Just Reclaimed 2+ GB of Disk Space on C:

[bitflipper]

Apparently I've either forgotten to un-check the "AAX" option on installers (dozens of times), or some installers just don't give you that option.

This morning I noticed that \program files\avid\audio\plug-ins had over 2 gigabytes' worth of .aax files and related content taking up space.

Granted, 2GB isn't much on a 500GB SSD, but whenever I find things like this I kick myself for not being diligent about monitoring disk usage. Back when drives were much smaller, I used to be obsessive about such things. 

[Bapu]

Hey Dave I happen to need 2GB on my C: drive. Can I have yours?

 

[Zargg]

I just checked, and found 6,2 Gb of AAX plugins that I deleted.

@Bapu: I need those 6.2Gb's myself  

[Bapu]

How on earth are you guys gonna run your ProTools projects?




I'll get me coat.

[Tim Smith]

I need to do this as well. Seriously considering deleting ACID and Mixcraft...or just having them available on my laptop.

I hated to do it, but I deleted a few never used libraries. Remember Kirk Hunter diamond orchestra?  It was purdy. It was an older version though and kinda quirky. Not to mention tech has moved ahead to better sounding more realistic libraries. 

Another place where memory gets eaten like a Burger King whopper is when your DAW makes useless random files you'll never need or use, like copies of older versions of songs and track clips you've long forgotten about.

[craigb]

I'm beyond this now.  I only get excited if I find over 100 GB's...  ?

[jesse g]

I just checked  this morning and had 13g of sugar on my chocolate donut;  How'd the heck did that get in there??   ?

[Shane_B.]

2 hours ago, Tim Smith said:

Another place where memory gets eaten like a Burger King whopper is when your DAW makes useless random files you'll never need or use, like copies of older versions of songs and track clips you've long forgotten about.

Studio One is great about cleaning up all that stuff. Speaking of Studio One, if you never check, all the updates that are downloaded are saved. Check the downloads folder for Window's. I never used to but recently I've been checking it regularly. I found several GB worth of old install files there from various sources including Presonus. When I update Studio One the install files automatically get saved in my windows download folder. Don't know if that's the norm for everyone or some setting I changed on my system, but they never get deleted automatically on my system and I never manually download them. I always do the update through S1.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Shane_B.

[bitflipper]

6 hours ago, Tim Smith said:

I need to do this as well. Seriously considering deleting ACID and Mixcraft...or just having them available on my laptop.

I hated to do it, but I deleted a few never used libraries.

Yeh, every time I start cleaning up I think maybe it's time for Samplitude to retire to the bitbucket. But dang it, I paid a couple hundred bucks for that back during the Gibson debacle so it'd be like throwing out a perfectly good lamp just because it's ugly.

Libraries are another matter. I just can't bring myself to toss them. You never know when that Kontakt 2 Factory Library might have just what you need.

[bitflipper]

7 hours ago, Bapu said:

Hey Dave I happen to need 2GB on my C: drive. Can I have yours?

 

Unfortunately, those two gigs were already spoken for. Seems I've been downloading a lot of 24-bit wave files lately.

[Tim Smith]

19 hours ago, Shane_B. said:

Studio One is great about cleaning up all that stuff. Speaking of Studio One, if you never check, all the updates that are downloaded are saved. Check the downloads folder for Window's. I never used to but recently I've been checking it regularly. I found several GB worth of old install files there from various sources including Presonus. When I update Studio One the install files automatically get saved in my windows download folder. Don't know if that's the norm for everyone or some setting I changed on my system, but they never get deleted automatically on my system and I never manually download them. I always do the update through S1.

I recently cleaned up my downloads folder. I saved 10 gigs there. I am reluctant to remove some of the zipped program folders for companies that make getting replacements costly or time consuming.

15 hours ago, bitflipper said:

Yeh, every time I start cleaning up I think maybe it's time for Samplitude to retire to the bitbucket. But dang it, I paid a couple hundred bucks for that back during the Gibson debacle so it'd be like throwing out a perfectly good lamp just because it's ugly.

Libraries are another matter. I just can't bring myself to toss them. You never know when that Kontakt 2 Factory Library might have just what you need.

Yeah, maybe storing some of the libraries on a cheap outboard drive is a better solution. I store MOST of my files on additional attached drives if they are large files. What seems to happen with me is some programs I thought were light weight programs like vst synth libraries default installed into my C drive. At the time I went with the default assuming the files wouldn't be over 100mb. Sometimes they would be much larger than that. And it accumulates as you know.

My 500gb C drive ( which is double what was at one time the recommended size for C )  only has just over 20gb  left on it. This is even when I direct my DAW projects to another drive path. Of that amount I have no super huge libraries to speak of. Most of it is programs and their data. Video can munch it up too, so I have been deleting or moving video files after I work with them and complete a video. I'm not even a big video guy. I can't imagine working in video with new files every day. That would REALLY rack up disk memory.

The answer is probably a 1TB C drive, but I hate to even think about that right now.

[bitflipper]

Same here. When my 1TB samples drive got full, I added a 500GB SSD for the overflow. But then I had to sit and sort out which libraries were most deserving of the faster drive and which ones weren't. It was an existential moment. Leaving one behind on the old disk seemed like an admission that I'd never use it again, and maybe I was an idiot for buying it in the first place.

[paulo]

In my experience the biggest culprit for unexpectedly taking up C drive space is Cakewalk crashes. The amount of crap that seems to get dumped into system error reporting when it crashes can soon build up. Not long ago, altered by rapidly dwindling space for no apparent reason, a system clean up operation revealed 30GB+ of CW related files.

[Zargg]

On 4/8/2022 at 5:57 PM, Bapu said:

How on earth are you guys gonna run your ProTools projects?




I'll get me coat.

Until I Am gifted a full perpetual license, it does not run at all

I Am good with(out) that, though.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Zargg

[Bapu]

NagBap 2.0 took up limited foot space but took up maximum aggravation. Hence, all users abandoned it.

[Tim Smith]

NagBap 2.0.

Is that your second wife?

 

I'll get me coat.

[craigb]

Now, now Tim.  Don't be mean.  I think she's called the Tolerant Lady...  ?

[Fwrend]

Thanks Bit, good reminder!  I only had a little over 100MB in the folder you alluded to.  However, I did find a couple of GB in Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins.

Steinberg is another irritant, but I usually stay aware to the suggested paths when installing plugs but as mentioned, Avid and sometimes Steinberg ignores those preferences.

[Tim Smith]

23 hours ago, craigb said:

Now, now Tim.  Don't be mean.  I think she's called the Tolerant Lady...  ?

So who is nagging Bap then??

[TW5011]

Several installers drop AAX files there without asking.  It shouldn't break anything to delete them, but at least in the past, some installers (like XLN and Native Access) will say the install needs to be repaired.

As a former programmer, it irks me how lazy some of those install programs are.  I understand they're probably doing it so all bases are covered for users who don't know or don't care what gets installed.  But for users who care and know what they're doing, the "advanced" option that some devs use is a great option.  They should always let you choose -- it's not complicated at all to develop nor should it be  too complicated for the user (who could just opt for default if they want).

I don't care for the need to repair notifications.  For other devs who pollute the hard drive, I wrote a script that removes all UAD and IK T-Racks plug-ins I don't own so they don't show up in the VST scan.  But I shouldn't have to...

I'll go yell at some kids walking on my lawn now...