How To Free Up Disk Space on Windows

Having insufficient space on your disk drive can impact the performance of your Windows operating system severely. Going below a certain threshold can lead to slowdowns, freezes, frequent crashes and annoying warning messages urging the user to resolve the situation. Indeed, Windows needs at least 200MB to continue operating optimally. Going below 200, 80, and 50, will result in warning messages that will increase in intensity. Falling under the lowest limit will force Windows to show the warning messages every four minutes.

To resolve the situation, the best method is to simply delete all unnecessary files and programs that have not been used or opened in a long time. Start with the ones that take up the biggest portion of disk space. You also can check for any backups that might have been left forgotten on the disk and are simply hogging up precious space there.

Some users, however, may wish to instead stop the System Protection system. To start the process, right-click the Start menu and select System. Navigate through the available options and click on 'System info' located right below 'Related settings.' Look through the left pane of the new window and select 'System Protection.' In the System Properties window, select the 'System Protection' tab. Under 'Protection Settings' you will see a list of all your drives. Select the one you need and click on 'Configure.' All that is left is to select 'Disable System Protection' and click OK.