Device Maintenance (Windows 11)

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to my blog.

Today, I will be discussing...

Device Maintenance with Windows 11

Device maintenance is more important than you think. You might think of the following things when you hear device maintenance:

Running scans frequently using a security suite.
Clearing your cache.
Deleting apps you no longer use.

While those are all things you should do frequently, device maintenance goes way deeper.

Some other things you might not think of:

Removing trace dependencies.
Clearing an entire drive section.
Removing temporary files.
Shredding files.
Clearing your recycling bin.
Installing via .zip or .exe
Deleting via terminal.

I'll go through the importance of all of these.

Removing Trace Dependencies

You might not think about the processes that happen during installation.

During installation, installers often install any dependencies that their apps require. However, during uninstallation, most apps don't uninstall dependencies with them. While this is actually a good practice considering many apps share the same dependencies, it can hit you for a lot of storage space if you don't need them.

Some apps get around this by bundling their own dependencies into their apps, such as Minecraft.

Minecraft: Java Edition comes with an installation of either Java 8 or Java 17, depending on your version.

This means that when you uninstall Minecraft, it also uninstalls the bundled Java Runtime, leaving any of your installations of Java untouched.

However, not all apps do this, and instead install dependencies.

However, this means that after uninstallation, this leaves trace dependencies, which can take up a lot of storage space.

I was trying out DJI Flight Simulator and it installed an engine, which was not uninstalled afterwards. I completely forgot about it, and that folder was hitting me for 9GB! That's a lot of space if you have a small drive!

You can check for large folders like this through the following steps:

Press Win+S to open the search bar.
Type in "Storage settings".
You will enter a settings menu under System > Storage.
Scroll down until you see something like this:
Click on Show more categories.
Click on Other.
Click on any folders you no longer need, and delete them.
While you are in this section, delete any folders that are taking up lots of space that you no longer need.

Clearing Entire Drive Sections

I personally have a lot of issues with this one.

Clearing an entire drive section sounds very daunting and risky, and you're right. It is.

But certain drive sections fill up rather quickly, namely these ones:

Downloads
Documents
[YOUR USERNAME HERE]

I recently cleared out my entire Downloads section and a few trace dependencies, and managed to get an entire 55GB back! That might not sound like a lot, but on a small drive, every bit counts. Pun not intended.

Removing Temporary Files

This one is very simple and easy to perform, and is just a more comprehensive way of clearing cache-like files.

Just follow steps 1-4 from the earlier Removing Trace Dependencies section of this article, and press Temporary files instead.

Select the following:

Temporary files, Delivery Optimization Files, Temporary Internet Files, Thumbnails, DirectX Shader Cache, Windows error reports and feedback diagnostics, Windows upgrade log files.

Then, simply scroll back up and press Remove files.

Even with my relatively-clean drive, that method frequently can get me back ~3GB.

Shredding Files

While permanent deletion gets rid of most traces of files, nothing can beat the power and comprehensive removal of File Shredding. There are many tools for this, but I frequently use the built-in one that ships with Bitdefender Total Security (Not sponsored, by the way.)

Just right click on the file, press Show more options, hover over the Bitdefender button, and press File Shredder, and then press the Delete Permanently button in the window that appears.

Clearing Your Recycling Bin

This one should be a given. If you can pull things out of the recycling bin, then clearly anything in there still takes up space.

Just open your recycling bin, and press the Empty Recycle Bin button in the top menu.

If you really want that clean feeling, shred the files via the File Shredder.

Installing via `.zip` or `.exe`

Ah, the Microsoft Store. Bane of every Windows user.

Installing via Microsoft Store is a terrible idea. Apps constantly disappearing, apps failing to uninstall...

Always install files via a .zip/.7z archive, or via a .exe installer.

I recommend using a .zip archive, as they do not require 7zip or any other application in newer versions of Windows, and they never leave trace dependencies like a .exe file.

Plus, if you need to uninstall, just delete the extracted folder.

Deleting via terminal

Sometimes some files are too big to delete!

Because File Explorer is attached to Windows Explorer, if File Explorer hangs and you close it, Windows Explorer has to restart itself.

My File Explorer frequently hangs with large .exe files.

To delete files via the terminal, simply:

Find the file name via searching through Win+S, so you don't crash File Explorer.
Copy the file name.
Press Win+R.
Type cmd, and press Enter.
Type the command cd [Path to drive].
Then type del [File name].

Those are some of my best tips for keeping your device clean, thanks for reading!