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Thread ID: 130119 2013-03-27 08:14:00 Why am I loosing free disk space on my SSD? mikelomb (17013) Press F1
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1334287 2013-03-27 08:14:00 When I installed Windows 8 64 bit version OEM on my computer I used a 64 GB SSD . I have two other 10,000 RPM HDDs for programs and back up . Installation should only be about 20 GB for this, and if nothing else is installed on this drive, that should be more than enough free space .

It did not turn out that way, and more and more disk space was being consumed to the point that the Windows was highlighting that there was only 6 GB free space?!

I ran the program ccleaner that that cleared a bit out, but levels started creeping up again . Checking on the Internet in a rather haphazard manner I discovered that there was something called a hiberfil . sys which is used as part of Windows 8 rapid start up times . By default its size is 75% of the RAM . Well when I built my computer I decided to fill the banks up as RAM is cheep so there is 16 GB in the system = 12 GB . You can just remove this by typing in the command prompt

Powercfg –h off

Can go here for more details

. howtogeek . com/howto/15140/what-is-hiberfil . sys-and-how-do-i-delete-it/" target="_blank">www . howtogeek . com

You can turn it back on with

Powercfg –h on

You can resize it with

powercfg -h -size percentage

Percentage here is the number so in my case I could choose something more sensible like 20

Well I am down to about 44 GB used on the SSD, so there is still more “stuff,” somewhere even with the deleted hiberfil . sys

Restore points are another culprit, but I deleted that, and at any rate it was only allocated 1 GB .

Does anyone have any idea where all this stuff is coming from if all I have is an operating system on the SSD? I have reinstalled Windows 8 several times, and the free space never stays free for long .
mikelomb (17013)
1334288 2013-03-27 08:35:00 hiberfil.sys should always be a constant size, so that's not the cause of your free space issue. More likely it's Windows updates and Metro apps using up disk space.

WinDirStat should be able to help you out.
pcuser42 (130)
1334289 2013-03-27 21:01:00 Where is your page file ? It defaults to the OS drive but with a small SSD and a lot of RAM its better set to one of the other drives.

I find 64 a bit too small myself, I managed ok with a 120 but I like to install my common programs and games on it . I now have a 256 with a lot of games on it as well as windows.
dugimodo (138)
1334290 2013-03-27 22:24:00 64G just may not be big enough
your could try running a Win disk cleanup
www.sevenforums.com

itunes apps,tmps,installers can also gobble up GB's of space ON THE PC
Google maps: Ive seen that leave alot on PC's HD's
have a look at the size of winsxs in the Windows dir
It all adds up, a Gig here, a gig there.

+1 on windirstat , run it as administrator
& use a 3rd party file explorer ( eg total commnder). Windows 7,8,server etc can actively hide files when using (file)explorer, even if you enable view all files.
1101 (13337)
1334291 2013-03-27 23:22:00 As its been mention in earlier posts, you'll need to run some sort of viewer like windirstat.

A fresh install of Windows 8 Pro x64, fully up to date with all current MS patches, no other programs installed comes in at 24GB (Just done it - making a master to sysprep and Image)
wainuitech (129)
1334292 2013-03-28 00:32:00 Thank you for your input here. I ran Windirstat and yes the page file takes up 16GB of space. Installing Windows in the SSD seem analogous to a what is supposed to be a single person moving into a small flat, only to find that unexpected relatives are also moving in and taking up apartment space, and you cannot get rid of them. mikelomb (17013)
1334293 2013-03-28 02:32:00 It's doable, my windows plus world of warcraft install came in just under 60 Gb and WoW is 22 Gb all by itself. I prefer more room for cat swinging though.

Move your swap file.
dugimodo (138)
1334294 2013-03-28 03:07:00 I survived on a 40GB SSD up until a year or so ago, not sure how :/ pablo d (15490)
1334295 2013-03-28 04:01:00 I turned on the hibersys file again by using the command prompt (need to run this as administrator)
Powercfg –h on
By default Windows 8 set this to 8 GB (50% of my 16GB RAM)
I tried to resize this by typing
powercfg -h -size 20
This was to get the file to smaller size.
No such luck, it remains stuck at 8GB

I never heard of a page file till yesterday. It probably is not mentioned at the Windows 8 for Dummies level. There is an article I found on how to delete or resize the page file here.

mywindows8.org

However this is all sounding rather counter intuitive. The purpose of a SDD drive in the first place is to speed up performance at the hardware level. With restricted space though, you are compelled now to cripple the operative systems default speed enhancement features.

I added another page file to another HDD, as there is acres of room in there anyway. I left things alone in the SDD. So now I have two page files and 16 GB of RAM. This sound rather redundant (maybe a good thing.) I have two 250 GB 10,000 RPM conventional drives in addition to the SDD. I think if I knew about all this in advance I would have stayed with larger mechanical drives only.

My current state of affairs is about 9 GB free of 55.4 GB in the SSD

Since I will not install any other programs in there that should remain free. Well maybe not. Windows 8 apps will probably install in C drive be default, and no option to change that.
For those of you out there who are new to the technical details of this issue (like me), here is another instructive link.

lifehacker.com

All this messing about with the operating system reminds of the old days of DOS 3 (yes I am that old) where more time was spent messing around and tweaking the computer than doing anything useful with it.
mikelomb (17013)
1334296 2013-03-28 06:18:00 hiberfil.sys is for Sleep and Hibernate modes so don't use these, turn them off.

I don't understand why you are using these modes if you are short of space and they result in the generation of this very large file.
zqwerty (97)
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