How to Increase Free Space on Your Hard Disk

This article describes several methods you can use to free space on your hard disk. For Windows 95 to run smoothly and reliably, you should have at least 20 megabytes (MB) of free space on your hard disk.

To determine the amount of free space on your hard disk, use the following steps:

1. Double-click My Computer.
2. Right-click your hard disk, and then click Properties.
3. On the General tab, note the amount of free space.
4. Click OK.
   
   NOTE: If you have multiple hard disks, repeat steps 2-4 for each hard disk to determine the amount of free space.
5. Close My Computer.

To free space on your hard disk, use one or more of the following methods.

Delete Temporary Files

Under normal circumstances, Windows 95 temporary files are closed and deleted when you quit Windows. However, if you quit Windows incorrectly (for example, restarting the computer or turning it off when Windows is running) the files may not be closed or deleted.

To delete temporary files, use the following steps:

1. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files Or Folders.
2. In the Named box, type *.tmp, and then click Find Now.
3. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
4. On the File menu, click Delete.
   
   NOTE: If you receive an Access Denied message, quit all programs that are running and repeat steps 1-4. To quit all programs, follow these steps:
   1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open the Close Program dialog box.
   2. Quit all programs except Explorer and Systray (which are parts of Windows 95). To quit a program, click the program, and then click End Task.
   3. Repeat steps A-B until all unnecessary programs are no longer running.
   4. Disable any anti-virus programs or disk utilities installed on the computer. For information about how to disable these programs, see the printed or online documentation for the program.

Delete Temporary Internet Files

Temporary Internet files are cached copies of the Web pages you access, as well as supplementary files such as graphic images and videos. You may find that Web pages you have accessed in the past take longer to load the first time you visit them after you delete these cached files.

To delete temporary Internet files, use the following steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Internet.
3. On the General tab, click Delete Files.
   -or-
   On the Advanced tab, click Settings, and then click Empty Folder.

Empty Recycle Bin

To empty the Recycle Bin, right-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop, and then click Empty Recycle Bin. If you are prompted to confirm that you want to delete the files, click Yes.

For more information about how to free space on your hard disk, click Start, click Help, click the Index tab, type "troubleshooting" (without quotation marks), click the "Disk Space" Help topic, and then click Display.