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Free up Disk Space by deleting backup files

Posted February 2007 by Steve Sinchak

Windows Vista has loads of new backup features such as previous versions of your documents and system state points that are part of System Restore.  All of these features are turned on by default and offer you a great deal of backup protection. However, you pay a big price in disk space.  Every once in a while when your system is stable and you need to free up some disk space, it is a good idea to clear all of these previous versions of your files and System Restore points from your computer. This is a very easy way to free up a few gigabytes of space across all of your hard drives.

To get started, just follow these steps:

  1. Click on the Start Button and key in disk cleanup and hit Enter.
  2. Select Files from all users on this computer.
  3. Select the drive you want to clean.
  4. On the More Options tab, click on Clean Up under System Restore and Shadow Copies.
  5. Hit Delete on the confirmation screen.

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