Freeing Hard Drive Space On Win98 Computer

I did the following to free up some hard drive space on my Windows 98 computer:

* I emptied the Recycle Bin.
* I compressed some large executables using UPX.
* I moved programs off the hard drive to floppies, Zip disks and a dedicated flash drive I treat as a second hard drive.

I didn't or couldn't do the following:

* Clear the temp. folder: I didn't bother.
* Compress the hard drive using DriveSpace, as it's a FAT32 drive.
* I tried a long time ago to use AppZip to temporarily compress selected programs, but it didn't work on my system.

What else can I do to free up some hard drive space?

 

Move files (pictures, documents, music, etc.) to a USB drive or portable hard drive.

Remember that any external drive used will have to be FAT32 (not NTFS). Off the shelf USB drives of 32GB or smaller usually come as FAT32 out of the box. USB drives of 64GB or larger are usually set as default to NTFS and can be a pain if you attempt to convert them to FAT32. Same for external hard drives: They are usually pre-formatted as NTFS and you would have to hook them up to a newer PC (Windows 7/8/8.1/10) to reformat it to FAT 32.

Hope this helps.

 

Win 98 doesn't have USB capability. Do you mean Win 98SE?

 

gman863: I already did what you said. I even mentioned I did.

Earthling: I do mean Win98SE.

 

Get a new drive.....
What, a hdd on a win98 system must be what?? 3 or 4 gigs?

You moved programs of the hdd to floppy's? Lol
WTF, was it, a boot.ini file?

 

You could always compress your existing HDD but it does take a while for it to do that and it will also make your system a little slower. Win 98SE does support that aswell.

 

You can set up more than one USB drive for storage. If you don't have enough USB ports just add a 4 or 7 port hub.

 

sexyandy81: It does support disk compression, but the hard drive is a FAT32 drive, and Win98SE can't compress FAT32 drives.

gman863: It has two USB ports. I use one to act as a second hard drive and one to install large programs.

replicator: I do have an extra hard drive laying around, but I'm waiting for the money to have it installed.

 

I used to have 98SE, and it was - and still is - the best OS. How have you managed to stick all this time with it and use the internet much? Newer ones had bells and whistles I didn't need or want, and which slowed my PC a lot. I held out as long as I could, but to view videos online, that's impossible today on 98SE. That stinks. Many fine programs I used to love and rely on have not worked since I switched to W7. I bought another PC and installed W10. I dislike both OSs. They no longer have DOS, which does give them some advantages, but when you REALLY need a genuine command prompt, it isn't available any more. They added the bells and whistles, while at the same time drastically reducing user controls. And that REALLY stinks. But it isn't just that people go for bright shiny objects and don't bother to use controls anyway, it's that you CAN'T have the controls you want when using W7 and up. If you want to view online videos, it's W7 and up - or nothing.

I am planning to install 98SE on my new terrabyte PC. One of the experts here said that such large drives are NTSB and won't be easily switched to FAT32. I suspect that means I won't be able to find anything like a FAT64. Pity.

I'm wanting to switch back to 98SE on my new terrabyte drive. It currently has W10. Can I use W10 to change the drive to FAT32, then delete the OS and install 98SE? Does that have to be one at the BIOS level? And will the change remain after I uninstall 10 and install 98SE? Or is it more complex than that?
I plan to use my older computer exclusively online. The new, bigger drive won't EVER go online. I bought a switch that lets me switch between the two computers easily. So I want to go back to the better OS. Staying offline will keep my PC clean.
I lost access to dozens of PC games with W7, and modern games are pitiful by comparison.
Can I have my little dream of a terrabyte PC with W98SE? Please tell me that I can!
Thanks,
Holly B.

 

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I had the same problem when I had 98SE. I used WinZip and zipped up programs and installers. I zipped whole directories full of MSWord and text files, too. Later, when I could, I burned them oto CDRW disks so I could erase them on my HD.
Might that help a little?

 

faster: I agree with you. I tried AppZip a long time ago, but it didn't work. I have a few things I can compress. Maybe I'll compress them.

 

If AppZip doesn't work, I'll try batch files. I might be going to my mother's house this weekend, where my Win98 computer is, so I should be able to test these out then.

 

AppZip didn't work. I'll try batch files.

 

faster: Your idea helped me decrease the used hard drive space from just under 3/4 to 1/2. Thanks!

 

A little more than 1/3 and counting! Thanks again, faster!

 

I've been getting exceptional performance--too exceptional--and wondering how I got all this free space out of nothing. Then, I ran SCANDISK in DOS mode and found the data. After fixing a few file system issues, I found the missing info. Now, I again have less than 500MB on a 2.1GB hard drive. How much would it cost to replace just the hard drive if I have the new hard drive? I live in New York, U.S.

 

Okay. Now, I'm back on track. I compressed some large .DLL files using UPX; compressed some unneeded programs and moved them off the hard drive, and used 7Zip to compress some less important programs and decompress them when used. Is there anything else I can do to free some hard drive space?