A program to show disk space. How to find out what is taking up disk space. Approximate estimate of disk space occupied by files using the built-in Windows Explorer
This is the one that over time there is little space. On the one hand, we bought ourselves 1 TB and it seems good, now everything will work. But over time, it turns out that it gets “clogged” and you don’t want to remove the old one (in case it comes in handy), but there is no place for a new one.
Then there comes a moment during which something can be freed. But sometimes this is not enough.
Then a reasonable question arises in my head: But what is taking up so much space on my disk?".
First of all, they “go” to the folders with films, then games and programs. And you have to remove them by grinding your teeth.
So, I won’t bore you, but I’ll write about several programs whose purpose is to show how many and which files (folders) take up the most space on your disk. Of course, all of them (like all the programs provided on my website) are free.
Looking ahead, I’ll tell you that the meaning is the same for everyone - to analyze the system and show in a visual form what and how it takes up space, while showing some additional capabilities. As a result, you can see and delete (if desired) unnecessary large files.
The first program to analyze a disk and search for large files and folders is WinDirStat.
After installation and launch, the main program window will look like this:
In it you can specify what exactly needs to be scanned: all drives, a specific drive or a separate folder.
After selection (I selected one system drive), the scanning process will begin:
Which will produce the result. The program window is divided into 3 parts:
1 - result by folder
2 - result for files (types/) indicating their legend
3 - general diagram. The meaning is simple - the more space it takes up, the larger the display.
For convenience, the results are shown in descending order, i.e. The "largest" files are displayed at the top.
This way you can clearly see which files and folders take up how much space on the disk.
Now let's look at what you can do with this information besides simply viewing, namely, pay attention to the top menu with buttons:
Since the program is in Russian and the buttons contain tooltips, I can only list what you can do with a folder or file directly from this program:
As you can see, all the most necessary functions.
By the way, using this program you can also check external and network drives.
Another similar program is JDiskReport.
It differs from the previous one primarily in the absence of the Russian language.
After launch, you will be prompted to select a directory to scan and open the saved analysis file.
You can specify the whole disk and go ahead:
The window is divided into two parts: the left one indicates the location, and the right one generates a diagram.
Let's deal with the left part.
It displays a list of directories sorted by "majority", i.e. The more space a folder takes up, the higher it is. It's the same story in the subfolders.
The right side is much more interesting.
At the bottom you can change the type of diagram (out of four provided) and enable the display of files (check Show files).
At the top you can switch to the 50 “best” files ( top 50), see how many files in size occupy certain spaces ( Size Dist), when and how many files were last modified ( Modified) and how much space certain types of files take up ( Types).
In the top menu of the program itself, only two switches are interesting: the first, for sorting alphabetically (and not by “most”), the second to display the number of files (and not the volume).
But you can only view this information. To delete files, you will have to open Explorer and look for this folder or file there. But you can also right-click on the folder and select Open Explorer... to open.
The following program for analyzing and searching large files is Scanner.
The program differs from the previous ones in that it does not require installation (portable).
After launch, it immediately scans all disks and shows summary information:
You can select a specific drive, the scan result will show the volume of folders:
The Windows operating system comes with an Explorer tool that allows you to get an idea of what's on your drives. In addition to the list of files, we also see information about their size and the date of creation or modification. This, however, is too little information to find the data that clogs the disk the most.
The applications in this article can be divided into two categories. The first is programs that specialize in disk visualization. This graphical representation of data is perceived better than a list of files. The second group of tools are applications that show statistics on the participation of individual file types among all information stored on selected storage media.
WinDirStat
Represents the sizes and number of files on the computer's hard drive in graphical form, as well as on removable media of our choice.
Advantages of WinDirStat
- An accessible form of graphical visualization
- Also works on older versions of Windows
- You can define how elements are displayed
- Tree cards
Flaws:
- Lack of ability to detect coloring for more file types
Distribution type: freeware
Price: for free
SpaceSniffer Portable
SpaceSniffer scans and shows you the contents of selected drives in an easy-to-read hierarchical color scheme.
Benefits of SpaceSniffer
- No installation required
- Wide possibilities for filtering data that is visualized
Distribution type: freeware
Price: for free
TreeSize Free
TreeSize Free allows you to quickly scan the contents of any media, and the results are displayed in a drop-down tree.
Benefits of TreeSize Free
- Convenient sorting by size, number of files or folders
- Copes with alternative data streams of the NTFS file system
- Interface adapted for touch screens
Flaws:
- Only in English version
Distribution type: freeware
Price: for free
JDiskReport
JDiskReport - for lovers of statistics in the form of charts reminiscent of Excel charts. Instead of trees, we have histograms and pie charts.
Benefits of JDiskReport
- Interesting graphic schemes
- Lots of different statistics, including breakdown by size and creation date
- A Java version is available that runs on any Java platform
Flaws:
- Windows version requires Java installed
Distribution type: freeware
Price: for free
FolderSize
FolderSize is highlighted by the summary window. It displays charts and a list of files or folders that can be sorted by various criteria.
Benefits of FolderSize
- Displays charts and file list in one window
- Allows you to pause and resume the scanning procedure, quickly takes into account changes in already scanned places
Flaws:
- The free version does not allow scanning of mapped hard drives and network
Distribution type: freeware
Price: for free
HDD Scanner (Scanner) is a free program with which you can get useful information: find out the size of folders on a disk in the Windows operating system. The application clearly shows the size of the contents of your computer's disks.
The HDD Scanner program analyzes the contents of hard drives, CD/DVD drives, external media connected to the computer (USB flash drives, external hard drives, etc.), and then displays in the form of a diagram the space occupied by files and folders on these drives.
Users who are active on their computer move a lot of data. During operation, free disk space gradually decreases. Therefore, questions arise about how much space each folder takes up.
Having received an answer to the question about the size of folders in Windows, you can rationally distribute folders and files across different drives and delete unnecessary data from your computer.
The free HDD Scanner (or simply Scanner) program displays on charts the amount of space occupied by folders and files. The chart shows the amount of space occupied by a disk, folder, subfolders, etc.
The Scanner program does not require installation on your computer. This is a portable (portable) program launched from a folder. Although the latest version of the application was released in 2012, the HDD Scanner program works without problems on the operating systems Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10.
The HDD Scanner program can be downloaded from the official website of the developer Steffen Gerlach, the application works in Russian.
HDD Scanner download
After downloading the application, unzip the archive. When unpacked, the Scanner program takes up only 509 KB of disk space.
The HDD Scanner program is portable, so the folder with the application can be placed anywhere on the computer, or on a flash drive.
Using HDD Scanner
Launch the HDD Scanner program. After launch, the scanning process will begin, during which the program analyzes the disk space of this computer. The scanning process will take some time, which depends on the number of disks and the amount of space occupied by the data.
The program window displays all the drives connected to the computer; my computer has two hard drives (one hard drive is divided into two partitions), one external hard drive, and a CD/DVD drive.
During the first launch, HDD Scanner scans all disks. Subsequent scanning of all disks will be faster.
After the disk analysis is completed, a diagram will appear in the application window, which clearly shows how much space is occupied by certain files and folders on the computer’s disks.
Hover your mouse over a specific location in the chart to view data about a specific folder. At the very top of the “Scanner” window (opposite the arrow) you will see the name of the folder or file, the space occupied in gigabytes or megabytes, and the number of files in this folder.
There are two buttons in the upper right part of the program window. The top button calls up the “Add or Remove Programs” function; using the bottom button you can empty the Trash.
In the lower right part of the program window, there are buttons for navigation: moving to the Parent folder, back, to update data in this folder.
How to add an item to the context menu to launch HDD Scanner
For constant use of HDD Scanner on your computer, it is possible to add a program item to the context menu.
To do this, you first need to rename the folder with the “scn2” program to the “Scanner” folder. Next, place the “Scanner” folder in the “Program Files” folder, which is located on the “C:” drive. This location is equally suitable for 32 and 64 bit Windows operating systems.
There are two registry files in the Scanner folder.
Double-click with the left mouse button on the registry file “Add Scanner to Context Menu”.
Agree to launch Registry Editor. In the "Registry Editor" window with a warning, click on the "Yes" button to make changes to the registry.
After this, you will see a message stating that the values contained in the file have been successfully added to the registry.
After you hover your mouse over any folder or drive in Explorer, the “Show Usage with Scanner” option will appear in the context menu.
After clicking on the “Show Usage with Scanner” item, the Scanner program will launch, which will display in its window a visual diagram of how much space data takes up in a specific folder or on a specific drive.
How to remove the HDD Scanner program item from the context menu
To remove a Scanner program item from the context menu, enter the “Program Files” folder, then open the “Scanner” folder. The folder contains the registry file “Delete Scanner from Context Menu”.
Run the “Delete Scanner from Context Menu” file and agree to the registry changes. After executing this command, the “Show Usage with Scanner” item will be removed from the context menu.
Conclusions of the article
The free HDD Scanner (Scanner) program is used to analyze and obtain information about the amount of space occupied by folders and files on computer disks. The information is presented in the form of a visual diagram.
I often receive questions related to the occupied space on the hard drive: users are interested in what is occupied by the space on the hard drive, what can be deleted to clean up the disk, why the free space is constantly decreasing.
This article is a brief overview of free programs for analyzing a hard drive (or rather, the space on it), which allows you to visually obtain information about which folders and files take up extra gigabytes, to understand where, what and in what volumes is stored on your disk and based on this information, clean it up. All programs claim to support Windows 8.1 and 7, and I tested them myself in Windows 10 - they work flawlessly.
I note that most often, “leaking” disk space is explained by the automatic downloading of Windows update files, the creation of restore points, as well as program crashes, which can result in temporary files occupying several gigabytes remaining on the system.
At the end of this article I will provide additional materials on the site that will help you free up space on your hard drive if the need arises.
WinDirStat disk space analyzer
WinDirStat is one of two free programs in this review that has an interface in Russian, which may be relevant for our user.
After launching WinDirStat, the program automatically starts analyzing either all local disks, or, at your request, scans the occupied space on selected disks. You can also analyze what a specific folder on your computer is doing.
As a result, the program window displays a tree structure of folders on the disk, indicating the sizes and percentage of total space.
The bottom part displays a graphical representation of folders and their contents, which is also connected to a filter in the upper right part, which allows you to quickly determine the space occupied by individual file types (for example, in my screenshot, you can quickly detect a large temporary file with a .tmp extension) .
You can download WinDirStat from the official website https://windirstat.info/download.html
Free Disk Analyzer
The Free Disk Analyzer by Extensoft program is another hard drive usage analysis utility in Russian, which allows you to check what space is occupied, find the largest folders and files and, based on the analysis, make an informed decision about cleaning up space on the HDD.
After launching the program, you will see a tree structure of disks and folders on them on the left side of the window, on the right - the contents of the currently selected folder, indicating the size, percentage of occupied space, and a diagram with a graphical representation of the space occupied by the folder.
Additionally, Free Disk Analyzer has “Largest Files” and “Largest Folders” tabs for quickly finding them, as well as buttons for quick access to the Windows utilities “Disk Cleanup” and “Add or Remove Programs.”
Official website of the program: http://www.extensoft.com/?p=free_disk_analyzer (On the website at the moment it is called Free Disk Usage Analyzer).
Disk Savvy
The free version of the Disk Savvy disk space analyzer (there is also a paid Pro version), although it does not support the Russian language, is perhaps the most functional of all the tools listed here.
Among the available features is not only a visual display of used disk space and its distribution into folders, but also flexible options to classify files by type, examine hidden files, analyze network drives, and also view, save or print diagrams of various types that provide information about disk space usage.
You can download the free version of Disk Savvy from the official website http://disksavvy.com
TreeSize Free
The TreeSize Free utility, on the contrary, is the simplest of the programs presented: it does not draw beautiful diagrams, but it works without installation on the computer and for some it may seem even more informative than the previous options.
After launch, the program analyzes the occupied disk space or the folder you select and presents it in a hierarchical structure, which displays all the necessary information on the occupied disk space.
Additionally, it is possible to launch the program in the interface for devices with a touch screen (in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1). TreeSize Free official website: https://jam-software.com/treesize_free/
SpaceSniffer
SpaceSniffer is a free, portable (does not require installation on your computer) program that allows you to understand the folder structure on your hard drive in much the same way as WinDirStat does.
The interface allows you to visually determine which folders on the disk take up the most space, navigate through this structure (by double-clicking the mouse), and also filter the displayed data by type, date or file name.
You can download SpaceSniffer for free here (official website): www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer (note: it is better to run the program as Administrator, otherwise it will report that access to some folders is denied).
Absent in earlier versions of Windows and only introduced in Windows 10 standard tool for analyzing computer disk space, alas, did not adopt the capabilities of numerous third-party software for these purposes. How many good ideas could be borrowed from third-party disk space analyzers such as WinDirStat, SequoiaView, or Xinorbis. But Microsoft apparently decided that the best example to follow would be a mini-roundup of memory card storage in mobile devices. How the standard disk space analyzer in Windows 10 works, and whether it can be considered as a full-fledged tool for periodically clearing space on a computer’s disk – we will discuss these issues below.
The main task of programs for analyzing computer disk space is to provide the user with a summary of the files stored on the computer in a convenient format. Ideally, such a summary should include a selection of data by disk partitions, folders, categories and types of files, the chronology of the appearance of files and their weight. Sorting files according to all these criteria will provide the opportunity to periodically conduct a thorough analysis of the contents of the computer and get rid of unnecessary data. Sampling according to the weight of files on a particular disk partition will allow you to quickly free up disk space if necessary. By sorting files by their weight, you can get rid of the heaviest ones, thereby freeing up disk space for other, more important data.
The disk space analysis function is located in the standard Metro configuration application "Options».
In chapter "System"
The lower part of the Windows 10 “Storage” window is reserved for assigning the default storage location for individual categories of files, and the upper part is the standard computer disk space analyzer. By selecting one of the disk partitions or a connected external storage device, we will see a summary similar to that presented according to memory card data in mobile devices. At the top of the window there will be a visual scale of the fullness of disk partitions and drives, along with data on the total and actually used disk space in gigabytes. Below we will find the space occupied by individual categories of data, such as: system files, installed applications and games, documents, images, videos, music, mail, temporary and other files.
But, unfortunately, this is where the convenience of a standard disk space analyzer ends. With its help, we will not receive detailed information on the space occupied by individual folders and files; we will not build a list, in particular, according to the criterion of file size. Windows 10 sends you to system explorer to deal with such subtleties. Folder paths displayed in the standard analyzer can be clicked to open in Windows Explorer, where files in individual folders can be sorted by size by selecting to display them in table form.
But if there are many subfolders in a folder, it will not be possible to quickly organize data by their size, because the size of the folders is not displayed in the system explorer. You will have to open each subfolder manually, organize a list of files by size, and only then view the files that are eligible for deletion.
With the data category on the system partition of drive C "System and reserved" the situation is even more complicated.
Here we will simply see information about how much space individual system data takes up, but we will not even get links to their opening path in the system explorer. So, apparently, the system is protected from beginners. The only button here is “Manage system recovery”, which leads to the system properties section, where, as part of working with restore points, you can delete them (except the last one) in order to free up some small volume.
Of the sensible features of the standard Windows 10 disk space analyzer, we can note, in principle, only two - a convenient way to clean up temporary files and remove applications. The first option is available when you select the “Temporary Files” data category. Pressing the button "Deleting temporary files", we’ll quickly get rid of them, in particular those stored in the Temp folders on the system drive, where sometimes impressive amounts of unnecessary data accumulate.
Another remarkable opportunity to free up disk space will open to us when selecting a category "Applications and Games". Here, in a single summary, we will find the ability to sort all desktop programs, games, and Metro applications installed on the system by their size. Plus, this category of data is equipped with an uninstaller for quickly removing unused programs, games and applications. Third-party Metro applications installed from the Windows Store do not need to be deleted; they can simply be moved to another location on the computer if the goal is to clear only the system partition of the disk.
***
Thanks to the simplicity and intuitiveness of the organization and interface, the standard Windows 10 disk space analyzer could be a good tool for beginners, if it were just a little more thoughtful. It is suitable for clearing the system disk partition if we are dealing with the classic situation of a cluttered user profile (“Downloads”, “Video”, “Music”, “Images”, etc.). But for general cleaning of your computer—thorough clearing of all disk space—third-party programs designed specifically for these purposes are more suitable. These are, in particular, those programs that are mentioned at the beginning of the article, as well as individual functions as part of software assemblies for comprehensive computer care (such as, for example) or for working with a hard drive (such as, HDTune).
