Clean up your PC
Before deciding if you need to invest in more storage, make sure you’re not wasting the space you already have.
Freeing up space on your PC has never been easier thanks to Windows 10’s new Storage Sense feature, which is designed to render third-party apps like CCleaner redundant. Your first job, therefore, is to employ its services to free up additional space on your drive. Navigate to Settings > System > Storage and click the ‘Configure Storage Sense or run it now’ link. Flick the Storage Sense switch on and choose when to run the disk-cleaning tool: by default, it’ll run when you run low on disk space, but if you want to take a more pre-emptive approach you can run it monthly, weekly or even daily.
Scroll down to configure more options – for example, removing temporary files, emptying files from the Recycle Bin after a set period and periodically cleaning out the Downloads folder. You can also configure OneDrive’s ondemand feature so downloaded content reverts to online-only if unopened for 1, 14, 30 or 60 days. Desperate for more space? Click ‘Clean now’ to perform a one-time cleanup.
FILES ON-DEMAND
If you’re a Microsoft OneDrive user, then chances are you’re already taking advantage of a relatively recent feature known as “on-demand”. Instead of keeping everything physically stored on your computer, a series of shortcuts are created instead pointing to the online files. These take up a fraction of the space, while ensuring your files are always accessible (so long as you’re connected to the internet). Simply open a file in the normal way and it’ll be
downloaded to your PC, kept there indefinitely or – if configured as outlined above – until the file hasn’t been touched for a set period, at which point it’ll revert to online-only to free up space on your PC until you next open it.
Verify the feature is on by rightclicking the OneDrive icon and choosing Settings > Settings tab, then ensuring ‘Save space and download files as you use them’ is ticked.
TRACK DOWN DUPLICATES
It’s amazing how easily we generate copies of files – or near-duplicates in the case of digital photos, with multiple attempts to get the perfect shot all somehow being left on your drive at the end of the process. In the past we’ve looked to Duplicate Cleaner Free (www. digitalvolcano.co.uk/duplicatecleaner. html) and AntiDupl (https://ermig1979. github.io/AntiDupl/english/) to cover these bases for free. The Pro version of Duplicate Cleaner ($50.95) can also hunt out similar files, but before investing why not give AntiTwin (www.joergrosenthal.com/en/antitwin/) a go?
Despite not having been updated since 2010, this no-frills tool works perfectly in Windows 10 and can cover all your bases as the step-by-step guide reveals. Your selections are clearly marked before you commit to any deleting of files, and when you click to delete you’re given the option of moving them to a folder on the same drive for transferring elsewhere, sending them to the Recycle bin or deleting them directly.
Look too for the option to replace the file with a symbolic link to the file you’ve kept – this means a program referencing the file you’ve deleted will be redirected to the remaining file instead, ensuring it continues to work correctly.
1 SELECT HARD DRIVE
Open AntiTwin. Click ‘Select folder’ next to ‘Basic folder’ to select the root of your drive if you’re looking to clear up space on one drive only. Tick ‘2nd folder’ to select another folder path or drive if you’re looking to clear space across two hard drives by weeding out duplicates.
2 FOCUS SEARCH
Leave ‘Include subfolders’ ticked and click the File filter… button. You can exclude smaller files from the search (and speed it up) by setting a minimum file size. Click the dropdown as shown to focus on specific file types, and tick ‘Compare images (pixels)’ if you’re looking for visually similar images.
3 PICK YOUR COMPARISON METHOD
By default, files are compared according to their content only, but you can also compare by name and file size if you wish. The ‘Match min’ figure allows you to match similar, but not identical, files – this is best left for image searches only. Once done, click the Search button
4 WAIT FOR SCAN
A progress window will appear – don’t be surprised to see it freeze occasionally as files are checked. You can pause or cancel the search at any time. After the folder contents have been read, files will be compared to see which are duplicates and (if selected) close matches.
5 REVIEW RESULTS
If you chose two paths, read the warning, but click OK as this would only be an issue if they were both pointing to the same folder. A list of all duplicates and similar files will be shown, grouped together. Images can be compared by selecting one to reveal a pop-up window.
6 REMOVE DUPLICATES
Right-click a file to decide whether to keep or remove it – you’ll also see options that allow you to mark specific folders as duplicates (see main text). After making your selections, use the legend to verify you’ve picked the right files to delete before clicking ‘Delete selected files’.