Data Backup Digest

It can be tempting to store as much data on your hard drive as much as possible. Besides, when you’ve paid for that space, why shouldn’t you? But it’s important to be aware of the fact that your drive needs some space kept free in order to allow your system to operate properly. If you’ve been told that your system is running low on storage space, or if Windows is displaying your storage in the red then it’s time to act.

This is because the operating system and its programs require a certain amount of free space to play with. This is especially true if you’re using intensive programs like photo or video editors. These programs are usually in a state of flux with the amount of space. This is because these programs create temporary files while they’re in use to help them run. Although they get deleted once you’ve closed everything down, they still need to be stored somewhere while running.

As this applies to the operating system too, having a lack of space means that if temporary files can’t be stored then your system will struggle to perform properly. This usually results in everything running extremely slowly. Any action you do, like loading up a new window, can take your machine to a crawl and take ages to complete. And that’s certainly not a position you want to be in.

Not only will your system perform slowly, but some programs may just not be able to function properly at all. An internet browser is constantly storing temporary files, for example, and without any free space on the drive it won’t be able to do this.

There are a number of ways to resolve this, of course. The first would be to clean your drive out of the data you don’t need. Perhaps you’ve kept useless downloads or software that you don’t need anymore. However, if you’ve kept your drive tidy and still need more space, then the best choice is to buy a new drive.

If you’re buying a new drive then you have two options: replacing your current one or buying an additional one. If opting for the latter, be aware that simply installing a secondary drive won’t solve your speed issues. Your operating system and software will still be installed on the original drive and unless you move them over to the new drive or reroute their file paths then they’ll still suffer to store temporary files.

Your computer can slow down for a variety of other reasons – it might be infected with spyware, lack enough RAM or be bogged down with too many start-up programs. It’s always worth maintaining the highest health you can, otherwise it can soon get out of hand and it can become difficult to determine why your computer is slowing down.

At the end of the day, keep an eye on how much spare storage space you have and make sure you never allow the drive to get near full capacity.