Why does my Surface RT hard drive keep filling up?

[Joene90]

Surface RT hard drive keeps filling up

Hey all,

So since a couple of weeks now my Surface RT C:/ Drive keeps filling up and I have no idea how. I used to have about 4 - 4.5 GB of free space and yesterday it went as low as 330 MB. I have installed all updates and did a disk clean up right after, deleted all old update files and made Windows reduce the WinSXS folder but I'm still only at 1.4 GB. I haven't downloaded any apps lately, I've only deleted ones but it doesn't seem to have any effect. I checked app sizes and those haven't changed at all. Does anyone know what I could try more?

I can't do a refresh because you need like 5 or 6 GB free on your hard drive for that. I'm thinking of doing a complete restart, but that would be my last resort obviously.

 

[John Steffes]

I have read a few post of this, sometimes it is apps (you delete them, but the files do not get deleted, they hang around), something about other users on the device might be using those apps? Second, the NAND used on some of the early Surface's fail and when they fail it looks like the space disappears, but really the space is being marked bad, the only fix is to swap out the device with Microsoft, as they did not make the NAND removable/replaceable.

Hope your issue is not the second case, but either way contact Microsoft if under warranty and see what they are willing to do?

 

[calfee20]

I used this to gain space on both my desktop W8.1and my RT. Open IE click on the gear then safety and delete browsing history. A box will appear with check boxes of what you want to get rid of and then a delete box at the bottom. I gained 4 gigs on my desktop and a gig on my RT. It all depends on how much you browse the internet with your device. Your skydrive folder can also take up some space.

 

[Joene90]

Re: Surface RT hard drive keeps filling up

There's only one user (me ), how would I be able to determine if apps are store more data? Thanks for the IE tip, saved me 300 MB!

 

[John Steffes]

By default, one does not have rights to WindowsApps (under c:\program files), you have to take ownership of the root, then one can reset the original owner (NT Support\Trusted Installer), but before you do give your user ID full rights to the root, do not allow it to reset the sub folders, just the root (of WindowsApps), under there I found a deleted folder which held lots of directories and files of Store Apps I deleted, but they did not get removed?

Just make sure you do not reset/force all subdirectories to have the same rights it will mess up the Store Apps permissions... Again. this is the last resort...

Check c:\windows\software distribution\download and make sure all the Windows Updates are deleted...

You call also clear a lot of files space using Disk Cleanup and Advanced options to remove other OS files.

 

[Joene90]

Re: Surface RT hard drive keeps filling up

I tried the last two things already, not sure how to do the first.

/edit: I cleared up 12 (!) GB by just reinstalling Windows. I have everything just as it was, but now there's 12 more gigs. I'm happy

 

[SheilaSe]

FYI for anyone else having a similar issue,

If you download a free program called WinDirStat, you can have it scan your computer and give you a snapshot of what folders/files are taking up the most space on your device.

I use it a lot and love it. Especially the little pacman/men. :smile:

 

[kjckjckjc]

Re: Surface RT hard drive keeps filling up

I tried the last two things already, not sure how to do the first.

/edit: I cleared up 12 (!) GB by just reinstalling Windows. I have everything just as it was, but now there's 12 more gigs. I'm happy

 

[kjckjckjc]

How did you clear up 12gb of space, I'm in need of he'p

 

[WillysJeepMan]

How did you clear up 12gb of space, I'm in need of he'p

Reinstalling Windows is what he did. But that free space will not be permanent unless you disable updates.


Here's a link with some suggestions:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17421/windows-free-up-drive-space


And another:
Master Tutorial to Make Windows 8 / 8.1 Super Fast - AskVG

from elevated command prompt:
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase


1. Right-click and open Command Prompt with Administrator privileges.

(C:\Windows\Prefetch and C:\Windows\Temp).

2. Enter net stop wuauserv
3. Enter rd /s /q C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution
4. Enter net start wuauserv
5. Enter exit
6. A new C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder will be empty, and your Windows Update history will be empty as well. Any applied Windows Updates on that machine until that point are now permanently applied.



I also like to clear out the logs in the Event Viewer, which CCleaner also doesn't do.
1. Right-click on My Computer and click Manage.
2. Under Computer Management (local) > System Tools > Event Viewer > Windows Logs, right-click on each one and choose Clear Log..., then click Clear to confirm clearing of the event log.
Lastly, I make sure the temporary folders are really cleared, since CCleaner doesn't.
1. Clear out C:\Windows\Temp
2. Clear out C:\Users\yourprofile\AppData\Local\Temp
3. Clear out C:\Users\yourprofile\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files
4. Clear out C:\Users\yourprofile\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\UserData\Low
There may be a few others like DOMStore or Feeds Cache, but I've never bothered to check them out as well.

 

[T Moore]

How to Check the Size and Reclaim Disk Space from WinSxS in Windows 8.1 | Gizmo's Freeware

StartComponentCleanup takes hours, connect to power and leave it alone

 

[Mark Goh]

Re: Surface RT hard drive keeps filling up

I tried the last two things already, not sure how to do the first.

/edit: I cleared up 12 (!) GB by just reinstalling Windows. I have everything just as it was, but now there's 12 more gigs. I'm happy

Hi, is it "Remove everything and reinstall window?". I am having space problem as well. Keep removing file but space become less than 1 G.