As someone who admins Windows systems for a living as part of my job, two options come to mind: Windows update files, or sync’d content from a file share.
Network file shares that are mapped to a drive letter, and set to be “always available” or “available offline” end up in a hidden subfolder of the windows directory.
Windows updates are stored there too.
There’s also a small matter regarding log files. My best recommendation is to use something like windirstat or wiztree running as an administrator (so it can “see” all the files), which should tell you what directory or subfolder or file is taking up all that space.
winsxs folder can grow to 50 GB too. But there’s lots of versions of libraries, hard linked to where the original file should be, with no way to clean that up. Caused by lots of installations and updates over time. Only solution is reinstalling the system.
Imho, scoop can save you some of that trouble, since it only copies files and adds registry entries, instead of using Windows setup interfaces. It makes updates easier too.
Apart from games, I don’t really install and remove applications very often, so I don’t really end up in the situation of needing to reinstall to “clean” my windows installation.
I’m sure other people will have different experiences, which are all valid. Personally as an administrator for Windows systems, I usually reserve reinstalls for when windows is too damaged to be able to be fixed, or when the OS drive is replaced. In professional environments, reinstalling isn’t really an option; if a system is so damaged that it requires a reinstall, usually warranty support is called before any reinstalls. Most consumers don’t have warranty support, either because they bought a prebuilt with a single year of warranty where the only reason you would reasonably need assistance that quickly is if the system was faulty from the factory, or they build their own computer, where warranty is applied to each component individually, in which case you must identify the problematic component and submit that for warranty.
Business systems often come with 3+ years of warranty, sometimes as high as 5yr, after which the system will likely be replaced if anything goes wrong.
Of course, those business systems can be upwards of double the cost, so most consumers are not buying business workstations for home use. I mean, I did it, for my MIL, but I’m a weirdo.
Needless to say, I’m not a big believer in reinstalling Windows ever, for the lifetime of a system, meanwhile others seem to recommend doing it yearly or more frequently. IMO, it’s an antiquated practice that stemmed from Windows 9x and it’s various issues, where you were either a Windows expert who could fix the problems, or you just needed to reinstall. With the ntkernel (introduced to consumer Windows versions with XP), and modern clean up utilities, it’s no longer required, and hasn’t been for over a decade.
As someone who admins Windows systems for a living as part of my job, two options come to mind: Windows update files, or sync’d content from a file share.
Network file shares that are mapped to a drive letter, and set to be “always available” or “available offline” end up in a hidden subfolder of the windows directory.
Windows updates are stored there too.
There’s also a small matter regarding log files. My best recommendation is to use something like windirstat or wiztree running as an administrator (so it can “see” all the files), which should tell you what directory or subfolder or file is taking up all that space.
Good luck
winsxs folder can grow to 50 GB too. But there’s lots of versions of libraries, hard linked to where the original file should be, with no way to clean that up. Caused by lots of installations and updates over time. Only solution is reinstalling the system.
Imho, scoop can save you some of that trouble, since it only copies files and adds registry entries, instead of using Windows setup interfaces. It makes updates easier too.
Apart from games, I don’t really install and remove applications very often, so I don’t really end up in the situation of needing to reinstall to “clean” my windows installation.
I’m sure other people will have different experiences, which are all valid. Personally as an administrator for Windows systems, I usually reserve reinstalls for when windows is too damaged to be able to be fixed, or when the OS drive is replaced. In professional environments, reinstalling isn’t really an option; if a system is so damaged that it requires a reinstall, usually warranty support is called before any reinstalls. Most consumers don’t have warranty support, either because they bought a prebuilt with a single year of warranty where the only reason you would reasonably need assistance that quickly is if the system was faulty from the factory, or they build their own computer, where warranty is applied to each component individually, in which case you must identify the problematic component and submit that for warranty.
Business systems often come with 3+ years of warranty, sometimes as high as 5yr, after which the system will likely be replaced if anything goes wrong.
Of course, those business systems can be upwards of double the cost, so most consumers are not buying business workstations for home use. I mean, I did it, for my MIL, but I’m a weirdo.
Needless to say, I’m not a big believer in reinstalling Windows ever, for the lifetime of a system, meanwhile others seem to recommend doing it yearly or more frequently. IMO, it’s an antiquated practice that stemmed from Windows 9x and it’s various issues, where you were either a Windows expert who could fix the problems, or you just needed to reinstall. With the ntkernel (introduced to consumer Windows versions with XP), and modern clean up utilities, it’s no longer required, and hasn’t been for over a decade.