How much space is left on your computer?

Although today’s computers come with very large hard drives, your free space can fill up quickly – especially if you are taking lots of digital pictures and movies. If your computer gets low on free hard disk space, your computer will run into new problems.

Fortunately, it is simple to check how much space is left. Follow these step-by-step instructions:

1. Open your "My Computer" icon. (In Windows Vista, click on the Start button in the lower left, then click on the Computer button.)
2. The "C" drive is the drive where most computer users store all of their files. Right-click on the "C" drive, and click on "Properties". You will see an screen similar to the image below.

This image shows the used and free space on Drive C. Notice it is about 75% full. Depending on how you use your computer, this could mean that you have very little space left, or it could mean that you have enough space to last you for years. I recently noticed that my hard disk space was filling up quickly because of all the digital pictures and videos I was adding to my computer. I purchased a 500 GB external hard drive from the local office store for about $150. If I wanted, I could now use this drive to store all these files, or even use it as a place to back up my entire hard drive.