Extending hard disk drive's space

Question

Hello, I have noticed that I have nearly maxed out my hard disk drive's storage space but I don't really have that many apps or programs installed on my laptop. Will shrinking the volume of HDD (via disk management pane) provide me with more space on the disk for the sake of successful future system updates? Is it safe to perform such a shrink the volume operation? Many thanks for your help in this regard. Lila.

Answer 1

Shrinking the volume of your HDD will not free up more usable storage space—it only reduces the partition size, which doesn't help if your disk is already near full capacity. Instead, shrinking a volume is typically used to create unallocated space for other partitions.

Since you mentioned that you don’t have many apps installed, your storage might be occupied by:

• Large personal files (e.g., videos, photos, downloads)
• Temporary and cache files
• Hidden system files, restore points, or Windows update backups
• Hibernation file (hiberfil.sys) and page file (pagefile.sys)

To free up space for future updates:

1. Run Disk Cleanup:
   • Press Win + R, type cleanmgr, and select your drive (usually C:).
   • Click Clean up system files to remove Windows Update leftovers, old system restore points, and temporary files.
2. Check Large Files Manually:
   • Use Win + E > Right-click C:\ > Properties > Disk Cleanup > More Options > Clean up under "System Restore and Shadow Copies".
   • Use Storage Sense (Settings > System > Storage) to find and delete large or unnecessary files.
3. Move Files to an External Drive or Cloud:
   • Store photos, videos, and other large files in OneDrive, Google Drive, or an external HDD.
4. Disable Hibernation (if not needed):
   • Open Command Prompt (Admin) and run:

          powercfg -h off
     

   • This deletes the hiberfil.sys file, which can take up several GBs.
5. Uninstall Unused Apps & Features:
   • Go to Settings > Apps and remove unnecessary programs.

As far as shrinking a volume goes, the operation is safe if done correctly, but it does not reduce the actual storage used—it only reallocates available space between partitions, so there is no need for you to do this.

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hth

Marcin

Answer 2

Hi,

Shrinking the volume of your hard disk drive is safe but it will not provide you with more space for future system updates. Shrinking a volume only reduces the size of the partition, creating unallocated space that can be used to create new partitions. It does not free up space within the existing partition.

To free up space on your HDD, you should consider the following options:

1. Delete Unnecessary Files: Remove files you no longer need.
2. Uninstall Unused Programs: Uninstall programs you no longer use.
3. Use Disk Cleanup: Use the built-in Disk Cleanup tool to remove temporary files and system files.
4. Move Files to External Storage: Transfer large files to an external hard drive or cloud storage.

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

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Answer 3

Hi guys,

Many thanks for your help.
So I run the disk clean-up and disabled hibernation but it only provided me with a few GB of free space.
The in-built size of my HDD is only 57.2 GB so I guess I have to accept that the system components may take the bigger chunk of it.
I also already transferred any videos and pictures onto an external drive.
As to proposed Check Files Manually procedure, I can't see Disk Cleanup and further buttons when I enter the Properties. I will try this way: by pressing the 'Clean up system files' button in the Disk Cleanup panel, if that's okay.

Another option for me would be to upgrade the HDD but that may cost more than a new laptop of higher capacity I guess.
I'll keep reading what the web has to offer in this regard but thank you so much for you help again.
Regards,
Lila