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So basically I upgraded to a SSD recently and I followed instructions to copy my old HD over to the new SSD. Everything has been great up to this point until I noticed that my brand new 1TB SSD is nearly full... wth!? Upon looking into this I noticed that I have duplicate Windows System Files/Folders. They populate in both Program Files and Program Filesx86. Yikes... at least I found the culprit for my lack of space.
Now if someone could assist me, how exactly can I removed these protected files/folders and how can I do remove them without messing up my computer irreparably?
Please see attached screenshot for visual explanation of what I am seeing.
Any help would be welcomed but keep in mind while I am above the average bear on computer know-how Im no expert.
Thank you.
Well, you should not remove any of this folders. I you take a look at the total file size of those folder in Program Files (x86) you will propably notice that those folders are just a few megabyte "large". If I´m not mistaken, Windows stores old 32bit libraries in this folder. Not sure if those files are still vital for Windows, but removing might be a bad idea. Removal might damage your OS.
Right thats why I was asking how do I remove them safely and which ones - the Program File ones I assume?
I dont need duplicates, are they slowing me down? How could I get duplicates in the first place? If these files/folders are as small as you suggest, how could I have 1TB of space almost used up with only a handful of videogames installed?
Nope, they are not slowing you down, but they might be essentiel to keep Windows running.
Usually games are pretty large. Assassins Creed Odyssey is about 80GB, Ghost Recon Breakpoint had about 60GB, you can even pump up World of Warcraft to well over 45GB. There are games out there that use over 100GB.
Whatever is eating away your SSD space, it is not those files as you suspect. And you Most certainly got those duplicates when upgrading from 32bit Windows to 64bit Windows.
In you want to know for sure whats using up your space, check Apps & Features in Settings. There you can see how big all of your apps are.
To remove them follow these instructions:
