It finally happened to me the other day- I got the Windows pop-up that says “you’re dangerously low on hard drive space. Make sure you have at least 200MB free space for your system to run properly.”

After a mild panic moment, and the realization that I download altogether too much music, I found an application to help me figure out where all my hard drive space was really going.

It’s called TreeSize, and it’s a free Windows download from JAM software.

Once you download the small, lightweight app, running it is simple. TreeSize can either scan a few folders or your whole computer, and organizes its results by size- the largest files or folders are at the top. Once it’s finished searching, you’ll be able to see where it is that all your hard drive space it’s going.

TreeSize also shows you other useful information- file owner, permissions, allocated and wasted space,  location of files, and other information you might need.

The thing I use TreeSize for, and the reason I recommend it, is because a lighter hard drive is a faster hard drive, and it’s often the things you don’t think of that kill your hard drive space. For instance- I use the New York Times desktop reader, and it apparently saves local versions of every article it downloads. That adds up fast. TreeSize found the folder, noticed it as huge, and just like that I was able to delete a couple of GB right off my hard drive.

You can delete entire folders, or even folder structures, right from within TreeSize. To download one or a few files, right-click the folder in TreeSize and choose to see the folder’s location. Then, you can open, see what’s in it, and remove unneeded files.

A warning: don’t delete just any large file you see. Particularly within the Windows folder and the Program Files, when it doubt don’t delete. My Documents is going to be your safest bet, and often where the majority of your hard drive space is being sapped anyway.

I now have 23% of my 100GB hard drive empty, all without deleting a single file I wanted to keep. My computer’s faster, easier to navigate, and I don’t get any more depressing popups. I feel free again!

Photo: Geerlingguy