C: Drive Purging Plan

Context

• Drive: 240 GB SSD (C:)
• Goal: Maintain 50+ GB free for comfortable WSL development
• Baseline: Windows + apps require ~150-170 GB, leaving 70-90 GB working space

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Immediate Actions (One-Time Cleanup)

High Priority - ~25 GB recoverable

• Delete WSL crash dumps (~21 GB)

  Remove-Item -Path "$env:TEMP\wsl-crashes" -Recurse -Force

• Empty Recycle Bin (~3.4 GB)

  Clear-RecycleBin -Force

• Clear User Temp folder (~2 GB when accumulated)

  Remove-Item -Path "$env:TEMP\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Medium Priority - ~15 GB recoverable

• Investigate .gemini folder (9.2 GB) - unusually large

  Get-ChildItem "C:\Users\Admin\.gemini" -Force | Select-Object Name, Length

  • Determine if safe to clear cache/temp data

• Clear Chrome cache (up to 5 GB)

  • Chrome → Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data → Cached images/files
  • Or: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData

• Remove Playwright browsers if not actively using (~2 GB each location)

  • Windows: Remove-Item -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\ms-playwright" -Recurse -Force
  • WSL: rm -rf ~/.cache/ms-playwright (run inside WSL)

Lower Priority - Review & Decide

• Consolidate AI IDE caches (~5 GB recoverable)

  • Current: .vscode (2.2 GB), .windsurf (1.7 GB), .cursor (1.4 GB), .codeium (1.1 GB), .trae (1.1 GB)
  • Keep primary IDE, consider removing unused ones
  • Decision: Keep __________, remove __________

• Review C:\xfer\bak (was 4.8 GB)

  • Archive to another drive or delete if obsolete

• Relocate kopia cache (6.3 GB) to D: drive if possible

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Regular Maintenance (Monthly)

Automated Cleanup Script

Save as C:\Scripts\cleanup-c-drive.ps1:

# Monthly C: drive cleanup
Write-Host "Starting C: drive cleanup..."

# Clear WSL crash dumps
if (Test-Path "$env:TEMP\wsl-crashes") {
    $size = (Get-ChildItem "$env:TEMP\wsl-crashes" -Recurse | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum / 1GB
    Remove-Item -Path "$env:TEMP\wsl-crashes" -Recurse -Force
    Write-Host "Cleared WSL crashes: $([math]::Round($size, 2)) GB"
}

# Clear Temp folder (files older than 7 days)
Get-ChildItem -Path $env:TEMP -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
    Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-7) } |
    Remove-Item -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Report free space
$free = [math]::Round((Get-PSDrive C).Free / 1GB, 2)
Write-Host "Free space: $free GB"

Manual Monthly Tasks

• Run Windows Disk Cleanup with system files

  cleanmgr /d C /sageset:1  # Configure (first time)
  cleanmgr /d C /sagerun:1  # Run cleanup

• Compact WSL virtual disk (after cleaning inside WSL)

  wsl --shutdown
  wsl --manage Ubuntu-24.04 --set-sparse true

• Check free space target

  $free = [math]::Round((Get-PSDrive C).Free / 1GB, 2)
  if ($free -lt 30) { Write-Warning "Low disk space: $free GB" }

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Preventive Measures

WSL Configuration

Add to %USERPROFILE%\.wslconfig:

[wsl2]
# Disable crash dumps (optional - loses debugging ability)
# crashReportFolder=

# Limit memory usage
memory=8GB

# Limit swap
swap=4GB

Development Practices

• Use pnpm exclusively (already done ✓)
• Periodically clean node_modules in inactive projects
• Run pnpm store prune to clean unused packages
• Inside WSL: sudo apt autoremove && sudo apt clean

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Space Budget Reference

Component	Target Size	Notes
Windows 11	~40 GB	System files
Program Files	~25 GB	Both directories
WSL	15-20 GB	Keep compacted
User AppData	~30 GB	After cleanup
Working space	50+ GB	Target free space
Total	~190 GB	Leaves ~50 GB buffer

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Quick Diagnostic Commands

# Check current free space
[math]::Round((Get-PSDrive C).Free / 1GB, 2)

# Find largest folders in AppData
Get-ChildItem "$env:LOCALAPPDATA" -Directory | ForEach-Object {
    $size = (Get-ChildItem $_.FullName -Recurse -Force -EA 0 | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum
    [PSCustomObject]@{ Folder = $_.Name; SizeGB = [math]::Round($size/1GB, 2) }
} | Sort-Object SizeGB -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

# Check WSL disk size
Get-ChildItem "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages\*Ubuntu*\LocalState\*.vhdx" |
    Select-Object Name, @{N='SizeGB';E={[math]::Round($_.Length/1GB, 2)}}