HP_RECOVERY Drive

[Gordon1943]

HP_RECOVERY disk almost full.  How to remove old recovery files or other files no longer needed.

[NonSequitur777]

@Gordon1943,

Welcome to our peer-to-peer HP Community Forum!

I would try these three steps first:

1.) Type in: "%temp%" in your Windows search bar and click on the "%temp% File folder". Then do a single left click on the first file/folder, and then do a Ctrl A keyboard click.  This should highlight all the temp files/folders on your screen. Once highlighted, do a right click anywhere on the highlighted files, click on "Show more options" and click on "Delete".  You'll likely get at least one of these messages: "The action can't be completed because the file is open in Microsoft Edge" (or whatever browser you're using). Check off the box for "Do this for all current items" and hit "Skip". You may have to do this more than once. Once completed (this should go fast), exit out of the Temp folder.

2.) Download, install & run this most useful freeware utility program called CCleaner from here: https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner/download/standard: "Scan PC" (you want to uncheck your browser for now), then: "Make it better", and upon completion, you should see a smiley face:

Next, click on: "Registry", then: "Scan for Issues", and then: "Review selected Issues". Upon the message "Do you want to back up the registry before making changes?", respond with "No". Next, click on "Fix Issues", and upon completion, click on "Close", and then exit program.

3.) Type in: disk cleanup in your Windows search bar, and click on the Disk Cleanup App.  Hit "OK", and you'll see something like this:

Make sure that all the boxes on the left are checked off ☑️ and then click on "Clean up system files". Hit "OK" again.  This may take a while.  Once completed, it will yet again show you the aforeposted picture, this time with additional stuff to delete.  Make sure all boxes are checked off. Hit "OK" and upon the question: "Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files?", click on: "Delete Files", and allow to complete the disk cleanup.  This may also take (quite) a while to complete, depending on your drive (M.2 NVMe SSD is fastest, HDD is slowest), and total size of files to be deleted.  If you have never run this before, you may want to take your dog for a walk.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Gordon1943]

Thank you, NonSeq.  I appreciate all your detailed suggestions and will try them over the next few days.  Hopefully, they will reduce the used size of my HP_RECOVERY drive.

GORDON1943