make a habit of storing a lot of stuff on my computer, and have managed to stay within the size constraints of the drives, but am now concerned because I am nearing the capacity (I know it's a big no-no with ssd's) and realize I've screwed up. Is there a tool to help me put my file directories in better order, I have external storage I can use to assist with the process.

I haven't kept up with notebooks or laptops. I bought my first one in 2014 as used corporate-surplus-refurbished -- originally released by Gateway in 2007/2008.

What sort of notebook allows you to use NVMe M.2 SSDs? Or are these M.2 SSDs of the SATA variety?

To put it another way, what make and model notebook do you have that "high end" is an understatement? I might "let go with LetGo -- the Gateway, even though it is just great for my purposes, and I might have some change to spend over then next year.

 

[bbhaag]

1.open your file explorer>right click on your drive c>click on properties>click on disk clean up> click on clean up system files, check all the boxes and delete them
2.right click on the start button>click run and type control.exe in the box and press enter>click on system>system protection>select your local disk c and click on configure>delete your system restore points
3.right click on the start button and click on powershell(admin)>copy and paste this command then press enter. let it complete then restart your laptop.

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

4.go to https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download and download the free version and run it.
5.go to https://windirstat.net/ and download the latest version. run it and click through the tree to see what files and folders are taking up space on your drive. delete any unnecessary files or folders from your drive.

After you have done these steps let us know how much available free space is on your drive. If the steps above still don't free up enough space let me know. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve but they entail deleting older drivers from the windows component store and rebuilding the index.

 

[aigomorla]

What do you have that is taking up so much space?

Do you have movies? music? high res pictures? video files? Games?

Mostly programs and stuff must stay on the drive installed.
You can move them to another drive, however it will mess up the registry in windows, so sometimes its easier to uninstall and reinstall on a different drive. But programs in general should not be installed on a usb drive / removable because when you remove the drive you lose access to the program. Games are included as programs.

If its music / pictures / video files:
You can just move them onto a removable and just connect it when you need them.
Keeping movies on that size SSD is probably a very big waste of space, and is better suited on a removable.
Video files when editting can be kept on SSD, and then moved onto a removable when finished.
You will under most occasions not notice any difference in playback of a movie, having it on your SSD vs a removable.