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This issue almost left my computer unusable because the C:\System Recovery folder had gotten so large. After a lot of digging, I finally fixed the issue doing the steps below. Btw, major thanks to chapelle for setting me on the right track!
1. Create an administrator account using the command line.
1. Create an administrator account using the command line.
- I did this following the instructions at http://www.ghacks.net/2014/11/12/how-to-enable-the-hidden-windows-10-administrator-account/. I actually just did steps one through five.
- Essentially, you just have to open the command prompt in administrator mode by right clicking it. Then, type the command net user administrator /active:yes and hit enter.
- Click on the windows icon and then switch to the new account
- The current link is this, https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/.
- Click on the download button. You may have just realized that the website is in German. Apparently download is a German loanword.
- You should see three options now. Check “Download für USA” and click on the download button.
- Go to your downloads folder and run the TreeSizeFreeSetup.exe file. Acknowledge that the program may make changes to your computer and choose all the default options.
- Go to your search bar and type TreeSize. You may see two programs pop up. Choose the one that says TreeSize Free (Administrator).
- Once TreeSize is open, click Scan and then click OS (C
. - This should run fairly quickly (less than a minute) and return the size of every folder in the C drive.
- In my case, I found that the C:\System Recovery\Repair folder was comprised of two subfolders, Backup and Temp. Together, they took up 160 GB of disk space. The System Recovery folder is not viewable through Windows Explorer so we can’t just go delete it’s contents the usual way.
- I can’t explain this step any better than the instructions given here, http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-take...ll-access-to-files-and-folders-in-windows-10/.
- Follow the 10 steps under “Take ownership of a file or folder in Windows 10 using File Explorer” but do one thing differently. In the title, it says to use the file explorer as the basis for everything. However, you may not be able to see the unwanted folder in the file explorer. Instead, do step 2 using the TreeSize program.
- Do every other step the say it states including the last one which it claims is optional. It didn’t work for me until I checked the box, “Replace all child object permissions…”. Once you click OK, it will spend several minutes changing the permissions on all the files.
- Now that you own the unwanted folder, right click it in the TreeSize program. Click delete. It may tell you there is too much data to recycle. If it does this, it will prompt you to permanently delete it instead. Do that. It will spend several minutes deleting all of the files. Once it completes, you’re done. All the disk space that your folder was using is now free.
- Additionally, you can return your computer to its original state (sans excess baggage) by uninstalling TreeSize and removing the administrator account. TreeSize can be removed just like any other program in under Programs and Features in the Control Panel. To remove the admin account, you first need to return to the original user account. Then, open the command prompt in administrator mode (by right clicking it). Then, type the command net user administrator /active:no and hit enter. Finally, restart your computer and the admin account will no longer appear.