win-disk-cleaner

Windows Disk Cleaner

Free, universal C: drive cleanup — no paid software needed.

Workflow

1. Assess the situation

Ask user for context if not provided:

• Windows version (10/11)
• Current free space and total drive size
• Any scan results (screenshots from WinDirStat, TreeSize, etc.)
• Whether they are a developer (affects which dev caches to target)
• Whether they use hibernation/sleep mode

2. Generate the cleanup script

Read and deliver scripts/disk_cleaner.ps1 to the user. The script:

• Requires admin privileges (#Requires -RunAsAdministrator)
• Has -DryRun mode for safe preview
• Has skip flags: -SkipHibernation, -SkipWinSxS, -SkipRestorePoints
• Covers 10 modules: temp, recycle bin, WU cache, browsers, system logs, app caches, dev caches, hibernation, WinSxS, restore points
• Includes bonus Windows Disk Cleanup utility invocation

Encoding requirement: Save as UTF-8 with BOM for Chinese Windows compatibility. Use Python:

import codecs
with codecs.open('disk_cleaner.ps1', 'w', encoding='utf-8-sig') as f:
    f.write(content)

3. Customize for user's environment

Adapt the script based on user context:

• Non-developers: Remove module 7 (dev caches) or comment it out
• Laptop users who need sleep: Add -SkipHibernation to recommended command
• Users with specific large files: Add targeted cleanup commands (e.g., Android SDK, USMT.ppkg, Docker images)
• Chinese software users: Ensure QQ/WeChat/DingTalk/Baidu paths are included

4. Recommend free tools

For details, read references/free_tools.md. Key recommendations:

• BleachBit — open-source CCleaner replacement
• WizTree — fastest disk analyzer (reads NTFS MFT)
• Everything — instant file search (size:>500mb trick)
• dupeGuru — open-source duplicate finder

5. Long-term maintenance advice

Provide these tips:

• Enable Storage Sense (Settings > System > Storage)
• Move default install path to D: drive
• Redirect Downloads/Desktop/Documents to D: drive
• Use mklink /D for symlink migration of installed apps
• Schedule monthly BleachBit/script runs

Common large file targets

File/Folder	Typical Size	Safe to Remove?
hiberfil.sys	RAM size	Yes if not using hibernate
pagefile.sys	1-16 GB	Reduce if RAM >= 16GB
WinSxS	5-20 GB	DISM cleanup only (never delete manually)
Windows.old	10-30 GB	Yes after confirming new OS works
C:\Recovery\ USMT.ppkg	1-3 GB	Yes after factory setup
Android SDK images	2-10 GB	Yes if not developing
Docker WSL vhdx	5-50 GB	Compact with wsl --shutdown + diskpart
npm/pip/yarn cache	0.5-5 GB	Yes (re-downloads on demand)
JetBrains caches	1-5 GB	Yes (rebuilds automatically)
Shader caches (NVIDIA/Intel/AMD)	0.2-2 GB	Yes (rebuilds on next launch)

Resources

• scripts/disk_cleaner.ps1 — Main PowerShell cleanup script (10 modules, DryRun support)
• references/free_tools.md — Curated list of free/open-source disk tools with usage tips