On disk clean up

[Marthe48]

I think I'm succeeding at deleting the temp files. I am deleting them manually, been working on it since about 9:30 this morning. Over 4 1/2 hours to get almost 2 million files into a delete queue, and now 4 hours and counting for the files to delete. They totaled 278G. I'm hoping the length of time it is taking to delete will equal a cleaned up disk.
Why so many files? I read that if the computer is shut down incorrectly, or crashes, there will be temp files that don't get cleaned off. There have been plenty of times the power went out, lots of crashing too, probably because of the files building up. I've been worried all day that the power would go out and I'd have to start all over.
If this works, maybe I can put off buying a new laptop

[OutNow]

1. Try CCleaner utility

I've been using CCleaner for many years. It automates the process you've been doing manually.

[Marthe48]

2. Thanks

I'm going to pay more attention to the build-up from now on.

[LoisB]

3. Agree about CCleaner. I use the free version (takes seconds).

[sboatcar]

4. 2 million files is going to take a very long time

Third party utilities are ok, but honestly its the windows update files that take up the most space, MS keeps them in the to provide the ability to roll back if some update messes things up. 99.9% chance you'll never need them again. The longer you have your computer and the more updates that get installed, the more of those files will be there.

[Marthe48]

5. Time left moves up and down

So far, about 550,000 files left

Now that I know what I'm doing, I won't let it get away again.

[sboatcar]

6. The time left is impossible to determine

Those indicators go on the average speed over the past few minutes. That many files will take hours. Its funny, if it was 270gb in one file it would take like 3 seconds to delete

[Marthe48]

7. I rebooted my computer this a.m.

The delete files stopped at 88%, which left about 2.5G of temp files undeleted. I left the app running for a couple hours after it stopped, but there was no further activity. I paused the app, and at bedtime, closed the lid, which doesn't shut the laptop off. This morning, I opened the lid and the computer started up ok. I closed the app and was happy to see that the deleted files stayed deleted. Free space on the disk has gone from 17% to 56%. But the system and internet were running super slow, so I restarted the laptop. It's been taking an hour to get back online, but today, it booted within minutes. Now the system and Internet are running faster. I'm satisfied with the result. I'll read up on the suggestions that have been offered about other apps that delete temp files, and keep a better eye on maintenance.

Happy Friday!