Readers like you help support MUO. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.

Hi, can someone help or link to some freeware that can track duplicate files on a hard drive? When I start browsing the Web I noticed my hard drive has about 16GB free but after few hours my hard drive only has 46.8MB of space. I have been deleting some files and movies from my hard drive and after one day I found that my hard drive space is getting shorter.

Can you assist how to solve this problem?

binaryman
2013-02-25 22:28:51
Run Directory Report in Administrator modehttp://www.file-utilities.comThere might be a backup program making copies without you knowing it
MAKEUSEOF VIDEO OF THE DAY
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
garva sharma
2013-02-20 03:45:05
advance system care is the best utility for remove duplicates from your computer
Dragonmouth
2013-02-13 21:38:45
Unless each time you go on the Web you download many movies 16 gigabytes of space should not be used up in a few hours. Temporary and duplicate files will not exhaust space that quickly either. There must be another problem.Couple of posters suggested deleting old System Restore Points. It is a good suggestion because those files can be big.. I would also check how often the Restore Points are created. You may be creating a Restore Point once every minute which would exhaust your disk space very quickly.The most convenient way to get rid of unneeded system files is to use Disk Cleanup function as Lisa has suggested. But FIRST check the frequency of Restore Point generation.
Etech Etech
2013-01-17 16:27:00
I use CCleaner to remove temp/junk files. http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/downloadAnd SpaceSniffer to see which files are eating up disk space. http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1594To remove duplicate pictures, I like Dup Detector. [Broken Link Removed]For other types of duplicate files, I use DoubleKiller. http://www.bigbangenterprises.de/en/doublekiller/You should probably also defragment your hard drive after all that. You can use the built in tool, or try Defraggler http://www.piriform.com/defraggler
Tech Nech
2013-01-16 13:33:19
Try using disk clean up, deleting temporary files and deleting the previous versions if you have that activated. Hope it will resolve the problem!
Robbie Blowe
2013-01-05 06:39:45
try glary utilities http://www.glarysoft.com/ its free very good software that can do all maintenance works in one simple click or ou can scan and find out and delete duplicate files and empty folders and unwanted data and even clean your registry, i have been using it for years now and it never failed me, try it ,im sure your problem can be solved hope it helped
Justin Ellenwood
2013-01-01 00:50:15
I will give you a few apps to use. They all do things a bit different but they all work great.System Ninja: No install requiredhttp://singularlabs.com/software/system-ninja/Slim Cleaner: Looks great, cloud based reviews of fileshttp://slimcleaner.com/Purera: No install required. It also removes all the install files that windows downloads when you do windows update. They are not neededhttp://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Secure-cleaning/PureRa.shtml
Andrew Newey
2012-12-30 12:32:50
Use DiskBoss to identify and delete/manage duplicate files on your filesystem. I use it and it is free and works a treat. Good luck.
Aditya Roy
2012-12-29 08:08:09
For removing duplicate files use 'Duplicate File Finder'http://www.ashisoft.com/downloads.htm
2012-12-29 01:33:25
Considering the Disappearance of free space rapidly, I doubt on some virus or worm which usually takes up all the free space on system by replicating itself. I would suggest scanning your entire hard drive with a good anti-virus first.
Gjergji Kokushta
2012-12-29 00:38:25
This may not be relevant, but just curious: Are you using Avast antivirus? If yes, I had this episode, Avast would start and create some memory dump files around 400MB each and counting. I noticed that disconnecting from internet would stop the dumps creation. In my case I didn't find any solution, plus my system was unstable and lots of other issues. I end up formatting my computer, but I guess, uninstalling and installing a fresh Avast would fix the problem.
Cobus Struwig
2012-12-28 21:46:59
Best free duplicate cleaner in my opinion is Digital Volcano's Duplicate Cleaner Freehttp://www.digitalvolcano.co.uk/content/duplicate-cleanerIf you have lots of temporary files on you operating system drive, give CCleaner a try.http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/downloadPlease remember, that if you are not sure what you are deleting, rather not delete it until you are sure.
Bichoy
2012-12-28 21:09:39
Limit Chrome cache size and delete old chrome releases as described here:http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/chrome/give-feature-feedback-and-suggestions/x0FObhnJ7fE
Vinh
2012-12-28 20:38:23
You might find Folder Size by RoteBetaSoftware useful. It's a software that will show folder sizes of your partitions. This will allow you to easily find space hoggers and delete them accordingly.http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/RoteBetaSoftware-Folder-Size.shtml
FIDELIS
2012-12-28 05:55:53
Hello, another tool you could use to see where your space is being used is the following:http://windirstat.info/It will show you entire contents of your directories as well as tell you what kind of extensions those files have. If it is a matter of space being taken by temporary files by several programs or windows itself, you can use something like: ccleaner:http://www.piriform.com/ccleanerglary utilities:http://www.glarysoft.com/Make sure not to use any of the registry cleaners available with either of the software above. Also it would not be a bad idea to give your system a complete scan with your antivirus of choice.
Junil Maharjan
2012-12-28 05:02:45
here are some of the softwares, https://www.pcworld.com/article/217543/duplicates.html and http://download.cnet.com/Auslogics-Duplicate-File-Finder/3000-2248_4-10964299.html
Rohit Jhawer
2012-12-28 02:32:23
There could be one reason i think is causing the problem. Try to delete old system restore points and windows update backup. These take up lots of space. You can do this using ccleaner. Open ccleaner -> Tools -> System Restore, here delete old system restore points. You should get enough space.
Mike
2012-12-28 00:38:18
It sounds a lot like Windows is creating restore points which it couldn't before because of the free space shortage.I would definitely give CCleaner a go to free up all "garbage" that piled up in temporary folders and such.Once that it is done you'll have to see what your actual free space is.If you are still rather short use TreeSize or a similar tool as ha14 suggested to see where the space is actually going.
Lisa Santika Onggrid
2012-12-27 17:13:48
Use Disk Cleanup function built into Windows by right clicking the drive>properties>disk cleanup. Then you might also use CCleaner to clean the temporary files. If your drive space shrinks so suddenly, you might accidentally make copies of large files. These portable freeware DirComp(http://kolmck.net/apps/DirComp.zip) and DoubleKiller (http://www.bigbangenterprises.de/en/doublekiller/download.htm) are good enough.
pp potana
2012-12-27 15:18:31
Use Ccleaner to delete temporary files....this will free lots of space and some times in GB's
Yiz Borol
2012-12-27 14:40:59
make sure that when you delete things they're deleted from the trash as well, until you've permanently deleted a file it still takes up space on your hard disk. To completely get rid of a file you can do one of two things:1) Hold down shift when you click delete, this will ask you if you're sure you want to "permanently delete" the file. you click yes, its gone forever, avoiding your recycle bin.2a) if a file is in your recycle bin just delete if from there and it's gone.2b) You can also "empty the trash" (right click the recycle bin icon on your desktop) this empties your recycle bin.
SANJAY RAWAT
2012-12-27 09:25:20
you can try deleting temperory file by go to RUN type %temp%and you will see a folder delete everything there they are just garbage file some files cant be delete as they are in use You can free from MB to GB space !!also you can try tune up utilities or advanced system care they had a CLONED file scanner which will scan you hardisk for duplicate files
ha14
2012-12-27 09:13:11
use treesize free to see while are the biggest files on your hard drive.http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml
Michael Teague
2012-12-27 08:46:40
This is what I use. It is freeware.http://www.mindgems.com/products/Fast-Duplicate-File-Finder/Fast-Duplicate-File-Finder-About.htm
2012-12-28 21:49:53
thanks, you help me too
Devendra Meena
2012-12-27 06:31:48
Delete your files with any shadder Like TUneUp 2013 :)Or Clear you cookies and temp foler :
Devendra Kumar
2012-12-27 06:33:52
Or try Duplicate file finder pro [Broken Link Removed]
Effendi Chung
2012-12-27 06:18:43
This happens to me once, but not to the point of losing nearly 16 GB, might try using the disk cleanup, its available on your own pc, at Start/accessories/system tools/diskcleanup.
Devendra Kumar
2012-12-27 06:33:30
Effendi Have you own website or blog.