I tend to save everything. And as a result, I tend to fill up disk drives. Disk drives are like garages: it's where stuff tends to settle. And like a garage, they need to be cleaned out once in a while. But unlike a garage you can easily and inexpensively expand your storage. There are 4 ways to increase your available disk space: eliminate unnecessary programs, remove old or unneeded files, add a second disk drive, or upgrade to a larger disk drive.

Before You Begin

It's important to understand the trade-offs of the four options.

First of all, cleaning up unnecessary files and programs is an essential part of periodic maintenance of your computer. It reduces clutter and can improve the overall performance of your system, as well as reducing the chance that you'll run out of disk space.If you aren't cleaning up old files once in a while you should consider doing so. Do a little bit each week. It's better than trying to clean up a huge mess once a year.

Removal of many programs only results in a minor release of disk space. With today's large capacity disk drives you want to gain back GIGABYTES of space. Anything less than 10MB or so doesn't warrant much attention with regards to reclaiming space (but does help reduce clutter if you don't need it).

Adding an another disk drive can be a quick fix with long-term serviceability. Particularly for someone who likes to download videos and music - these files tend to be very large.

Upgrading your existing drive is by far the most expensive and time-consuming option - it requires special tools and special skills to transfer the data on your current disk drive to a new disk drive. And don't neglect to destroy the old drive if it contains sensitive personal information!

Before you make a decision consider several factors:

How large is your hard drive? Small (< 120GB) drives are generally better off upgraded to a larger disk.

How is your disk space being used? If you have a large collection of photos or music an external disk is perfect because it's portable - you can take it with you and connect it to any computer.

How old is your computer? If your computer is the latest and greatest technology...circa 2003...you need to think about upgrading the entire computer.

But read on...the tips in this article will help you extend the useful life of your computer no matter what your situation.

Removing Unneeded Programs

Note: Use with care. If you don't know what you're doing consult an expert...like us.

Removing unneeded programs is tricky and may not result in much savings in disk space. But it is an important part of computer maintenance.

Open up Windows Control Panel (START -> Control Panel). Click on "Add or Remove Programs".Windows displays a list of all software installed on your computer. General Rule of Thumb: if you don't know what it is don't remove it. Clicking on any item on the list will show you the size of the program as well as the last time it was used. Don't completely trust the dates (if any is shown). I've found Control Panel to be somewhat inaccurate. If you see a program that 1) you know what it is and 2) you are certain you no longer require it, then and only then should you uninstall it.

Removing Unneeded Files

There are three steps. The first two are easy:

1) Clear browser cache

2) Use the Windows Drive Space tool to clear temporary files

3) Delete files in My Documents that you do not need

Clear Browser Cache

Open Internet Explorer. Click Tools -> Properties. On the General tab under Browsing history it shoudl read "Delete temporary files, history, cookies, saved passwords, and web form information".

Understand what this is going to do: Internet Explorer uses a methodology called "caching" to store local copies of content on web sites so that the next time you visit the site it loads faster (because reading local copies of files is faster than downloading them across the internet). These files tend to build up over time. It's important to clean them out once in a while.

Internet Explorer also stores Cookies, a history of sites you have visited, data you have typed into forms, and passwords you have elected to save. For disk cleanup we're only concerned with deleting Temporary Internet Files.

Click the "Delete..." button. On the window that appears you will click the "Delete files..." button to the right of Temporary Internet Files. This may take several minutes, particularly if you have not cleared your browser's cache before.

Disk Cleanup Tool

The Windows Disk Cleanup Tool is a handy feature for cleaning up various kinds of unneeded files. Click START->My Computer. Right-click on your C-drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button to start the process.

Disk Cleanup starts by examining the files on your system to see what can be done to recover wasted space. It will return a checklist of items you can choose to have it clean up. We suggest checking the following:

• Downloaded Program Files
• Temporary Internet Files
• Microsoft Error Reporting Temporary Files
• Recycle Bin
• Temporary Files
• WebClient/Publisher Temporary Files
• Temporary Offline Files

We recommend that you do not check Compress Old Files. This uses compression to make files that have not been used in some time smaller, but if needed it will take longer to access them.

Install an Additional Drive

There are basically two options here: internal and external. Your selection is a matter of your skill and comfort level and/or preference.

Internal Drives

Installing an internal drive requires removing the cover, installing the drive into an available drive bay, and connecting the cables. After replacing the cover you will need to partition and format the drive. This is beyond the scope of this article and we suggest you have the drive ordered and installed by a professional...like us. It's important to select the right drive type (SATA, IDE, EIDE, SCSI, etc.) and you must know how to set the drive's jumpers correctly.

External Drives

External drives are simple to install and relatively inexpensive...plus, they are portable! We recommend any of the newer USB-powered drives such as Toshiba or Seagate. Prices are currently around $100 for a 500GB drive.

Installing the drive is as simple as plugging it into an available USB port. Use Windows Explorer to move files from your My Documents folder to the external drive. Use the drive to store your large music or photo collection.

Upgrade Your Drive

Upgrading your drive is serious business. It's somewhat the computing equivalent of replacing the engine in your car. You need to know what you're doing, take great care not to damage the old disk, and use special tools to copy your data from your old drive.

The easiest approach is to install the new drive as a secondary disk. Use disk copying software to copy the old disk to the new one. Then use partitioning software to increase the size of the partition on the new disk (which will be the same size as the old) to use the entire disk. The last step is to remove the old primary drive and make the new drive the primary, involving some switching of cables and/or changing BIOS settings.

If you don't know what a "partition" is, or aren't comfortable with installing a second drive in your computer it's best left to a professional. This takes some experience and the risk is loss of your data to destruction of your computer.

Disk space problems aren't the end of the road for your computer. Whatever option you choose to try, you can extend the useful life of an older computer for months, or even years, by freeing up or extending your available disk space.