So you recently got a new SSD, but wait, Windows is hogging all the space. Now you are wondering how you’re going to install your favorite game on that bad boy. Well, if you have a secondary storage drive, here are a few tweaks to free that extra space.

Change location of your user files.

By default, Windows saves all of your user files to your C: drive. For a larger drive, that usually is not a problem. But with smaller SSD’s you need to change that. You have your pictures, movies, music, searches, downloads, etc. that will take up valuable space. There are two ways to do this. One is through the registry which I will share later. The other is a much simpler method that requires no registry editing knowledge.

Create a new folder in your storage drive. Name it whatever you want. I always name it my username so its easy to remember. Next, navigate to C:Usersyour_username. Right click the file you want to move. For this example I will choose the My Documents Folder and select Properties Click the Location tab.

Then select Move. Now navigate to your storage drive and just select (don’t open) the folder you created earlier. When you do this, Windows will automatically create the My Documents folder for you inside of your selected folder. Click apply Now you will get a message asking if you want to move all the files from the old location to new. Select yes.

Now your Documents folder has been moved to the storage drive. Repeat this for all other folders, and then you don’t have to worry about pics, flicks and other large personal files taking up space on the SSD

Change Your Pagefile.

These days, with how cheap ram is, most people have atleast 4GB of memory in thier system. This is great, but Windows uses a paging file system which helps speed up your system when alot of memory is being used. A great feature, but it comes with a price. By default Windows will march the amount of memory you have and reserve that space in your C: drive. So if you have 16GB of Ram, Windows is stealing 16GB of Hard Drive space from you. (Not cool Microsoft, Not cool) We will fix this to be on our storage drive to keep our SSD free from unnecessary space being used.

Navigate to StartControl PanelSystem Now in the left side of the window, choose Advanced system settings Now select the Advanced tab if not selected already.

You will now select the first option which is Performance. Click the settings button Now click on the advanced tab under performance options.

Now you will select the second option which is Virtual Memory. Click the change button. Now uncheck the box that allows Windows to automatically manage the paging file. Next highlight C: by clicking on it. Then on select the option that says No Paging File and hit Set. Now select your storage drive and tick System managed size and hit Set.

Reboot.

Now you have freed up several GB’s of stolen space from Microsoft.

Disable Hibernation.

If you are using a desktop, chances are you don’t use Hibernation. This is another useful feature, but only for laptops or mobile devices. It also uses alot of space. Disable and enjoy all that free space.

Hit the Windows key and R at the same time. This brings up the run window. Now type cmd to open your command prompt Next in the command line, type “powercfg -h off” (without the quotes)

That’s it, hibernation is off. To turn it on again simply type “powercfg -h on” (without the quotes) and hibernation will be restored.

Change your User Location in Registry.

NOTE: This requires editing your registry. I am not responsible if you screw your settings up and have to reformat. Create a system restore point before doing this to be safe.

Maximum PC had put a great article out on how to move your and any future user profile to a selected destination on your computer. Once setup, you don’t have to worry about managing any files, folders, or even app data due to the default user locations being changed in the registry.

I personally use this method, but I must warn you, if you don’t know what you are doing, you will lose the ability for windows to control you computer, and you will need to manually open files and directories to fix the screw up. Proceed with caution and backup…..

The article can be found here

How to optimize your windows profile and media storage ssd

And that’s it, I hope you enjoyed. If you like this give a shot out and let me know….

Change your page file.

Your system page file (virtual memory) is another hard drive space hog. On an SSD, this could mean a world of difference. So, if you have only your ssd installed we will turn it off. If you have a secondary data drive, we will move your page file.

Here’s how.