Yes, a fresh operating system can use less space.
Yes, a fresh operating system can use less space.
While playing Elder Scrolls Online I observed that my 250GB Smasung 850 EVO had only 95GB available. It seems the free space was likely reduced by many updates over time. If I reinstalled Windows 10 Home 64-bit using the USB drive I purchased, would it restore a significant amount—perhaps 5 or more gigabytes? My personal files occupy just about 3GB, and adding a larger SSD later isn’t feasible until next year.
Windows receives updates regularly, ensuring continuous functionality.
Consider a 2TB drive priced around sixty dollars or a 1TB option at forty dollars.
Check PCPP for 8TB drives under $200; if budget is tight, consider smaller options for a few games.
Thanks everyone, it’s clear I can’t afford to spend $10 on a 1TB SSD even with a great offer. It’s reassuring that I won’t have to repeatedly reinstall my OS because of low storage. Is it wise to keep only 10GB or less free space for upcoming Windows updates? If yes, I’ll stop the ESO download now.
You can turn on disk compression to shrink everything, saving space but possibly slowing things down. Alternatively, a full install without any files will use less space, provided you haven’t cleared temporary files or uninstalled anything.
I'll wait for the download to complete over the next few days. Give it a try and play for a week or two, then remove it—just to see if I actually enjoy it before spending money on a large SSD next year. Hopefully I could have avoided this decision if possible, but circumstances made it necessary.