Why do even the smallest files take up so much disk space? Intended For Windows Vista Windows XP Windows 2003 Windows 2000 Windows Me Windows 98 Windows 95 Now that new, large hard disks (1 GB and larger) are so affordable, more users are being faced with this problem. This occurs when you have your entire hard disk in one partition (rather than having it split up into several small partitions). What's worse is that all the tiny shortcuts used by Windows and other Microsoft products can create megabytes of wasted disk space. For details, see the definition of Slack Space in the Glossary. If you decide to repartition your drive, I recommend Partition Magic (a commercial product), which allows you to safely do so without having to reformat (although backing up is always a good idea). This article has been recently supported by and featured on this Internet Webhosting Guide Written by: Annoyances.org Last updated: Wednesday, February 7, 2007 Care to discuss this article with other Windows users? Select your operating system here, and click Continue to post your question. - Choose your OS -Windows 7Windows Server 2008Windows VistaWindows Server 2003Windows XPWindows 2000Windows MeWindows 98Windows 95 Previous discussions about this article: (open a message to see applicable responses, if any) [Windows ME] ''Resouces'' (R Lunetta: Friday, November 30, 2001) [Windows 98] Question about 'Why do even the smallest files take up so much disk space?' (Il: Sunday, September 1, 2002) [Windows XP] Question about 'Why do even the smallest files take up so much disk space?' (Dom De Vitto: Thursday, September 5, 2002) [Windows Me] Question about 'Why do even the smallest files take up so much disk space?' (Elise Young: Thursday, September 12, 2002) [Windows 98] Question about 'Why do even the smallest files take up so much disk space?' (Rahul Pandey: Wednesday, June 30, 2004) Return to "Simple Annoyances"