How to Free Up Recovery Disc Space on Windows Vista

Even in today's world of hard drives with plenty of storage, conserving and freeing up space is still important. No matter how big or small the hard drive, keeping it free of unnecessary files is one of the keys to keeping a computer running efficiently for a long time. While Vista's System Restore is a crucial system function, it's also something that can eat up an enormous amount of disk space. Reducing the amount of space it takes up can lead to a much-faster-running computer.

Instructions

1. Click the Vista orb in the bottom left of your computer screen. Click "Computer."

2. Right-click anywhere within the "Computer" folder and select "Properties." A new window displaying information about the computer appears.

3. Click "System Protection" to edit the System Restore settings. Click "Configure."

4. Slide the "Max Usage" control all the way to the left, which is 1 percent. This ensures that Vista uses only 1 percent of the overall disk space for recovery purposes.

5. Click "Apply" and then "OK." Then click "OK" again to exit System Protection.

6. Reboot your computer by clicking the Vista orb and selecting "Restart." You have now freed up several gigabytes of recovery space on your PC.

Tips & Warnings

• Run Vista's built-in disk cleanup program Cleanmgr to clear up even more disc space. Cleanmgr cleans up other unnecessary files, which in turn clears up hundreds of megabytes of space. Click the orb and select "Run" in the "Accessories" folder. Type in "cleanmgr" (minus the quotes) and click "OK." Click "OK" again to run the tool.