Need help in freeing up C: drive partition disk space

[capeorion]

I am an astrophotographer that is using the Zwo 1290 MM planetary camera (USB 3.0 device) The camera is designed to do LUCKY imaging, which requires a high frame rate and generates many gigabytes of SSD memory. Is there any way to improve the amount of free memory available on the 32GB C: partition drive? For example, which version of Windows 10 Pro has the smallest footprint (1607 or 1803)? How can I avoid background updates? Are there windows operating system components that can be removed to free up even more space?

The current workflow is to have the camera save its files to the C: drive, so that it can operate at the fastest frame rate. The files are then moved off the c: drive to another location. This works fine although a dedicated large capacity SSD drive would be better

 

[Villa]

I am an astrophotographer that is using the Zwo 1290 MM planetary camera (USB 3.0 device) The camera is designed to do LUCKY imaging, which requires a high frame rate and generates many gigabytes of SSD memory. Is there any way to improve the amount of free memory available on the 32GB C: partition drive? For example, which version of Windows 10 Pro has the smallest footprint (1607 or 1803)? How can I avoid background updates? Are there windows operating system components that can be removed to free up even more space?

The current workflow is to have the camera save its files to the C: drive, so that it can operate at the fastest frame rate. The files are then moved off the c: drive to another location. This works fine although a dedicated large capacity SSD drive would be better

To stop updates use this...
https://www.novirusthanks.org/products/win-update-stop/

Have you tried saving to a micro SD card?

 

[capeorion]

Thank you for your kind reply. I will use the windows update stop suggestion. I have tried to save to the micro sd card, but it really slows down the frame rate of the capture by the camera. The two programs that I am using are firecapture and sharp cap pro. In order to manage the turbulence of the atmosphere, called atmospheric seeing, many images are captured at the highest frame rate possible then only the clearest images are stacked and post processed.

 

[MINIX - Martin]

1. Go to below folder and delete everything in it, this folder stores the Windows update cache.
C:\\Windows\SofwareDistribution

2. Run the ‘Disk Cleanup Tool’. Make sure to check all boxes and select ‘cleanup system files’.

3. Run 'CMD' as Administrator, and type the command below command to turn off the Windows' hibernation mode. It should free up several Gigabyte.
powercfg -h off

 

[wangyiqiang]

I am an astrophotographer that is using the Zwo 1290 MM planetary camera (USB 3.0 device) The camera is designed to do LUCKY imaging, which requires a high frame rate and generates many gigabytes of SSD memory. Is there any way to improve the amount of free memory available on the 32GB C: partition drive? For example, which version of Windows 10 Pro has the smallest footprint (1607 or 1803)? How can I avoid background updates? Are there windows operating system components that can be removed to free up even more space?

The current workflow is to have the camera save its files to the C: drive, so that it can operate at the fastest frame rate. The files are then moved off the c: drive to another location. This works fine although a dedicated large capacity SSD drive would be better

To free up more disk space, you can try the following methods.
1. Disable Hibernation
Hibernate is a neat feature to save the content of your computer’s memory to the hard disk, which can make your computer start fast. It is allocated at almost 100% space of your computer’s installed RAM. For example, if you have a 8GB of RAM, your hiberfil.sys file will take up 8 GB of your hard drive space; if your RAM is with 20GB, your hiberfil.sys will occupy 20 GB.
(1) Click the Start button and type “cmd”.
(2) Right click the item that appears and select “Run as administrator”
(3) In the opened DOS command prompt window type “powercfg.exe /hibernate off”and press Enter
2. Perform a Disk Cleanup regularly
(1) Click “My Computer” to open File Explorer.
(2) Right-click the C drive and select “Properties”.
(3) Under the “General” tab, click “Disk Cleanup”.
(4) Windows will scan your drive and calculate how much space you can save by running Disk Cleanup.
(5) Select the files that you wish to delete form the drive, and hit “OK.
4. Turn off System Restore
System Restore is able to back up of the important system files in order to make it convenient to restore the system in time when something goes wrong. The System Restore service usually take up a lot of disk space, so here's how to turn it off:
(1) Right-click “Computer” and then click “Properties”.
(2) In the left pane click “System Protection”.
(3) Select the disk you want to turn off System Protection for and click “Configure”.
(4) Select “Turn off system protection”, click OK, and then click OK again
If all the methods does not work, you can extend c drive to make it bigger.

 

[capeorion]

A heartfelt “thank you” to Villa, Martin and Wangyiqang for all of the helpful advice. Last night, I did a WINPE usb install of Windows 10 Pro following the instructions that was provided in your blog. That freed up 18 GB of space on the C drive after the clean install. My plan is to follow up on the advice provided by your team to see if I can improve on that. After the disk space has been optimized, I will install Sharp Cap Pro, FireCapture, ASCOM for telescope control, Plate finder and Goldfocus 4.2 onto the computer. Is there a way to do this by installing this software on the sd card (D drive? There is a competing dedicated computer (https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/zwo-asiair) that i am trying to emulate.