Fix: High Disk Usage after Fall Creators Update 1709

One of the many problems which came after the Creators Update 1709 was the increase in storage space. As we all know, windows tend to keep the old version’s installation files saved on your PC so you can easily restore if anything goes wrong.

These old installation files are kept for around 10 days before they are automatically deleted by the system. You can either delete the files manually or wait for 10 days for Windows to delete them automatically.

Method 1: Freeing up space using Clean Manager

Clean manager is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft Windows designed to help free up space on your hard drive. The utility first searches and analyzes files which are not in use or are old system files/configurations. It always prompts you before proceeding with the clean.

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application and type “cleanmgr” in the dialogue box.

2. Select the drive where your system is installed. In most cases, it is drive C.

3. Once the disk is analyzed, you will be shown all the space you can free. As we can see, the free space is only 36.9 MB whereas the previous installation files consume a couple of GB’s. We will select the option “Clean up system files” so all files can be included.

4. After selecting the option, windows will compute the space once again. Be patient as this might take a couple of minutes.

5. Once the computation is done, check the option “Previous Windows Installations”. It will most probably be greater than 20 GB. Press Ok for disk cleanup to proceed.

Method 2: Using Settings

You can also perform the same task using the Settings application. This method is easier and quicker as compared to the earlier one.

1. Press Windows + S to launch the search bar. Type “storage” in the dialogue box and open the first result which comes forth.

2. Make sure that “Storage sense” in turned on. Press “change how we free up space” present underneath the heading.

3. Check the option “Delete previous versions of Windows” present under the “Free up space now” heading. Then click “Clean now”.

4. Windows will start the cleanup. It might take some time so be patient and let the process finish.