Cannot factory reset pc because not enough disk space

[wdennistonn]

hello, I'm tying to factory reset a laptop.  I am getting a message that I don't have enough disk space.  I have repeatedly tried to free up space on the drive by removing programs and files.  Nothing seems to work.  Any ideas?

[ieee488]

Factory Reset is drastic and so unnecessary.

Run Disk Cleanup first. Include System Files.

.

[WAWood]

@wdennistonn 

Don't know why you feel you need to do a Factory Reset -- but if it is to fix a SLOW PC, then DO NOT DO THIS! A really SLOW PC is nearly always caused by failing hardware -- which a factory reset will do NOTHING to fix.

Somehow, the Factory Reset has taken on the value of an Urban Legend that is a Miracle Cure for any ailing PC. Not only does it rarely fix the PC, if there is an underlying hardware issue with the PC, it will make matters WORSE by leaving the PC in an unusable state.

Even if there is NOT an underlying hardware issue, the reset puts Windows back to where it was weeks or months ago -- and this will then automatically launch hours or days of Windows Udpates that will bring your PC to a grinding halt, driving the processor up to 100% and the disk utilization to 100% as well. Both of these do NOTHING to speed up the PC.

The HP Factory Reset function relies critically on the contents of the Recovery partition being intact. If those contents get corrupted, which can happen either due to hard drive failing or due to Win10 Upgrade from an older OS, the reset simply will not work -- and will TRASH the PC in the process.

So, you go from having a SLOW PC, to having NO PC. That's not an improvement.

Here are some things you can do to recover some of the disk space:
http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3012-disk-cleanup-open-use-windows-10-a.html
http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-clean-up-winsxs-folder-in-windows-10/

Also, the community Win10 Forums has the following suggestions:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/83441-free-up-drive-space-windows-10-a.html

In addition, I have found the utility Cleanmgr+ to have LOTS of options for removing Windows junk, including log files. I use it practically every day. You can get it from here:
https://www.mirinsoft.com/cleanmgrplus

Also, there is a freeware app known as Wise Disk Cleaner. I use it every day to get rid of junk files: https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-disk-cleaner.html