SSD keeps filling up

It's been close to 2 years since I installed an SSD drive on my system. I put the OS and programs onto it, and not even every program at that. When I download something I put it on the HDD not the SSD. I don't keep pictures on my SSD. I don't put music on my SSD. But my SSD has always been a chore to try to keep from filling up. Currently I have 6.5gb free, and that's after cleaning up. According to WizTree:
Windows takes 28.4gb
System Volume Information takes 25.1gb
Program Files (x86) takes 19.2gb
Program Data takes 9.8gb
Program Files take 7.4gb
Users takes 7.2gb, with 5.1 of that being App Data
with various other folders on C: that are less than a gb each.

This on 100gb partition of a 120gb SSD makes for a very full drive.
What are the basics of keeping my SSD not so freakin full? :banghead

PS, I'm a photographer, but rest assured my pictures aren't residing on the SSD. I can't even upload images from one camera to the SSD, much less the three that I shoot with normally. I do have a number of photography related programs installed.

 

The main problem is System Volume Information at 25GB, or 25% of your OS partition. Go into System Protection and adjust the max usage to 5% (= 5GB). The other thing that stands out is that 20GB has been allocated to a second partition, presumably a recovery partition. If you were to adopt and use an imaging program I think this partition could be dispensed with entirely, though I would like to see a pic of your disk management first.

Your Program Files and Program Data are massive compared with mine, but if you need all that software there isn't much you can do about it.

There are other things, like Temp files that can be moved to HDD but they really are not that significant.

 

Thanks Earthling, (never thought I'd utter that phrase). By System Protection are you meaning System Restore? I'm on Win7-64 FYI.

Is there a way to migrate programs that wouldn't be of much benefit of the SSD to the HDD or do I need to reinstall those? Many programs use the CPU more than the use the hard drive.

As for disk management tell me how to get a pic and it shall be done. Screen capture of WizTree perhaps?

 

Yes, System Restore. Right click Computer > Properties > System Protection. Click on the C drive and Configure. Choose what level of protection you want and set the max usage - I suggest 5%. Select the other drives and turn it off. This will make a huge difference.

Programs would have to be reinstalled to get them on HDD.

For the disk management pic right click Computer > Manage > Disk Manaagement. Try to get all the available info into the pic.

 

Thanks Earthling. 5% gave me back a lot. Hope I don't need those restore points.

Attaching a png of the screenshot you asked for.

 

Thanks for the screenshot. Your SSD is similar to mine, reporting 111.79GB total size rather than the 120GB you are led to expect. Manufacturers use two differing definitions of a GB though I can't now remember the difference. Anyway, the other partition is the partition your system boots from so you need that, but of 9.82GB it is only using 2.68GB so wasting over 7GB. I'm pretty sure that that partition could be resized and the freed space added to your Win 7 partition, but I'm a bit reluctant to advise doing so as substantial precautions would need to be taken first just in case anything misfired.

You can easily check what restore points you still have by going into System Protection again and starting a dummy system restore. Just ensure you check the box to show all restore points. I have 8 available in a similar space, quite enough for me.

If you are still feeling the pinch then moving some of your software to HDD would be helpful in that sense but it does make the creation of system images rather more difficult. I would try to avoid that myself as I see the system images as being my lifeline. You could also move your entire User profile to HDD saving about 7GB, but again this hampers the creation of usable system images.

So there is more that could be done if really necessary but would have to be handled very carefully. Perhaps a better alternative is to get a larger SSD and clone everything to it.

My own SSD is only using 36GB for Win 7 and my software but I'll be keeping a close eye on it for signs of growth.