How can I stop Windows 8 from continually filling up my C: drive space

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charles_i

charles_i

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Apr 2, 2013
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I've read a lot of the older posts on this but none of them answer my specific problem. I'm using an ASUS Republic of Games laptop as my main PC at work (that's what I was given and I'm happy with the speed of it). It has Window 8 installed, never had a previous OS. I have installed nearly all of my programs on the D: drive. However, my 100GB C: drive is constantly and continually filling up - currently showing only 7.7GB free.

I ran WinDirStat and TreeSize on C: drive. Hibernate, hiberfil.sys is using 12GB of space. I already reduced the size of pagefile.sys and it's at 5.5GB. Having read some of the other posts it sounds like 12GB is double what hibernate should be. I know you can't turn it off in Windows 8 because of fast startup but I don't actually ever use any hibernating feature (or other power features) since this PC is plugged in all the time, is used constantly all day during the week, and never leaves my office (so battery is never used). Can I reduce the size of hibernate by changing the settings? There are so many in Power Options I don't know where to start.

I know 100GB isn't very big for a hard drive, but I didn't build this thing :) Still, I would think it's more than enough to run Windows. Any idea what's going on here?

Thanks Charles
P.S. I've attached a jpg of the readouts.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Hibernate, you can absolutely turn off. I have. Been that way for ~2 years, no problem.
Otherwise, it consumes SDD space equal to your RAM.

No...what else is consuming your space?
Restore points? Doc/Music/Video/etc ?

My 120GB Kingston SSD boot drive changes size rarely and minimal. Currently, ~67GB used (OS and pretty much ALL applications), and has been that way for quite a while.
 
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jjs0891

jjs0891

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Dec 26, 2012
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You could always get another external drive to put all your media files

unless you're actually running on a 120gb SSD, you should be able to increase the size of your C drive by shrinking your D drive (with Partition Wizard)
 
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I

IrvSp

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You CAN move PAGEFILE.SYS to another drive (D:) and get back 5.5GB's on C: (http://www.softwareok.com/?seite=faq-Windows-8&faq=133).

You can also decrease the size of the RESTORE POINTS, default is 10 - 15% of your C: drive (doing so will mean less possible restore points though, see https://www.winhelp.us/configure-system-restore-in-windows.html).

If you are doing INDEXING, that too can be moved off the C: drive.

 
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charles_i

charles_i

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Since this question is so popular I need to add a note to this question.

My accepted answer - disable hibernate - worked somewhat for awhile. I also tried various other methods including the PAGEFILE.SYS workaround.

However, in the end I never was able to solve the problem. Maybe the fact that this laptop would not upgrade to Windows 8.1 - even with the assistance of Microsoft - is a hint. I don't know. The Microsoft technician, having examined the machine remotely, suggested I just buy Windows 8.1 - really?

I no longer work for the company where I used that PC so the problem for me is gone :) But my last few weeks at work (July 2015) saw the hard driving filling up again with phantom of the opera-ting system space. My suggestion is just get the free upgrade to Windows 10 and do a clean install.
 
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