Windows 10 Really weird thing about windows disk cleanup.

[Haxxzer]

So today I went to the windows disk cleanup on my laptop which only has 32GB of storage on it, and it said that I could get 3.9 TB back and that seems impossible since it is 32GB model. It turns out that the thing that was 3.9 TB was the old windows versions that it saved apparently. But it seems literally impossible how a 3.9TB file could be on a computer that only has 32GB storage on it........ (By the way i do have a 1tb external hard drive attached, but there is no windows versions on it, I checked).

 

[Neemobeer]

Could be some kind of drive corruption.

 

[kemical]

Hi,
how big is the free space left on the drive?

 

[Haxxzer]

Hi,
how big is the free space left on the drive?

Right now, 1.52 gb free, I cancelled the disk cleanup though, should I start it again?

 

[Josephur]

You should run a full chkdsk /f /r on the C: drive.

Also when that is done try using the dism command to clean up updates that are no longer needed..
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

Should reclaim a bit of storage for you.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

That's about 4.75% free space left; windows needs a minimum of 20-25% free space in order to do it's internal housekeeping and perform the disk cleanup tasks. You need 25% free of 32GB free space, about 24GB used; 8GB free (versus the 1.52GB you have free now). Currently you don't have enough free space for this utility to correctly run. Follow Josephur's recommendations and see if you can get to either of these numbers (25% free/8GB free).

Next, remove any unused or unneeded programs using Programs and Features applet. Only keep the essentials.

You may then need to copy or backup data files starting with movie/video files and then music and then pictures. Backup to external media such external hard drive, flash drive, DVD discs, or Cloud drive online. Remove the originals from your laptop drive. Continue this process until you reach the 25%/8GB free number. You can then re-run Disk Cleanup, and it should complete fine.

Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>